Once & Future

DNF - PG 136

Why?

This book is basically one long rant on the evils of consumerism and capitalism. And everything else suffers for it.

World building is zero.

Characterization can best be summed up as their race and sexual orientation. If they're lucky, they get one other personality trait. Which is probably a seething mass of horny hormones.

I finally had enough of the horny hormones making them do stupid things, skipped ahead and found out Ari's brother gets her wife pregnant - before he dies.

I'm done.

I just can't. Why should I force my way through a book that makes me angrier and angrier the more I read and that I have to put down every two pages just to wrap my head around the new stupidity.

I'm just... Sad. Really, really sad that a book with this amount of diversity, written by a sapphic couple, featuring a sapphic couple ... was so overwhelmingly not for me.

“We can play battles and knights and kings, but in the end, we just want to exist”

I'm so annoyed at this book because I really liked it but there was just one plotline from it that I absolutely hated. But to start off with what makes it so great:

Arthur retellings are one of my favourite retellings of all time purely because I was (still am) absolutely obsessed with the tv show merlin. So finding a queer and sci fi version of this was just so amazing. Not to mention this book is funny, light hearted and filled with action as well as vulnerable moments, flawed characters and easy to understand politics

However, if you were not familiar with the story I feel like the book would be a little too confusing. It's a YA/children's book so it's not overly complicated which you might love but you might also hate, so it definitely depends on the reader. The most annoying thing about the book though is the writer's plot choices:

Because who decides "oh my former partner is dead so let me make a baby with her adoptive brother because he was the closest thing to her"

Maybe it's just me but I was kinda horrified when it was revealed

Regardless the majority of the book I really enjoyed and am looking forward to reading the sequel soon

I read The Once and Future King many times as a teen - it's weirder and sadder than you remember - so it was fun to revisit an Arthurian story with female characters who aren't evil or punished!

Queers ✅ Arthurian Legend ✅ Space ✅ Anti-capitalism ✅

This book was made for me.

3.5

3.75⭐️! I really liked it, but it dragged a bit at some points

A science fiction retelling of the King Arthur legend? Sounds intriguing! And this incarnation is the 42nd reincarnation of King Arthur, and she's a young woman! Awesome! I love the comedic moments in the book! And the romantic relationships. I'm glad I stumbled on this one through my library!

I found this to be an imaginative and creative re-telling of the King Arthur story. Action, humor, romance(s), and dangerous quests all in space? Yup. The cast of characters is engaging and diverse both culturally and in terms of sexual/gender identity. This would be a great read for sci-fi or fantasy fans, especially those who have a taste for social justice. The ending sets the stage nicely for a sequel, and I'll be looking forward to the next installment!

This book is a riot! Ari is our main character, and she's King Arthur reborn, as these stories always go. Merlin is aging backwards, as he often is, and he wakes up this time as a teenager and groans. It's pretty hilarious. Arthur's knights are various characters, of various ethnicities and sexualities. This is a HELLA queer book, and it's great. We get bi, lesbian, gay, pan, omni - honestly it seems that in this future, people have just accepted that you'll love who you will love, gender be damned. One of the knights is even ace!

There is going to be a sequel, though I'm not sure when it's scheduled to be released. Not soon enough, is the real answer, in my opinion!

I realize I haven't said much about the actual plot, but - really. It's King Arthur and her knights, as queer teenagers, in space, fighting a giant corporation. That's really all you need to know. Go read it!

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.