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#fantasyreads

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Zumbador

@bookstodon
"Spear" by Nicola Griffiths. This was a change of pace for me, it's been a long time since I've read a book that's in this mode, of legend and folk tale.

It's a retelling of the King Arthur story, set in Wales. It's about the life of Sir Percival, known in this story as a young woman called Peretur.

It reminded me strongly of Rosemary Sutcliffe's tales of ancient Britain, and apparently those were a direct inspiration. As well as many other books, including the Lord of the Rings.

It's subtle, rich and gentle, cruel at times like myths often are, but engaging and entertaining too. The gender-shift of Peretur, female but perceived as male, was well handled and made sense.

I cared about the characters, and I enjoyed the way the traditional story was twisted and changed.

I don't know how it would read if you're not familiar with the stories of King Arthur, with Merlin and Nimue, Guinivere, Lancelot, Kay, and the rest.

Cover of "Spear" by Nicola Griffiths. Cover art is a atmospheric, moody illustration of a ancient looking metal cup with white tree or flame shapes rising from it. A red horse and rider appears at the top of the tree flames.
#trans#FantasyReads
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Hawksquill

Book 51 of 2024

Spear by Nicola Griffith

4.5 stars

A lyrical retelling of the story of Percival from Arthurian legend with a feminist lens and sapphic romance for good measure.

Griffith is one of my favorite living writers, so I knew I was going to love this. Her prose here is stunning, as always, and the historical setting is so well-researched that it jumps off the page. I have a passing familiarity with basic Arthuriana but had to look up some of the more obscure stories and Irish myths. It was fun learning more, and also getting to dissect the choices Griffith made in taking creative license and fleshing out the original stories. The afterward was particularly illuminating, and I loved her intentional inclusion of diverse characters in a medieval setting.

Through sheer coincidence (i.e. the timing of my library holds) I ended up reading two genderbent Arthurian retellings back to back! It was occasionally confusing to keep track of the different origins and characterizations of some of the characters, plus the different spellings of their names. But that's certainly no fault of Griffith or Reeve's, and both books were immensely enjoyable!

@bookstodon #Books #Bookstodon #AmReading #Reading #QueerBooks #Fantasy #FantasyReads

Ebook cover of Spear by Nicola Griffith. A large bowl with abstract cravings, including hills and human figures. Rising out of the bowl is mystical-looking white smoke, forming the shape of a forest and a house. In red smoke is a rider on a horse holding a spear. The title is in large white Celtic-looking script.
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Zumbador

New nice experience for me, getting emails from parents ordering books for their kids next shool year (my book Crooks & Straights was set as a reader for Grade 8 at a school in Durban).

I just hope having the book as a school set book doesn't put the kids off it! "OMG being forced to read about werewolves and sentient tea in Cape Town" teenage🙄

#FantasyReads#WritingLife
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