How to use this Page

This is only my second Kazuo Ishiguro book following on from Never Let Me Go. For me, coming off a novel about cloning, I had no expectations about where he would go next. Much has been made about this novel being a “departure” for Ishiguro but I would argue that he has gone back to something […]

Helen Cooper edited and abridged the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Le Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory, which is arguably the definitive English version of the stories of King Arthur. Completed in 1467-70, it charts the tragic disintegration of the fellowship of the Round Table, destroyed from within by warring factions. It also recounts the life of King Arthur, the knightly exploits of Sir Lancelot du Lake, Sir Tristram, Sir Gawain, and the quest for the Holy Grail. In the original blog post below, Helen Cooper states the case for King Arthur being the most successful commercial brand in English Literature (even more so than Shakespeare) and explains what Malory did that was so remarkable.

King Arthur has some claim to be the most successful commercial brand in the history of English literature, ahead even of Shakespeare. He has certainly been famous for much longer: his reputation has been growing for some fifteen centuries, against Shakespeare’s mere four. The historical Arthur, if he ever existed, was most likely to have been the leader of a war-band trying to hold at bay the invading Saxons in the wake of the withdrawal of the Roman armies, perhaps early in the sixth century. His fame was preserved in oral traditions for the next few hundred years, and only occasionally reached the written record; but after a Norman-Welsh cleric, Geoffrey of Monmouth, invented a full biography for him in the 1130s, stories about him have spawned and expanded, until by now we have a deluge of retellings, historical or unashamed fantasy, for adults and children; films, television series, and wargames; parodies at all levels, not least from the Monty Python team; a tourist industry, and consumer items from toy swords to T-shirts. There is even a fast-food shop in Tintagel named Excaliburgers.

Geoffrey wrote in Latin, and the story he invented remains just about plausible in historical terms: his Arthur is a great conqueror who unites Britain under his rule, overruns much of Europe and reaches the very gates of Rome. The first overtly fictional accounts of his court, not least the knights of the Round Table, were written in French. Magic begins to creep into these new stories, and so does love: there is no Lancelot in the historical tradition. For a long time, Arthurian material in English kept largely to the quasi-historical account as outlined by Geoffrey, and anyone who wanted a detailed acquaintance with the romance elaborations of the story still had to read them in French. It was not until the late fifteenth century that a Warwickshire knight, Sir Thomas Malory, distilled the full story of the Round Table into a single English version. The result, the Morte Darthur, is one of the great works of English literature, and it underlies, directly or indirectly, almost every version of the legend produced in the anglophone world since then. Greg Doran’s 2010 production of the Morte with the Royal Shakespeare Company is the latest of these, and its script, by Mike Poulton, is impressively (and exceptionally) faithful to its original.

The qualities that make Malory so remarkable are the same ones that have made most of his literary descendants want to change him. For him, actions speak not only more loudly than words but often instead of them. Causes are often missing and motives have to be deduced, in a way that sets the imagination buzzing. Morality is carried by a few adjectives: noble, worshipful, faithful, against recreant or cowardly. The love of Lancelot and Guinevere is good because it is faithful: ‘she was a true lover, and therefore she had a good end’, as Malory puts it in one of his rare authorial interventions, cutting through all the questions about

The Thirteenth Skull
Alfred Kropp: Book 3
by Rick Yancey

Having battled the agents of darkness over the sword Excalibur, and faced a horde of demons from Hell, Alfred Kropp has had enough. He just wants to live an ordinary life as an ordinary teenager. He asks OIPEP to "extract" him from his life and give him a new identity. But nothing goes according to plan, as Alfred is pursued by a madman bent on revenge and seeking a mythical "thirteenth skull," while rogue elements within OIPEP seek to use Alfred for their own purposes. Even his sworn guardian Samuel St. John, the former Operative Nine, seems to have secrets of his own. What can Alfred do when he doesn't know who to trust, and no where in the world seems safe?

As with the other books in the series, Rick Yancey wastes no time getting to the action. By the fourth page, things are already blowing up, and by the sixth page, Alfred is on the run. Yancey doesn't waste a lot of time with back story, and yet he expertly weaves in enough information that I think someone could read this book without having read the other two.

Alfred is still quite likable as an "everyman" character, but he's also changed: he's leaner, harder, more willing to do "the thing that needs be done." And yet, paradoxically, his innocence, compassion, and sense of justice have grown as well. The tension between "the thing that needs to be done" and "the thing that's right" sets up a conflict that forms the backbone of the story.

This book is just as exciting as the others in the series, with non-stop action mixed with occasional humor. Yet, it's also in some ways deeper and more sophisticated. The Thirteenth Skull can be read on two levels. Readers looking for an exciting adventure story will find that they don't come much more exciting than Alfred Kropp. At this level, it's a perfect book for reluctant readers. But those looking for a little bit more will find depth in the themes relating to sacrifice, forgiveness, and the human relationship to the divine.

Tomorrow’s Magic
Author: Pamela F. Service
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 978-0-375-84087-6


England.
Sometime in the future.
Nuclear winter.
Mutants.
Magic.
Arthurian legend.
Boarding school.

It’s five centuries after the world has been torn apart by nuclear war. England has fared better than other countries because they had disarmed and destroyed all nuclear weapons and so weren’t a target when all hell broke loose. Still, the nuclear war has affected everywhere in the world. People that aren’t mutants are dark skinned, the sky is brown not blue and ice is everywhere. Trees and nature are almost extinct.

Wellington Jones and Heather McKenna are outcasts in their British boarding school. Heather isn’t wanted by her mother and her new stepfather, she’s plain and she hangs out with animals. Wellington or Welly is fat, nearsighted and a bit of a nerd. He reads about military campaigns and dreams of becoming a strategist since he can’t become a soldier. Needless to say the bullies of the school, in particular one named Nigel pick on them constantly but Heather and Welly are fast friends and find a way to survive.

On one of their adventures they run into trouble and are saved by Earl, a thin, pale boy who was found years ago speaking a strange language and taken in as a charity case. The children welcome Earl into their circle of friendship and try to find out more about him. Why is he so pale? Who were his people? Where did he come from? Why does he have those screaming nightmares?

One day a couple claiming to be Earl’s aunt and uncle come to claim him but he feels something wrong about them, something evil and escapes. Heather and Welly follow him, determined to protect their newfound friend. A battle with the aunt, who turns out to be Morgan Le Fey of Arthurian legend brings Earl’s memory back and his friends are shocked to find he is the one and only Merlin, rescued from his forced entombment by Nimue and Morgan by a chance blast to the cave.

Earl/Merlin and the children set off on a quest to find Avalon and Arthur who Merlin thinks will save this world. What follows is an incredible and beautiful tale in grand style. There are battles, magic, fairies, trolls, teen angst, friendship and loyalty.

Tomorrow’s Magic is also a timely warning about nuclear war, war in general and the importance of saving our world from destruction. The grim and icy future that Pamela Service illustrates so well is entirely possible and scarily real.

Book description from the publisher:
It's 500 years after the nuclear holocaust that devastated the earth's population and left the few survivors dealing with unending winter. At their remote British boarding school, Wellington Jones and Heather McKenna have a lot in common. Both are misfits trying to avoid attention, and both are fascinated by Earl, a tall, calm, older boy with no recollection of his past, but a remarkable knack for showing up when he is needed most.

When a blow to the head brings Earl's memory back, he claims that he is actually Merlin . . . a 2000-year-old wizard.

Originally published in two volumes in the mid-1980s, Pamela F. Service's creative, futuristic spin on the Camelot legend will appeal to Arthurian purists and fantasy lovers alike.