Spear

Absolutely not in the mood for fae child-of-the-wilderness who is clearly the Chosen One

I tried listening to this as I was painting. It didn't grab me. I realize there's mythology behind a lot of the choices, but the protagonist being amazingly good at everything, and having very little understanding of human nature, made for a boring read. Like “oh she has defeated that guy? Of course. She won but they still reject her? Of course. She doesn't understand why? Of course.”

This is my first king Arthur story I've read. I did a lot of googling words (especially birds???) but I really enjoyed it. Beautiful story, and a quick read!

The pace was a little slow for me but I enjoyed the overall story!! The illustrations were a great addition to provide the imagery throughout.

At last, an Arthurian story that is actually readable - and short! An interesting take on the legend (or, at least, a portion of it).

The poetic prose alone gives this book some stars! Spear is the tale of a cave dwelling girl's King Arthur-esque journey. It mixes the slow descriptive narrative scenes with fast paced action. It was a rather quick read, but still solid nonetheless. However, I feel there was something missing from the book that makes it the weaker of the Nebula finalists. I do wish her tale goes on more with other adventures though.

This gorgeous retelling of a classic Arthurian tale perfectly balances the 21st century with the 6th century. The writing style seemed to instantly transport me to that world, and engulf my senses.

Starting as an unusually tall and strong girl raised in the woods by her mother, Peretur - classically known as Percival - easily passes as a handsome man and fawns over young women, earning a reputation as both a warrior and a heart-breaker. Lanza (Lancelot) is a disabled foreigner who fights like a centaur when mounted. None of this inclusive revising of the story felt forced though. It seems only natural that LGBTQ+ people existed then as they do now, and more than likely that in a time before medicine, disabled people would be very visible. And why is Peretur unusually big and strong? Oh, you'll find out.

Griffith keeps a feeling of authenticity to the story by using Early Medieval names, and integrating Celtic mythology from that time. The mix of religions and cultures in this story was particularly refreshing to me. Christianity, only just introduced to England, was only established in some communities, and Pagan gods mix into the tale in fascinating ways. Griffith melds the treasures of the Tuath De with many of the mythical objects in the Arthur legends so seemlessly that it feels like the story should have always been told this way.
These changes brought the story to life such that, in spite of the magic and myth, it felt like reading history, only better.

A beautifully-written queer retelling of Percival, of Arthurian myth. The writing has that lofty, old-timey feel in parts, but it never drags. It's a quick read, and Peretur's steadfast sense of right and wrong and of what's good left me feeling recharged.

I had a difficult time following the story sometimes, but I overall had a good time reading this book.

I needed a short book to fulfill a prompt in a readathon and I stumbled across this. I didn't even know it existed. This a queer retelling of Arthurian legend. I thought it was well done.

This novella was really well written. I enjoyed the fresh perspective. Unfortunately, it fell into the problem I have with many novellas, which is that they are not my preferred length. The second half of this novella was pretty rushed, and I think condensing the whole thing into a short story or expanding it into a novel would have worked a lot better.
Still, though, it was good. I was also under the impression it would be a retelling with Arthur as the MC but that was not the case.

NOMINATED FOR THE 2023 URSULA K. LE GUIN PRIZE FOR FICTION

Reviewed in April 2022 below. Might re-read before the the prize announcement.

I went to a convention recently where I attended a panel on the Arthuriana. Topics of discussion were the current relevancy of the Arthurian tales, its place in our current society, and its legacy in popular media. Most of the panellists noted that it feels like our generation hasn't really had their version of Arthur yet.

And I agree with this, to some extent. Especially in popular media, as with most subjects re-visited often by Hollywood, little new things actually are said. I immediately thought of a book, however- “Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices”, an anthology I have not yet actually read but which came out about a year ago and is filled with stories retelling the lore surrounding King Arthur, often gender-bent, race-ben, queerified or in some way inclusive that Arthurian tales previously weren't very often.

It's a good collection, from what I've heard, though I have not yet read it. What's the link with this book? Spear was originally commissioned as a short story for that anthology, but it quickly grew into something much bigger, and a year after it was supposed to have been published in Sword Stone Table it released as this instead.

All the better for it. Spear is a wonderful tale, and if it's an indicator of what the other stories in Sword Stone Table are like I'll be very keen to read that. Griffith manages to use the familiar threads of Arthurian mythology in a way that feels refreshing- you catch glimpses of the original story, names that feel familiar, concepts that are as old as the stories themselves. But this story feels like a different tale- a story before the stories, Griffith's new take on a household world.

It's a mythic story, poetic and lyrical, with wonderful and honestly impressive genderqueer character development subtly interwoven. It feels so effortlessly done.

One of my favorite new reads of 2022! And I've found a new author to devour- this was my first Griffith, and it seemed like a great starting point. I've had Ammonite laying around for a while, feel like it might be time to order Hild as well.

I've always loved mythology and may have even learnt a bit about Greek and Egyptian myths at some point in my younger days, but Arthurian myths and legends were never even on my radar until very recently and I still don't know much about them. But it's always fun to read some form of retelling of an Arthurian legend which is both gender bent and queer because that's right up my alley. And this was just something.

When I started reading, I struggled a bit with the language because it has that old world, medieval kinda feel but once I got used to it, I saw how beautiful it was. The writing is truly lyrical and free flowing, almost feeling like it's written in verse, and very metaphorical and alluring in a way I can't truly articulate. I also loved how the author retold this story, giving us very different but wonderful versions of Perceval, Lancelot and Nimue, but also some fascinating portrayal of Arthur and Gwen. Peretur is a brilliant character who is bold, brave, extremely skilled in battle, but also retaining a certain sense of innocence. I loved her development from living in the wild to proceeding on her adventure, all the while discovering the path she wants to take. But the best part of the story is the small and big connections she makes, both with people and animals, and how each little interaction shape her into the person she is. These emotional moments were what made this such a lovely book to read.

At the end, I just want to say if you stunning writing, very realistic historical setting, and characters who feel both real and mythical, you should checkout this little novella. And the author's note is unmissable - it shows the extensive painstaking research the author did to keep this story grounded while also ensuring to diversify it to appeal to modern readers. It's a truly remarkable piece of writing and now I wanna checkout the author's backlist but I'm gonna cry because I have too many already on my tbr.

I really liked the way this book was written, very poetic in a way. The art was so beautiful too. The story was fascinating, although it felt like some things were not very well explained.