Review: Of Chivalry and Revenge
The latest ARC I received from Celeste Baxendell is Of Chivalry and Revenge , a perspective swap on the classic King Arthur tales in which Morgana, who is typically portrayed as a villain, gets her happy ending. This book is different from anything else I've read by Celeste Baxendell. Usually, her stories are long and complex, introducing characters and worlds that take a lot of time and effort to keep track of. That formula worked well in Cinders of Glass , which is currently my favorite "Cinderella" retelling. Here, everything is stripped down to brass tacks, using only the original Arthurian lore with no new magic systems or settings to keep track of. With its shorter length and simpler plot, this book would have fit perfectly with the multi-author Villain's Ever After series to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if it was initially intended for that. Most of my Arthurian knowledge comes from vague high school memories, the BBC's Merlin series , and...