Format: E-Book, 335 pages
Release Date: November 17th 2020
Publisher: Zenith Publishing
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Steampunk
Avalon, city of kings. Sky towers and airships dominate its skyline, dinosaurs roam freely throughout its parklands, and bounty hunters lurk in its shadows.
Guinevere has always lived on the outskirts of Avalon, working as an archivist in the central library. While corruption runs rampant throughout the city, her life is fairly mundane and predictable. That is, until she discovers the map to Excalibur and uncovers a plot to usurp the throne.
Finding herself on the run from these would-be king-slayers, Guinevere sets out to find the mythical sword. But with no one to trust and no where to hide, she must form an uneasy alliance with a pair of notorious bounty hunters."My future, and the future of Avalon are forward.
Miriam Wade's Rise of Knight and Sword is the first installment of the authors One Sword Saga. It reimagines Arthurian legend in a steampunk fantasy world at the height of the 1920's. Guinevere Cornwall has always lived on the outskirts of Avalon, working as an archivist in the central library. She studies manuscripts, preserves them, and translates them. One manuscript in a particular is of great importance to her. The location of the fabled Excalibur sword which is said to give the bearer right to choose the legitimate ruler of Camelot.
While corruption runs rampant throughout the city, her life is fairly mundane and predictable. That is, until she discovers the map to Excalibur and uncovers a plot to usurp the throne from the current King Uther. In her quest to retrieve Excalibur, Guinevere meets Mordred and Arthur, two bounty hunters on the very edge of the law who will tag along as she follows the map and tries to save Avalon from the hands of those who want to corrupt it. But hot on her trail are Rangers loyal to the corrupted Ranger's leader Gorlois who would do anything to hold Excalibur.
Arthur Pendragon is a former Ranger, and now partner with Mordred in their bounty hunting business. Finding herself on the run from these would-be king-slayers, Guinevere sets out to find the mythical sword. But with no one to trust and no where to hide, she must form an uneasy alliance with a pair of notorious bounty hunters. When Arthur discovers Guinevere onboard his ship the Hengroen, he finds himself not only stunned by her beauty, but intrigued at the possibility of finding the legendary Excalibur.
After all, there is something definitely wrong in Camelot, and when the King is usurped from his throne, it means that a new King must be chosen. Arthur and Guinevere must face off against smugglers, wild dinosaurs, hidden motives, betrayal, mistrust, and a group of Knights whose names are Merlin, Lancelot, Gawain, and Galahad. All of these characters have been rewritten to fit into a steampunk world with dinosaurs roaming the wild, so the story felt completely different from other Arthurian legends, and I've read a ton of retellings over the past ten years.
The reason for the rating is this: Insta-love. Arthur immediately falls for Guinevere even though every rich female in the land would love for him to choose them. The pacing is all over the place. The ending is absolutely predictable, and I have no clue what happened to Clash of Love and Realm which was supposed to be the sequel. With a little research, I've read the sequel "might" be released May 24, 2022. We'll see.
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