Best of
Arthurian

2018

Lancelot


Giles Kristian - 2018
    Enemies stalk the fringes of Britain. And Uther Pendragon is dying. Into this fractured and uncertain world the boy is cast, a refugee from fire, murder and betrayal. An outsider whose only companions are a hateful hawk and memories of the lost. Yet he is gifted, and under the watchful eyes of Merlin and the Lady Nimue he will hone his talents and begin his journey to manhood. He will meet Guinevere, a wild, proud and beautiful girl, herself outcast because of her gift. And he will be dazzled by Arthur, a warrior who carries the hopes of a people like fire in the dark. But these are times of struggle and blood, when even friendship and love seem doomed to fail. The gods are vanishing beyond the reach of dreams. Treachery and jealousy rule men’s hearts and the fate of Britain itself rests on a sword’s edge.But the young renegade who left his home in Benoic with just a hunting bird and dreams of revenge is now a lord of war. He is a man loved and hated, admired and feared. A man forsaken but not forgotten. He is Lancelot.Set in a 5th century Britain besieged by invading bands of Saxons and Franks, Irish and Picts, Giles Kristian's epic new novel tells - through the warrior's own words - the story of Lancelot, that most celebrated of all King Arthur's knights. It is a story ready to be re-imagined for our times.

The Dragon God Saga (The Wood Cutter's Son)


Thomas A. Wright - 2018
     From the author of the best-selling series “The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison”. Magic is waning. The ancient dragons of Torinth that once darkened the sky with their numbers are all but extinct. Older than even the dragons, the elementals, spirits of earth, sky, water and fire, have slumbered for millennia, leaving the races of Torinth to fend for themselves. The Kingdom of Northern Wastes feels not only the loss of magic but a foreboding change in seasons—winter grows longer with each passing season. The queen has set her eye on the south and the bounty of a fertile land. In the Southlands, Morgan, the third son of a lumber merchant, expects nothing from his future but hard work felling trees and chopping firewood. His property borders land belonging to the elven Kingdom of the Black Mountains, where Alexis, the third princess to the elven throne, is ranger. Alexis joined the rangers with hopes of forgetting the royal court, her family and a betrothal in which she had no say. Fascinated by the woodcutter’s son, she traverses the border between their properties, knowing they could never meet. Now an elemental has awoken, and set her sights on these two figures. In a time of uneasy kingdoms and threats of a pending war, she reaches out to Alexis and Morgan and arranges a conversation that will change the future of all of Torinth.

The Guinevere's Tale Trilogy


Nicole Evelina - 2018
    But there is so much more to her story… Priestess. Queen. Warrior. Experience the world of King Arthur through Guinevere’s eyes as she matures from a young priestess who never dreamed of becoming queen to the stalwart defender of a nation and a mistress whose sin would go down in history. Throughout it all, Guinevere she faces threats from both foreign powers and within her own court that lead her to place her very life on the line to protect the dream of Camelot and save her people. This compendium of Nicole Evelina’s two-time Book of the Year award-winning trilogy – Daughter of Destiny, Camelot’s Queen, and Mistress of Legend – gives fresh life to an age-old tale by adding historical context and emotional depth. Spanning more than three decades, it presents Guinevere as an equal to the famous men she is remembered for loving, while providing context for her controversial decisions and visiting little-known aspects of her life before and after her marriage to King Arthur. Book One: Daughter of Destiny Before queenship and Camelot, Guinevere was a priestess of Avalon. She loved another before Arthur, a warrior who would one day betray her. Learn the true story of her early life. • Book of the Year – Chanticleer Reviews • Best New Voice, (Silver Award), IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards • Winner – North Street Book Prize "Rich and stunning, easily comparable to novels by other bestselling historical fiction authors." - Chanticleer Book Reviews Book Two: Camelot’s Queen Guinevere is now High Queen and Arthur’s top strategist. But when she is feared dead, Arthur installs a new woman in her place, one who will poison his affections, threatening Guinevere’s fragile sanity and driving her into the arms of her champion. Can the Grail’s promise of peace set things right or will peace prove as dangerous as war? • Fiction Book of the Year – Author’s Circle • Best Second Book – Next Generation Indie Book Awards “Historical fantasy at its finest!" - InD'Tale Magazine Book Three: Mistress of Legend Legend says Guinevere spent her final days in penance in a convent, but that is far from the truth. Not one to quietly cede power, she fights for her ancestral homeland against an invasion that threatens both her people and her life.

The Retreat to Avalon


Sean Poage - 2018
    After three generations of struggle against a flood of ruthless invaders, Britain has finally clawed its way back within reach of security and prosperity.Across the sea, Rome is crumbling under an onslaught of barbarian attacks, internal corruption and civil war. Desperate for allies, Rome’s last great emperor looks to Britain and the rising fame of her High King, Arthur.Events sweep Gawain along in a tide that takes him far from his home in Britain to a terrible war in Gaul. Intrigue and betrayal vie with loyalty and valour in an epic adventure at the last, bright flash of light before “The Dark Ages”.The Retreat to Avalon is the exciting beginning of a new Historical Fiction trilogy exploring the origins of the Arthurian legends, anchored in the events of the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle Ages.

Excalibur Rises


T.J. Green - 2018
    But he has a reputation and she fears the cost for such a sword will be high. How much is she prepared to do for Merlin and the future King Arthur?This is a short story prequel to the series Tom's Arthurian Legacy, a series about Tom's adventures with King Arthur in the Other. If you love myth and magic, you'll love this re-imagining of an old tale.Buy now to find how Excalibur was made, and how Tom's journey began.

Legend


Nicole Zoltack - 2018
     Sixteen-year-old Alena longs for a world where peasants, servants, and nobles are all equal. Truly, that will never be possible until the day when she removes a sword from a stone and might have the chance to become queen... if she can rally those same peasants, servants, and nobles behind her. Legend is a King Arthur retelling with Arthur as Alena, a maid who can possibly become so much more than she ever dreamed possible. Perfect for fans of The Mists of Avalon, The Selection, and Red Queen.

Descendants of Avalon (Awakenings) (Volume 1)


J. Lynn Else - 2018
    Her friends convince her they should all wish for them to stay together at the town's fountain. Genie thinks it's ridiculous, but what could it hurt, right? Turns out it could hurt a lot. The power of the united wish opens a portal to the long forgotten land of Avalon. An evil sorcerer traps one of Genie's friends and seeks to use the girls' coins to retake Earth. Now Genie and her friends must venture into this magical world in hopes of saving both lands and themselves. Join the adventure in this first installment of the Awakening Series.

Clothar the Frank: A Dream of Eagles Book VI, the Golden Eagle Volume I


Jack Whyte - 2018
    From Gaul, now the land of the Franks, comes young Clothar, the son of one king and the nephew of another. He has just survived a fierce civil war in Benwick, the land of his childhood--a war involving his own family, pitting brother against brother--to discover that his fate is not in his own hands. Instead it rests with his teacher and mentor, the renowned and powerful Bishop Germanus; Germanus's old friend, the elusive and enigmatic Caius Merlyn Britannicus; and Merlyn's young ward, the future king, Arthur Pendragon. Clothar's story is the story of Lancelot--his past, his loves, his loyalty and his role as King Arthur's friend and betrayer.

Glass Island


Gareth Griffith - 2018
    A time of upheaval for the people of the Summer Land - the Saxons push further and further westward, a new religion supplants the old, unexpected alliances are formed and deadly rivalries fester – son against father, brother against brother.Eleri Gwir, the daughter of a chieftain, speaks only the truth - and one thing she knows is that war is coming and that a reckoning awaits her people.The Red Cloaks of Caer Baddan, the last remnant of the Roman legions on British soil, represent hope for Eleri and for all the Summer Land. And their leader Macsen represents something else for Eleri herself - new possibilities, new horizons to explore.As the decisive battle between the Britons and the Saxons draws nearer, Eleri and her people must decide what their role will be in this story.This rich and compelling novel brings to vivid life a moment of transformation that shaped the Britain we know today.

The promontory people an early history of the Cornish


Craig Weatherhill - 2018
    The Promontory People tells the story of the ancient Cornish people as it has never been told before, using up-to-date archaeological, archaeo-linguistic and genetic research.

The Danger of Romance: Truth, Fantasy, and Arthurian Fictions


Karen Sullivan - 2018
    In contemporary contexts, we devour popular romance and fantasy novels like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones, reference them in conversations, and create online communities to expound, passionately and intelligently, upon their characters and worlds. But romance is “unrealistic,” critics say, doing readers a disservice by not accurately representing human experiences. It is considered by some to be a distraction from real literature, a distraction from real life, and little more. Yet is it possible that romance is expressing a truth—and a truth unrecognized by realist genres? The Arthurian literature of the Middle Ages, Karen Sullivan argues, consistently ventriloquizes in its pages the criticisms that were being made of romance at the time, and implicitly defends itself against those criticisms. The Danger of Romance shows that the conviction that ordinary reality is the only reality is itself an assumption, and one that can blind those who hold it to the extraordinary phenomena that exist around them. It demonstrates that that which is rare, ephemeral, and inexplicable is no less real than that which is commonplace, long-lasting, and easily accounted for. If romance continues to appeal to audiences today, whether in its Arthurian prototype or in its more recent incarnations, it is because it confirms the perception—or even the hope—of a beauty and truth in the world that realist genres deny.