
The Bright Sword
A Novel of King Arthur
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Narrated by:
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Nicholas Guy Smith
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Lev Grossman
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By:
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Lev Grossman
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A New York Times Editors’ Choice • The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Magicians Trilogy and “master storyteller” (New York Times) returns with a triumphant reimagining of the King Arthur legend for the new millennium
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, NPR, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, VANITY FAIR, TIME, OPRAH DAILY, TOWN & COUNTRY, ELLE, VOX, PASTE, LIT HUB, POLYGON, KIRKUS REVIEWS
“Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword stands out as the best fantasy of the year.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Grossman, who is best known for his The Magicians series, is at the top of his game with The Bright Sword.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A thrilling new take on Arthurian legend. . . . Marvelous.” —The Washington Post
“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.” —George R. R. Martin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones
A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a place at the Round Table, only to find that he’s too late. King Arthur died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table are left.
The survivors aren’t the heroes of legend like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Table, 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.
But it's up to them to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance, even as God abandons Britain and the fairies and old gods return, led by Morgan le Fay. They must reclaim Excalibur and make this ruined world whole again—but first they'll have to solve the mystery of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell.
The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, The Bright Sword is steeped in tradition, complete with duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings. It's also a story about imperfect men and women, full of strength and pain, trying to reforge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves.
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Interview: "The Bright Sword" reimagines the legend of King Arthur for today’s age
Editorial Review
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A new twist on King Arthur
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Absolutely PERFECT!
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Wonderful
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Meh
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A real treat.
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Enjoyable and thought provoking
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A Tight Tapestry
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Similarly, there's a charming self-awareness to Grossman's voice: "The Bright Sword" is a sort of conscious revisiting of familiar legend, rather than a book pretending to weave these tales from scratch. In one sequence, confronted with a spontaneous quest in the forest, one knight proposes heading back for reinforcements. "That's not how these things work," comes the reply. "We'll never find this spot again if we leave and come back." It's a funny observation, and this way, Grossman tips his hand: not just he and the reader, but the characters themselves are aware of the Arthurian tropes.
"The Bright Sword" deftly has its cake an eats it too: it's both an earnest return to the land of Camelot, but also a book offered in a modern voice that seems to say, "let's have some fun with this bedtime story, shall we?"
Fun, funny, enchanting, and deeply moving, this is a knockout that's easy to recommend to anyone, whether they've dreamt of the Round Table, or simply wanted a rich story about friendship and love. (Wonderful narration by Nicholas Guy Smith, who treads the fine line between reading and performance with unusual skill).
Luminous, heartfelt, bursting with humanity.
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The characters!
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Phenomenal Arthur Tale true to Grossman’s Style
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