by C. N. Lesley (Kristell Ink)
Everything works in this truly different spinoff of the Arthurian legend.
I’d reviewed C.N. Lesley’s riveting Darkspire Reaches so I was eager to read this, and knew it would be no bedtime read (I missed several meals over Darkspire). I set aside a Saturday for it. The time was not wasted.
In Shadow Over Avalon Arthur, the once and future king, keeps coming back. And in this incarnation, rather like in the musical Camelot, things start out with a loose equivalent to Guinevere being forced to marry against her will. Meanwhile Arthur, who lives in a futuristic undersea world (truly well thought-out), tries desperately to discover his lineage. Merlin’s part is handled by “seers” with a hidden agenda.
Lesley’ innovative use of magical creatures exceeds her dragons in Darkspire Reaches; here, the creatures control the beings around them. That was very unexpected. The undersea people and the surface-dwellers conflict in a braided plot and there is a seemingly doomed romance and… creatures from outer space (I don’t want to give away more). You’d think the elements would never work together, but trust me, they do..
If you read Shadow Over Avalon, you will probably join me in collecting C.N. Lesley’s books.
