Book Twelve: Gwenhwyfar

Book Twelve: Gwenhwyfar
Pages: 404
Finished: January 30

Mercedes Lackey’s answer to The Mists of Avalon is an interesting look at the Arthurian legend through the eyes of Gwenhwyfar, a young Celtic warrior. I say interesting because Lackey found some interesting poetry that suggests that King Arthur actually married three different women over the course of his reign who were all named Guinevere. While the Welsh spelling of names drove me a little batty because I do not know how to pronounce them at all, the book itself was quite entertaining.
The premise, that Arthur had many wives with the same name, instead of one woman who did lots of different things, was a good idea. Chock full of facts about weapons, horses, battle strategies, and pagan beliefs, it was obviously well researched. I liked the narrative choice of a girl growing up during Arthur’s reign, and I liked the mystical additions. I don’t really like the Arthurian books that make it historically accurate, removing all vestige of romanticism and magic. I think that Arthurian legend isn’t worth reading unless there is a little magic in it. Even the movie, The Sword in the Stone, has magic in it, and you love Merlin for it.
Some of the characters were quite a bit more different than I was expecting and I didn’t like that. Was it sad to see the Merlin made into a bad guy, or at least a not so perfect wise man? Certainly. I also love this quote from the Afterword by the author “I think every fantasy writer decides at one point or another to tackle ‘the matter of Britain,’ otherwise known as the legend of King Arthur” (402). I think this is often the case, many authors seem to have spent some time with “the matter of Britain” these days.
Although I am partial to The Mists of Avalon myself, I did find this an interesting take on the subject.
Is the book perfect? Certainly not. I found many of the characters to be confusing to compare with the stories that I know, mostly due to the Welsh names, but also since the main character didn’t actually meet Arthur until late in the book, she doesn’t actually see many of the things that I would have recognized. Another problem that I had was the stereotypical characterization of many of the characters; evil characters are all evil; the heroine knows the bad guy from an early age; the good characters are wise and make astonishing, world-altering decisions.
Overall, I found the book an enjoyable romp through medieval Britain. A new idea, and a new way of looking at Arthur. I’d probably only recommend it to people who liked The Mists of Avalon and other books of it’s ilk, but I would recommend it, which is saying something.

Good Reading,
Caitlin