The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur by Lev Grossman

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.

REVIEWS

“Lev Grossman’s new novel, The Bright Sword, joins 1,400 years of storytelling and resoundingly earns its place among the best of Arthurian tales. . . . Grossman, who is best known for his The Magicians series, is at the top of his game with The Bright Sword, which is full of enviable ideas and execution. Few authors could accomplish what he has, grounding such an ambitious novel in so much tradition and history while still making it accessible and deeply affecting.”—Kiersten White, The New York Times Book Review

“A thrilling new take on Arthurian legend. . . . Marvelous. . . . As Grossman’s splendid, offbeat quest reaches its conclusion, we see Arthur’s waves of Saxon invaders and their many predecessors refracted in a different light, one that helps illuminate our own tumultuous, battle-torn age in the way that only the best epics can.” —Elizabeth Hand, The Washington Post

“The Knights of the Round Table are ragtag oddballs in this fresh retelling of the King Arthur tale. With fairies, wizards and Excalibur, it’s part history, part fantasy and all fun.”—People magazine

PRODUCT DETAILS
Trade Paperback
Publisher: Viking
ISBN:  978-0735224049
Pages: 688