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Summary and Reviews of The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

The Bright Sword

A Novel of King Arthur

by Lev Grossman
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  • Jul 16, 2024, 688 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Magicians trilogy returns with a triumphant reimagining of the King Arthur legend for the new millennium.

A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find that he's too late. The king died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, leaving no heir, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table survive.

They aren't the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They're the oddballs of the Round Table, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur's fool, who was knighted as a joke. They're joined by Nimue, who was Merlin's apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.

But Arthur's death has revealed Britain's fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur's half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords lay siege to Camelot and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they'll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell, and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain's dark past.

The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, The Bright Sword is steeped in tradition, full of duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings. It also sheds a fresh light on Arthur's Britain, a diverse, complex nation struggling to come to terms with its bloody history. The Bright Sword is a story about imperfect men and women, full of strength and pain, who are looking for a way to reforge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves.

One

Azure, Three Scepters, a Chevron Or

Collum punched the other knight in the face with the pommel of his sword gripped in his gauntleted fist, so hard the dark inlaid metal dimpled under his knuckles, but his opponent showed absolutely no sign of falling over or surrendering to him. He swore under his breath and followed it up with a kick to the ankle but missed and almost fell down, and the other knight spun gracefully and clouted him smartly in the head so his ears rang. He would've given a thousand pounds to be able to wipe the sweat out of his eyes, not that he had a thousand pounds. He had exactly three shillings and two silver pennies to his name.

The two men backed off and circled each other, big swords held up at stiff angles, shifting from guard to guard, heavy shards of bright sunlight glancing and glaring off the blades. They'd dropped their shields after the tilt to have both hands free. No mistakes now, Collum thought. Circles not lines, Marshal Aucassin whispered in his ...

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

The Bright Sword is a vast, sprawling, entertaining adventure in true Arthurian tradition, encompassing influences from across the legend's immense spectrum. With its tumultuous depiction of a world in chaos, lacking in leaders of depth and vision, full of unreliable allies and unexpected enemies, and bereft of meaningful convictions, values, or moral compass, it can be argued that it reflects contemporary society's concerns. Some events that should be momentous are instead somewhat anticlimactic, such as the great battle between Morgan's fairy forces and the Christian knights. Futile actions and false endings can serve a valuable purpose in epic literature, but there are perhaps too many of them in this particular story. It is, however, a riotous, imaginative, and exciting series of exploits, and an overarching adventure imbued with Arthurian magic and mystery...continued

Full Review Members Only (704 words)

(Reviewed by Jo-Anne Blanco).

Media Reviews

Boston Globe
[An] epic tale of survivors and magic.

Elle
The Magicians author Lev Grossman took on what seemed the impossible: making the Arthurian legend feel fresh. Miraculously, he's done just that with The Bright Sword, which answers what came after King Arthur's fall... . Fans of classic fantasy and ancient magic will devour this one.

Locus
This is storytelling at its purest: glorious, propulsive, and dramatic. Drawing on every aspect of the Arthurian mythos (and more besides), Grossman presents us with fairies, gi­ants, gods, angels, spellcasters, and elemental forces. The magical battles and the sword fights are all imbued with a cinematic quality while still maintaining a sense of the real, of metal parting flesh, of death and bone-crunching violence... . In opening the Arthurian legend to other forms of representation, Grossman recasts the narrative as a story about change.

Minneapolis Star Tribune
The fantasy epic of the summer features an unexpectedly brilliant twist on one of the most famous stories of all time. The Bright Sword is a rousing, imaginative continuation of the King Arthur myth... . Magic and murder abound in this rollicking adventure, a thrilling addition to Arthurian lore.

Paste
A doorstopper of an Arthurian retelling from the author of The Magicians trilogy, The Bright Sword offers a fresh take on the story by considering what comes after King Arthur.

Polygon
Call it the millennial experience transposed onto Camelot; arriving in the big city full of hopes and dreams to find the economy is in freefall, all your heroes are dead or awful, and no one is coming to save you. Even with only one previous trilogy of adult fantasy under his belt, the premise is indelibly Lev Grossman.

Town and Country
A magical, enthralling tale that you won't be able to put down.

Vulture
Like the best of Grossman's work, [The Bright Sword] is funny and sweeping ... the medieval-romance structure allows Bright Sword even more space to capitalize on Grossman's talent for digression, dawdling, and finding unexpected trapdoors inside stories.

BookPage
Readers willing to savor the book over many nights will find each chapter a neatly arranged, minia­ture adventure of its own. Traditionally minimal side characters in the story of Arthur—like Sir Bedivere, Sir Palomides and even Dagonet the Fool—receive intricate, deep backstories that erase the mythological buildup around each figure, viewing them instead in a far more human and often more modern light. At once full of desperate hope and grievous loss, The Bright Sword is a moody reflection on Arthur's tale.

Booklist (starred review)
Satisfyingly epic but also fast-paced, this novel captures everything that's grand and magnificent about the age of King Arthur while picking at its edges and delving into its darker depths. All fantasy and mythology fans will want to make time for this moving, entertaining epic... . This epic fantasy is sure to be a hit.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The story of King Arthur has been told and substantially altered many times over the centuries, and explored by a multitude of contemporary novelists, but the author of the Magicians trilogy makes room for himself here... . Very few writers have explored post-Arthurian Britain or focused quite so much on developing the stories of the minor characters in the saga... . A fresh take.

Library Journal (starred review)
Highly recommended for readers who can't resist a story featuring brave knights, stalwart queens, and magic.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A breathtaking tale that honors past iterations while producing something entirely unexpected... . Grossman does a remarkable job of pulling together these disparate strands while providing enough combat and magic to keep the pages turning. Epic fantasy fans will hang on every word.

Author Blurb George R. R. Martin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones
If you love King Arthur as much as I do, you'll love Lev Grossman's The Bright Sword, a fresh and engrossing take on the Matter of Britain featuring a colorful cast of Round Table knights who don't often get as much story time as they deserve. The creator of The Magicians has woven another spell.

Author Blurb Rebecca Yarros, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fourth Wing and Iron Flame
For anyone who's ever craved a seat at the Round Table. Utterly enchanting.

Author Blurb Victor LaValle, national bestselling author of Lone Women
Once I picked this novel up, I could not stop reading. The Bright Sword is compulsively readable and expertly told. Lev Grossman transports the reader with such assurance and finesse. Just pick it up and lose yourself inside these pages. You won't want to leave until the tale is done.

Reader Reviews

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Beyond the Book



New Perspectives in 21st-Century Arthuriana

Four book covers of books based in ArthurianaSince the earliest texts of the 11th and 12th centuries (which in turn are based on much older narratives), Arthurian legend has been one of the richest sources of material available to authors. Over centuries, the tales, characters, and concepts of Arthuriana have lent themselves to a seemingly inexhaustible wealth of adaptations, interpretations, reimaginings, borrowings, and influences. The second half of the 20th century saw Arthuriana transcend genres, embracing everything from science fiction to feminist fiction, mystery thrillers to musicals, movies to comic books. Its hold on the popular imagination remains as powerful in the 21st century as it ever has been, and as society continues to evolve, so too does Arthuriana.

Some 21st-...

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Read-Alikes

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