The Bright Sword

 By: Lev Grossman 

Location: FIC GRO

Genre: Mythology- Arthur Story

A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find 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 Tables, 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 are laying 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.

Review by Sabina

Lev Grossman checks all of the usual boxes—the characters, the magic system, and worldbuilding and the writing are all there and gorgeous, but he also does more. He writes emotion unlike any other author that I’ve ever read. He brings all the dark, depressing parts of his character’s lives to the surface of their being and then, as he relentlessly whales on them and has them fail over and over and cuts off their fingers, he somehow manages to etch hope into every facet of his stories. Everything sucks in Camelot, he tells us, but there are still adventures and miracles to be had.

And re-the usual boxes: I’m obsessed with the characters, I’m obsessed with Collum, I’m obsessed with Arthur and Bedivere and Dinadan, and I’m going to marry Nimue. I am going to kill Merlin. I would live in Camelot even though I would 100% die a horrible terrible death. I would vacation in the Otherworld even though I would die an even worse death there. I’m going to go back through the book when I have a physical copy in my hands and highlight the shit out of it, then sleep with it under my pillow like I used to do with Crush so I can perhaps absorb some of Lev Grossman’s genius.

There’s too much to say. I loved this book, obviously. I feel like Lev Grossman personally wrote the gay and trans characters in this book for me, specifically, and I will be grateful forever to him for that one. Everyone please read this one as soon as it’s out and then come to my house so we can talk about it and I will be sooooo normal about it I promise. My favorite book of the year by far!!!! And will probably be my favorite book of 2024 as well once it’s actually out!!