Travel Reading: BC Summer

It is far too difficult to write up proper reviews when I've been away from regular internet access for extended periods of time. Thus I started this Travel Reading series, where I simply write a couple sentences about each book read, and leave it at that. So from a trip home to my family and friends in BC comes the following:

"Owl in Love" by Patrice Kindl
Grade: 3 stars
Strange little book, which seems to be Kindl's style. I like her best in fairy tale land, where strangeness doesn't seem unusual (Goose Chase made me very happy). But this one was surprisingly entertaining. The strangeness was less disconcerting than in The Woman in the Wall. Owl's voice is unique, even from Kindl's other heroines; her inhuman-ness was treated well. And I still want to read every one of the rest of her books, if only for curiosity's sake. 2 1/2 stars because I think it was a little young for me, but then an extra 1/2 star for the fact that I couldn't really stop reading it.



"A Coalition of Lions" by Elizabeth Wein
Grade: 3 stars
A sequel to the Arthurian retelling The Winter Prince, but not nearly as heart-wrenching and impactful. I still enjoyed it, especially in the enormous potential for a favourite new character that was young Telemakos (the future books follow him as a protagonist). The setting and politics were cool as well. But it felt too short, and like some of the relationships (especially Priamos and Goewin) and characters needed more background and build up.





"Port Eternity" by C. J. Cherryh
Grade: 2 1/2 stars
Not as good as the other Cherryh I read (Cuckoo's Egg) but that was expected. I'd read reviews beforehand that indicated this. I only read it as my next Cherryh because it was an Arthurian retelling of sorts, and I've been on a bit of an Arthurian kick recently (see A Coalition of Lions above and the Top Ten (Or So): Arthurian Retellings list). I think I would have preferred even more character development, though maybe that wouldn't be possible with the kind of characters these "people" were. Or maybe what I wanted was more action... It happened at the end, but there seemed to be a big, slow build up to some large character explosion, and that never happened as much as I expected. The mythic, idyllic ending seemd to suit more conflict and events than actually happened.



"The Curse of Chalion" by Lois McMaster Bujold
Grade: 3 1/2 stars
It was a little slow to start out with, but once I got far enough through, the Bujold-ness showed up, especially with the main character, Cazaril. The interaction between gods and men was great. There are certain elements of theism that Bujold seems to understand much better than most people (this also showed up in the Vorkosigan saga with Cordelia's beliefs).
Note: everything about this edition (the back cover text, the inside cover picture) indicates there's a cliched main romance, which there isn't. Just putting that out there because it turned me off for a while.



"Tomorrow When the War Began" by John Marsden
Grade: 3 1/2 stars
I appreciated the realism of this YA post-apocalyptic Australian survival story. The teens seemed to me to act and think much like real teens. There was even a religious (not just "spiritual") girl who wasn't stupid or puritanical! That was hugely refreshing. The Australian element also gave it a bit of exciting exoticism for me as a Canadian. I think I'd like to read the sequels, once I come back from my travels and adventures and start a normal life again. It won't be that high on my list, since I didn't become passionate about any particular element. But it was a great and exciting and highly readable start to a series, and I'd recommend it to people who were mature enough for the small amount of sexual content.

Kingdom of Summer

by Gillian Bradshaw

Story summary: Sequel to Hawk of May. "Armed with his magical sword and otherwordly horse, Gwalchmai [Sir Gawain] proves himself the most feared and faithful warrior of Arthur's noble followers. But while defending the kingdom, he commits a grave offense against the woman he loves, leading her to disappear from his life and haunt his memories." (From the back cover.)

Why You Will Like This Book:

• A tale of a quest for redemption and forgiveness
• Deep character study
• Historical accuracy
• Inspiring Christianity (without being a "Christian book")

And Why You Might Not:

• It was pretty sad. Well, more bittersweet than anything else, I suppose. I don't want to spoil too much, so I won't be specific.

Top Ten (Or So): Arthurian Retellings

With specific bias towards Sir Gawain, because he's my favourite knight by far. There are so many things about him...
--his rather large family of brothers and parents and their often complicated and damaged relationship with each other,
--the fact that they basically live on top of the world (Orkney FTW!*),
--the fact that he is not Sir Lancelot, and not only does he not commit adultery, his most famous stories are about how he treats marriage vows as sacred,
--the fact that Arthur is his uncle, even though they are of similar age, which makes for a cool dynamic (and basically makes him a prince),
--his common portrayal of having a bit of faery blood, and thus being just that bit more strange than everyone else,
--his association with light and the sun, gaining and losing strength as it does (I can relate to this myself sometimes, with my constant craving for sunlight),
--and last but not least, his usually-red hair--though even the non-red haired version of him still seems to have gorgeous hair (see Merlin below).

In fact, I like him so much that I'm going to divide this list into two lists, one with all the books/movies/TV that made me love Gawain, and one for all the rest.

(Taken from LilyBotanica on DevientArt.)

Arthurian Retellings Where Sir Gawain Is Awesome:

--The King Arthur Trilogy (consisting of The Sword and the Circle, The Light Beyond the Forest, and Road to Camlann) by Rosemary Sutcliff. This is a bit more of a straightforward retelling of the legends than most on this list. A good one to start off with, for that reason. And because Sutcliff is possibly the best historical fiction author I've read. Plus Sir Gawain is great in this one. All red-haired and passionate and Orkney and fey.

--The Squire's Tale and its sequel, The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady by Gerald Morris. A hilarious children's series with action, romance, and adventure--and best of all, it's centered on a funny and heroic Sir Gawain. In fact, I believe this book may have been the start of my love for Gawain. (There's a bit of annoying anti-Catholicism, but it wasn't even bad enough to throw me off at the younger age that I read it.)

--Hawk of May by Gillian Bradshaw. An inspiring and personal look at my favourite knight (called Gwalchmai here). Unlike the other attempt to bring Arthurian legends into a historically accurate era (see the King Arthur movie below), this one actually does seem accurate (though I am no historian, so don't take my word for it). Has everything I like best about historical fiction, plus some beautiful parts that appealed to my Faith. Made me want to read everything she's written.

--The TV show Merlin. Ok, so I haven't actually seen a lot of this show, so it's kind of cheating to put it on this list. But what I have seen was great fun, filled with humour and adventure. Gawain was quite different than his normal portrayals here, being one of the least noble of the knights instead of the most. But although I wish they could have delved into his character a bit more, and got to all the interesting bits (should have incorporated the Loathly Lady legend somehow), he was one of the more charming and amusing characters on a charming and amusing show.

--Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Middle English poem from the 14th century, translated by J. R. R. Tolkien. I'm not always fan of poetry, and not always fan of reading old literature for fun (in a study environment is different--I love that). But this was highly enjoyable. Maybe because I like Gawain so much, or Tolkien's style, or maybe because I like poetry and old literature more than I thought and I should give it the benefit of the doubt more.

--The Once and Future King by T. H. White. Other than the first book, The Sword in the Stone (on which the Disney movie was based), this is a pretty dark book. I loved it. The parts with Gawain and his brothers especially could be so creepy and atmospheric and memorable! Enough so that I lifted the "Runner Up" status on this one, even though Gawain was not very likeable and this is the "Gawain is Awesome" list.

--Runner Up: The movie King Arthur, starring Clive Owen and Keira Knightly. I heard that the historical inaccuracy is rather high on this one--which is fine sometimes, but not when it's trying to be specifically historical. That, as well as the Pelagianism and my lack of interest in Lancelot or Guinevere or their relationships with Arthur are the main reasons why it's a runner up. But there's nothing like a group of awesome guys fighting battles together, especially when the guys are as epic as Sir Tristan and Sir Gawain were in this one. (They were minor characters, but decidedly still my favourites. See this awesome picture of the two of them:)

--Runner Up: Parzival by Katherine Paterson. I read this when I was very young, and loved it. Upon re-reading it recently, it doesn't hold up to an older reading age. It was quite simplistic. But I'm adding it because of how much it thrilled my imagination when I was little. I still remember the feeling of reading some of its main scenes, and I have a very bad memory.

Arthurian Retellings Where Sir Gawain Is Not Awesome, but That Are Still Good for Some Reason:

--The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein. Dark and beautiful. The main character is based off of Mordred--one who is broken but struggling for goodness, and not as evil as he is often portrayed. Upon re-reading my review from back in 2012, I was surprised by my lack of enthusiasm. I think now, being a fair bit older and hopefully more discerning, I would have a more glowing reaction. Because the feeling of reading this book is still memorable after all this time, which indicates a lot to me-of-the-bad-memory.

--The movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. If you haven't already seen this...why haven't you? It can be rather sketchy and irreligious, I suppose. But it's also absolutely hilarious and a cultural icon.

--Runner Up: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle. Like Sutcliff's King Arthur Trilogy, mentioned above, this is more of a standard retelling. But in this case, I like Sutcliff's much more, thus the "Runner Up" status. Plus I seem to remember that Sir Gawain is rather boorish (though maybe I'm thinking of the little bits I've read of Malory?**), so that's always a let-down. But it's still one of the staples of Arthurian retellings. I know many people enjoy it, so I thought it really ought to be here anyway. It's just not quite as much my cup of tea.

--Runner Up: That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis. It's a runner up because it's not an Arthurian retelling, per se. But a fabulous book, and full of fascinating Arthurian references in the later parts. Those parts probably thrilled me most of all.

(The Orkneys!!!!!)

* I have been to Orkney, and it is one of my favourite places in the world. It made me love those legends that much more.

** I haven't read Malory's famous version (excluding a short skim through little bits of it). Partly because Lancelot annoys me and he's featured heavily, partly because I've read enough Arthur by this point that it would have to have something great to recommend it. Maybe I will one day if I get the chance to do a proper literature study on it.

Hawk of May

by Gillian Bradshaw

Story summary: A retelling of  some of the Arthurian legends from Sir Gawain's point of view (called Gwalchmai here), and with historical accuracy.

Why You Will Like This Book:

• Epic, personal, inspiring, gripping.
• Though it's not a Christian book, I found this very inspiring in a specifically Christian way.

And Why You Might Not:

• It's yet another Arthurian retelling, and there are so many of them. Really I think that shouldn't matter. If it's fabulous, it's fabulous. But it might turn you off if you're tired of so much Arthur.

Sword of the Rightful King

by Jane Yolen

Grade: 2 stars
Story summary: Gawain and his brothers leave their home in the Orkneys and their witch mother to go to King Arthur's court. Meanwhile at King Arthur's court, Merlinnus comes up with an plan to solidify Arthur's standing as king of Britain, and a mysterious boy shows up to be apprenticed to Merlinnus.

Thoughts: There was great potential here, I thought. The story of the Orkney princes (Gawaine and his brothers Agravaine, Gaheris, Gareth, and sometimes even Mordred), their cruel, clever mother, and strange, isolated upbringing could make a fascinating story, if told in the right way. And King Arthur is almost always a fairly complex figure, generally struggling with insecurities and betrayal and all those things kings have to deal with. The problem is--frankly, I just don't think this was very well written. There was Gawaine and his brothers, interrupting the Arthur/Merlinnus/Gawen storyline, for no apparent reason that I could see. Did the two storylines ever really mesh? I mean, Gawaine & brothers arrived Cadbury (this book's version of Camelot), and spoke to Arthur and all that. But they could have been skipped entirely without any change to Arthur's story, as far as I can tell. It gave a general lack of coherence to the book. Many of the characters could have fleshed out a lot more as well, and I thought the dialogue could have been much more interesting.

Perhaps it's mostly that all the best ideas in this book have been done much better elsewhere. The Winter Prince and The Once and Future King properly get into the twisted familial relationships usually present in the King Arthur legends (although I think they were both  a bit too dark for this kind of book). Robin McKinley did a similar sort of story line to Gawen's in Outlaws of Sherwood (again a retelling of a legend), except much more exciting and well put-together. And finally, while reading, I was frequently comparing King Arthur's scenes with similar ideas in The King of Attolia. Now that is how you write a king winning over his people.

In the end, I would still suggest this for people who, like me, will read anything they can get their hands on that features Sir Gawain in an at least semi-positive light*. Or maybe for younger teens, who might be able to glean some of the themes only passed by here, and won't notice the missing depth.

*Sir Gawain has always been my favourite of Arthur's knights, for his growth in character after his first miserable adventure (chopping of that women's head) and the Green Knight adventure, for his brothers and mother and their weird dynamic, and for the fact that he wasn't Sir Lancelot.

The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True

by Gerald Morris

Grade: 2 1/2 stars
Story: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. You know the story. And if you don't, you should, and it's not my job to enlighten you.

Thoughts: Good. Funny. For kids. I'm rather too old to properly judge this (despite the fact that Sir Gawain is my all time favourite knight ever), as it is for a much younger audience than me. So...yeah. That's all for today.