The Bright Sword

A Novel of King Arthur

De: Lev Grossman

Narrado por: Nicholas Guy Smith, Lev Grossman

Duración: 23 h y 10 m

Resumen del Editor

“Grossman, who is best known for his The Magicians series, is at the top of his game with The Bright Sword.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A thrilling new take on Arthurian legend. . . . Marvelous.”—The Washington Post

“If you love King Arthur as much as I do, you’ll love Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword, a fresh and engrossing take on the Matter of Britain featuring a colorful cast of Round Table knights who don’t often get as much story time as they deserve. The creator of The Magicians has woven another spell.”—George R. R. Martin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Magicians trilogy returns with a triumphant reimagining of the King Arthur legend for the new millennium

A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find that he’s too late. The king died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, leaving no heir, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table survive.

They aren’t the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Table, from the edges of the stories, 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. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.

But Arthur’s death has revealed Britain’s fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords lay siege to Camelot and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they’ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell, and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain’s dark past.

The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, The Bright Sword is steeped in tradition, full of duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings. It also sheds a fresh light on Arthur’s Britain, a diverse, complex nation struggling to come to terms with its bloody history. The Bright Sword is a story about imperfect men and women, full of strength and pain, who are looking for a way to reforge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves.

©2024 Lev Grossman (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

A BEST SUMMER READ: The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, Vulture, Esquire, Boston Globe, Elle, Town & Country, Seattle Times, New York Post, Lit Hub, Cosmopolitan, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Paste, BiblioLifestyle, E! Online, AARP, BookBub, BookRiot

“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

“For anyone who’s ever craved a seat at the Round Table. Utterly enchanting.”—Rebecca Yarros, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fourth Wing and Iron Flame

Great for Newcomers into Arthurian legends

as someone that only has knowledge of Arthurian legends from various media from the last decade and a half this was a great read

Outstanding retelling and addition to Arthuriana

We get not only a fantastic addition to the legend of King Arthur and his Knights -- that of Callum, arriving weeks after Arthur has fallen and Camelot hosts only a handful of remaining heroes, and the adventure that befalls them -- but also fantastic retellings and renderings of Arthur, Bedivere, and more. We see through Bedivere's devoted eyes the young boy Arthur pulling the sword from the stone, growing into his kingship. And many other glimpses besides which I dare not begin to spoil the delight of here. Wonderful narration from Nicholas Guy Smith, and just a hint of modern snark from Grossman atop Abercrombian duels and battles and realism.

The old Arthur story but redone with magic, modern language and mores and a lot of medieval touches.

Interesting spin on Middle Age thoughts and beliefs. Many of the characters express their noncritical acceptance of impossibly fantastic religious relics (grails and lances) but seem tentative about Fairy and other natural world magic. Interesting.

5 STAR without a doubt

everyone has a bit of a different take on this story, and this one is a great example. it's a well rounded story and went by too fast. Definitely recommend

So many words but where's the plot?

I made it about seven hours in before I gave up. Nothing happens. Seriously, in seven hours, a character made it to Camelot and then left. That's it.

Derails early into a sexual side quest

The story started strong, with a fresh perspective on the Arthurian myth, but within two hours it derails entirely into a subplot with graphic focus on a knight’s hungering quest for sex with another man, beginning with his lust for Arthur. This was a jarring pivot from the main story, and did not add to it at all. It became clear that this was not an attempt at a fresh take, but a hot one. You can pass on this one, folks.