Okay, so initial impressions were that: if this were a tv show (please god, a limited series would be great), Arthur is Hale Appleman. Second, I don't love war stories, but I do love medium-hopeless quests, and magic, and Arthuriana, so this was the hook-up.
I activated my NetGalley subscription specifically for this book. I figured out how to download it onto my work computer so that I could read it on desk, because I started it before work and got sucked in. I snickered loudly several times while reading, and then had to explain myself to my co-workers ("What the fuck is a zero?" hit me so hard). This is what I needed to read right now, and I'm glad I did.
The maybe for me was the time-hopping of the plot, until I thought about the way Le Mort D'Arthur was compiled in a similar non-consecutive way, which settled it better for me. Don't get me wrong, I loved every side character's journey, but it almost felt distracting, until it didn't.
All of the surprises, all of the heel-turns, everything worked. I'm going to tell so many people about this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Viking for this eARC. All opinions are my own, honest and unrefined as they are.

_The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur_ by Lev Grossman is a character-centered, mystical, action-oriented, and world-building read that delves the reader into the story of King Arthur, his knights, and medieval Britain. Collum, a young knight traveling to Camelot in hopes of joining the Round Table, arrives to learn that King Arthur is dead, leaving his remaining knights listless and with no heir to the throne. Soon adventure calls, and with the help of Merlin’s former apprentice Nimue the knights set-off on a holy quest to find God and heal Britain. The book gives multiple points of view and back stories of the diverse characters, keeping the reader engrossed in the world of knights and magic.

Lev Grossman has such a way of making you connect to the characters in his books and this one is no different. I loved the setting and the retelling but was so invested in Collum and his story and that’s what I loved the most. All of the characters are so fully formed and so real. Overall I just really enjoyed this.

I went into this with high expectations. I loved Lev Grossman's previous series, and I love Arthurian legend, so the bar was set high. The Bright Sword did not disappoint. Grossman has a talent for world-building, and here he takes a well know setting and established lore and reworks it just enough to make it his own. His Britain is a world of magic and adventures, but somehow believably so.

Our protagonist, Collum, arrives at Camelot with dreams of knighthood and personal validation only to discover that he's too late to be a part of that golden age. Arthur is dead, the most heroic knights are also dead or scattered, and the kingdom is fractured. Joining the remaining B-List team of knights, Collum sets off on adventure to find a successor for Arthur as old magics reclaim their hold on Britain. As a set up, its great. Arthur's story has been told repeatedly, and we know all about the courtly love of Guinevere and Lancelot so this take gets to feel fresh and unique. What gives this tale it's interest and depth is how Grossman gets to flesh out the lesser-known knights and give them compelling backstories and motivations. Told with wit and a lot of emotional resonance, the best parts of the book are when Grossman delves into the tales of each flawed knight. I found each one heartbreaking and relatable, and it helped to create a picture as to why the Knights of the Round Table each bound themselves in loyalty to Arthur.

I won't spoil anything in a review, but I'll say that the ending was satisfying and fulfills the trope of the 'hero's journey' very well. For me, it was a perfect 5/5 book and despite its length it seemed to fly by. As a librarian, I feel like I could recommend this book not just to adult fantasy readers, but young adults looking for stories about finding their purpose, and for adult fiction readers who are interested in strong character development. It would make an excellent Book Club pick, since it gives a lot of topics and characters to discuss.

A delightful retelling of the Arthurian legend. The characters are wonderfully reimagined, the traditional chivalric adventure is turned on its head. Although lengthy, it’s a page turner, with the various threads building up and coming together at the end.

I love Lev Gossman books and The Magicians are some of my favorites of all time so for sure a little biased but I loved this as well. I really enjoyed the retelling of King Arthur/Camelot. It is a topic that has been explored a lot but Grossman still managed to make it feel fresh. I thought the characters were all amazing and complex. I honestly can’t say enough about how good this book is. Highly recommend.

Collum is a young knight who had hoped that one day he would find a seat at King Arthur's legendary Round Table, but when he arrives at Camelot to swear his fealty he learns that the age of heroes has ended. In fact, he actually just missed it. Two weeks ago the majority of the mighty host of Camelot were cut down in battle, Arthur was reportedly killed, and the handful of knights that remain have been left broken and waiting for the end to come. When Collum's pleas for a miracle are answered, he embarks on a perilous quest with the last heroes of Camelot to save the realm and discover the truth about how Arthur's kingdom fell.

The Bright Sword is an incredible work of fiction, a story that effortlessly captures the strange and contradictory world of Arthurian legend and explores it in a way that continually left me shocked at just how effectively it was able to do so. Collum is a perfect outsider character to help readers get used to Arthur's Britain, as he is someone whose understanding of Camelot and its heroes comes from the stories and deeds of its famous knights, so he is just as surprised as the reader when it turns out that everything is more complicated than what he expected (though he tries to take it all in stride). There is no world in which I could have predicted half the things that occur during the quest, and the wonderful strangeness of a Britain seemingly abandoned by God to the faeries.

While Collum's journey is exciting, Lev Grossman also skillfully weaves in the backstories of the knights who accompany Collum on his quest as "tales" and uses these as opportunities to both illustrate what "High Camelot" was like before the collapse and to also interrogate the difficulties of people who don't fit the mold of a 'classic' knight in the legendary tales and what their lives might have been like. These "tales" are some of my favorite parts of the book, and they are often used to devastating emotional effect when they give you a perspective of events that you weren't expecting.

Not since I first discovered a book of stories on King Arthur have I been so taken in by Camelot and its strange world. This is easily one of the best stories that explores Arthurian myth and legend that I have ever read, and I can safely recommend it for practically any library collection. I know that I will be pressing this book into anyone's hands who express even the slightest interest in it.

I really enjoy Lev Grossman's work and his writing style. This is a retelling of King Arthur and Camelot. The story follows mainly Collum, but also features stories from a couple of King Arthur's knights of the round table. The story was solid and I enjoyed it!

Collum has dreamed of being a knight of the Round Table. Now, wearing a suit of stolen armor, he ventures to Camelot in the hopes of being knighted by King Arthur himself. But he learns that the Battle of Camlann has happened, Arthur is presumed dead, and Camelot is in shambles. But when Collum, with the remnants of the Round Table, ask for a miracle, they’re thrust into one last adventure.

T.H. White’s The Once and Future King was one of the pivotal books of my childhood, and I was not expecting Lev Grossman’s take on King Arthur to recapture the magic of that book and be utterly bowled over BUT IT DOES AND I AM. The anachronisms, the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to the legend (Grossman fully admits this in his afterword but points out its in the grand tradition of Arthuriana), the innocence and hope accompanied by soul-crushing cynicism, and the commentary on the present moment (for TH White, WWII and an exploration of war, morality, and justifiable use of force. For Lev Grossman, identity, gender, race, and more). But Grossman’s book isn’t just a replica of White’s tale. He does something new with it too. Truly marvelous and utterly unexpected.

In hindsight, the plot is one of those “journey is more important than the destination” set-ups. I could share the barebones of the plot in a sentence of two, but wouldn’t capture the magic.

This has immediately become one of my absolute favorite works of Arthuriana, and it makes me want to reread my other favorites like The Once and Future King and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and then reread The Bright Sword because I think I'd get even more out of it.

In conclusion, I would give this 10 stars if Goodreads' or Netgalley's rating system allowed. But it does not, so here we are.

If you enjoy Arthurian legends, this is the book for you! Grossman’s mixture of fantasy worlds and modern dialogue are a delight to read!

QUICK TAKE: Grossman manages to refresh the fantasy genre and King Arthur legends in a really fun and exciting and contemporary way. Loved the backstories on the characters, and the story really picks up once they begin their quest. Highly recommend!!

I'm no shlub about my Authurian Legend, so I want you to know I mean it when I say this is exactly the correct tone for this sort of thing. The trick with Arthur is to know where to be whimsical and where to be authentic and Grossman absolutely nailed it. Also, Merlin is super-duper evil and I'm surprisingly into it.

Engaging and immersive. A recommended purchase for collections where fantasy and The Magicians series is popular.

I couldn't get into the Magicians based on the writing style, which I felt was a bummer considering how popular it was. I was really excited to see if this one worked for me. Grossman's writing style carries and hasn't changed much, so I feel like fans of his other work based on writing style will eat it up. That said, unfortunately still not really for me. :(

For the target audience, it will probably be an easy a three to four stars, with five stars for Grossman's fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.