This is a retelling of the story of 'King' Arthur. It draws on both the legends and the 'historical' sources: thus it includes the story of the sword in the stone, Arthur is not a 'King' but Overlord - Dux Bellorum, meaning Warlord in the sources - and the story culminates in the Battle of Mons Badonicus. It is set in the context of a Britain that has reverted to fragmented Celtic Kingdoms after the Romans have left and is being assailed by raiders and invaders: Hibernians from Ireland and Anglo-Saxons ('Barbarians') from across the North Sea.
It is divided into three books. Book One starts with a long scene-setting description like a Victorian novel and then seemed to morph into a retelling of The Sword in the Stone by T H White, as Geraint, a teenage princeling living in a tiny kingdom on the English-Welsh border is told by Myrddin (Merlin) that he is really Arthur and trained to become Overlord of Britannia. There was a clear 'Hero's Journey' moment when Geraint rejects the call but his rebellion seems to fizzle out before the next day dawns. Book Two, set sixteen years later, starts with a battle and then follows the twists and turns of Arthur's diplomatic attempts to create an effective unity amongst the discordant Britannian Kings, culminating in a conference around a Round Table. Book Three, set later that year, sees the climactic battle of Badon and sets off for the sequel as Medraut (Mordred) is introduced and Arthur plans to marry Gwynafir (Guinevere).
It's the sort of historical novel that uses huge amounts of detail to create verisimilitude. We know the details of Arthur's meals, his sleeping arrangements, the ebb and flow of the battles, and all the complexities of the negotiations with the Kings. Arthur crisscrosses the land and we learn of every town he passes through - each one referred to by its Roman name. There are over twenty kingdoms referred to by their Celtic tribal names. He meets a large number of characters (there were at least a dozen kings at the big conference). Despite repeatedly referring to a cast list and a list of all the towns and their modern equivalents and a map of all the Kingdoms, I was overwhelmed. How was I supposed to keep track and distinguish between Caldoros King of Dumnonia and Candidianos King of Dobunnia, or Cunorix King of Catuvellaunia and Cunegnus King of Cornovia? All this plethora of detail made it sound like an authentic history but it was exhausting.
The real danger with having a cast of thousands is being unable to create characters of sufficient depth and complexity. Most of the Kings were ciphers, either goodies (eg Candidianos) or baddies (eg Cunorix and Vortebelos). But the principals were nicely drawn. Arthur was an interesting Jekyll and Hyde character: one moment cultured, thoughtful and kind, the next a decisive and ruthless warrior. The rivalry between Gwenan his lover who wanted to be his queen and Modlen his tongueless scribe who wanted to be his mistress was nicely played. Myrrdin was, as usual, played for laughs: "the old advisor relished the company of a good-looking young woman who was intelligent enough to understand what he was talking about but couldn't interrupt him." (Ch 24)
There were some clever resonances drawn between Arthur's Britain and our own. The country is depicted as having been cut off from the continent by the withdrawal of the Romans (echoes of Brexit) and by the conservatism of some of the Kings who seek to return to the pre-Roman past. Like Arthur we live in a post-imperial past, forever confronted by reminders of ancient glories: "I just feel despair at living in such an inadequate generation." (Ch 5) The hostility to the Hibernians and Anglo-Saxons had parallels with that directed to modern immigrants. The decay of their cities (in part caused by plague) seems to mirror those of our own, post-austerity post-Covid times: "these ancient ruins, so depressing in their dereliction - not because of how destroyed they were, but because of what they said about how the country had changed for the worse." (Ch 10) There's even a nod to climate change: the Barbarians are, in part, being forced to leave their coastline "as water levels rose" (Ch 11)
These subtle connections enriched the narrative of this extraordinarily detailed historical novel.
April 2024; 398 pages
No comments:
Post a Comment