"When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword
from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation
of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries
into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur
coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring
peace and equality to all humankind."
Oddly, despite my
love of fantasy, the whole Arthurian legend and the bazillion retelling’s that have
come out over the centuries, have never really caught my interest (though I still have a copy of T.H. White's The Once and Future King, I'm not sure I'll ever read it) over the centuries, have never really caught my interest. However, I
did get this book at the LA Festival of Books this past April, as it was
suggested by a dear friend of mine who happens to like this these tales. The
difference here was that this tale of Arthur and his Knights was going to be
told from the point of view of a young girl -who reaches out and grabs for
Excalibur. Now gender swapping has become a big issue in media these days,
especially with the recent announcement that the next Thor movie will have
Oscar winner Natalie Portman becoming the new God of Thunder. So this book
won’t be for those who have issues with male characters (especially these hero
types) being rewritten as women. In addition, LGBTQA inclusiveness is part of
this universe, to such a point that anything else is jarring out of place for
the characters (and maybe to some readers). Therefore, for folks who like to
find heroes that represent them in books, those boys and girls who are fluid,
gay, bi, pan or whatever, it is here in this new series.
While I did like Once & Future, I do believe the authors -Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy- attempt at social commentary, along with its
blend of sci-fi (no timeline is revealed, however it seems a fairly distant
future) and quirky comedy (the closest comparison is Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers
Guide to the Galaxy), made for a weirdly paced novel. We get a lot of
action that goes all pell-mell and then just as quickly, the book settles into
more introspective plotting about the dangers of capitalism and trying to
defeat the all-powerful Mercer Corporation and romantic pairings of the
characters. The problem is a lot of that is dull and predictable, and it has
done better in other works (even WALL-E’s subtle criticism on some of these
subjects was more on point). Then the rom-com aspect toddle's along (some of
the pairs seemed forced, including the Ari and Gwen relationship) along with the writers juxtaposition commentary on the destruction and pollution of Earth, illegal
immigration, along with tales of massacres and genocide, and in a great soap
opera fashion, familial betrayals.
What I did like was
the whole reincarnation aspect of Arthur and Merlin. This one begins the 42nd
cycle (borrowing an in-joke from Douglas Adams, I think. Also, Buffy the
Vampire Slayer) rebirth of the King and his trusty wizard. As noted, the book
makes Arthur a female (maybe another subtle reference to the Thirteen Doctor
being a women on Doctor Who, and which has also hinted from time to time over it’s five decade run, that the Doctor was/is Merlin?) and has Merlin aging in
reverse (so now he’s a skinny twinkish teenager in love with a boy). Merlin also recounts (mostly
to himself) and with the ghostly image of Morgana, the other versions of Arthur and their adventures, along with how he
feels guilty on the times he’s failed each incarnation. But the whole cycle
about Arthur obtaining Excalibur, Arthur falling into a doomed romance with
Guinevere, and Morgana finally killing him is a fairly interesting when the
sword chooses Ari and Merlin feels that this may be the one last attempt at
breaking the whole sequence of events.
But the concurrence
of the fluffy romantic comedy, a fantasy wizard existing in a science fiction universe, and a lot of queer romances -along with the
whole violence and darkness of the Mercer Corporation- does make Once & Future suffer just a tad.
No comments:
Post a Comment