Jane Yolen

Merlinnus the magician devises a way for King Arthur to prove himself the rightful king of England--pulling a sword from a stone--but trouble arises when someone else removes the sword first.

A Novel of King Arthur

Sword of the Rightful King

Kirsten Simkiss

If you're looking for a good twist on the traditional Arthurian legend, this probably isn't going to scratch that itch. I stopped after reading 30 pages, skimmed the next couple dozen, and then quit. The characters are all pretty flat, and it's very cliche and predictable. Also the ages of the characters seemed off to me, but maybe I'm just not as much in the know as I aught to be.

Anyhow, having quit this book, I can safely say that I can't recommend this to you as a fellow reader.

Hope Brockway

Um, so this book has a terrible blurb. In other words, the main idea of this novel wasn't mentioned until more than halfway through the book. Yeah. 

In fact, the iconic sword in the stone wasn't mentioned until around halfway through the book. 

So to say I was disappointed is a bit of an understatement. 

I mean, the whole idea of someone other than Arthur pulling the sword out of the stone is downright epic. But the execution . . . a bit less than epic. (Sorry, friends.) 

So think of a "day in the life" vlog set in Camelot with a few assassination attempts thrown in. This book was a bit cool in that way. I've never read anything like it. And it was interesting to see the threads of the thousands of legends and retellings of King Arthur woven throughout this story. 

I will say the worldbuilding and writing style was very well done. The world was unique and didn't really feel like the Camelot I know and love but was new and exciting nonetheless. The writing style was super interesting because it was low key set up like a legend. There were tons of books within this novel and there were poems opening each section that foreshadowed what would happen next. 

But, as a whole, I wasn't a fan. (view spoiler)[ My favorite character in the legends--Gawaine--(don't ask me why, friends; I just always felt that he was amazing) was less than noble. Or implied to be less than noble. I mean, I guess he got himself into the same trouble as the battle with the Green Knight *cough* if you know what I mean *cough*. So that was charming. But he didn't actually, ya know, kill Arthur.  (hide spoiler)] The book dragged in some places. Or a lot of places. It was very slow paced and I felt disconnected from the characters and the original theme of the story. 

And the ending. *dramatic sigh* (view spoiler)[ The ending came totally out of left field for me. Like hello??? What the actual heck?? So this WHOLE TIME this child was actually a woman. Guinevere, no less. I mean, it was a bit cool and it made this book bump up a star for me but still. I might have missed some foreshadowing or something but it was just too unexpected for me. And it was super weird for this couple to go from a father/son relationship to a romantic relationship and it high key weirded me out.  (hide spoiler)] 

(view spoiler)[ One thing I did appreciate was the lack of the Guinevere and Lancelot thing. Thank goodness. I never was a big fan of that whole mess. (Sorry Lancelot and Guinevere shippers) And remember in the iconic legend that the affair sparked a literal civil war amongst the round table fellows? In this version, that never happened. Again, thank goodness cause it rips my heart apart every time. Apparently, I feel very passionate on this subject lol.  (hide spoiler)] 

Anyway. These are my thoughts, feelings, and opinions on this book. Have a nice day!

Sword of the Rightful King A Novel of King Arthur

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