Book picks similar to
Pendragon's Heir by Suzannah Rowntree


fantasy
arthurian
fiction
historical-fiction

I Am Mordred


Nancy Springer - 1998
    The doomed narrator, forever dressed in black, fights his destiny. Only lovely Nyneve believes the lad can be good, traps manipulator Merlin, gives boy white pup Gull, takes them to his mother's castle.

Deathless


Catherynne M. Valente - 2011
    But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century.Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.

Merlin: Part 1 - The Old Magic


James Mallory - 1999
    You'll think this is a fairy tale. And it isn't".In the terrible years of tyrants and invaders, England's surviving pagans cry out for help to their deity -- and Mab, Queen of the Faery realms, creates for them a champion.Merlin. Half human, half Magic; raised in the love of his foster mother, Ambrosia, trained in sorcery by the gnome Frick, destined by Mab to lead England back to the Old Ways. But Mab, once beloved, has grown selfish and cruel, so Merlin turns against her.And their war of magic will change the world.

Guinevere


Sharan Newman - 1980
    In Guinevere, Newman offers a reinterpretation of the Arthurian saga and as memorable as The Mists of Avalon and The Hollow Hills.

Entreat Me


Grace Draven - 2013
    Ballard of Ketach Tor holds no hope of escaping his fate until his son returns home one day, accompanied by a woman of incomparable beauty. His family believes her arrival may herald Ballard’s salvation. ...until they confront her elder sister. Determined to rescue her sibling from ruin, Louvaen Duenda pursues her to a decrepit castle and discovers a household imprisoned in time. Dark magic, threatening sorcerers, and a malevolent climbing rose with a thirst for blood won’t deter her, but a proud man disfigured by an undying hatred might. Louvaen must decide if loving him will ultimately save him or destroy him. A tale of vengeance and devotion.

Seven Endless Forests


April Genevieve Tucholke - 2020
    Torvi leaves the only home she’s ever known, and joins a shaven-skulled druid and a band of roaming Elsh artists known as the Butcher Bards. They set out on a quest to rescue Torvi’s sister, and find a mythical sword.On their travels, Torvi and her companions will encounter magical night wilds and mystical Drakes who trade in young men. They will sing rowdy Elshland ballads in a tree-town tavern, and find a mysterious black tower in an Endless Forest. They will fight alongside famous Vorseland archers and barter with Fremish wizards. They will feast with rogue Jade Fell children in a Skal Mountain cave, and seek the help of a Pig Witch. They will face wild, dangerous magic that leads to love, joy, tragedy, and death.Torvi set out to rescue a sister, but she may find it’s merely the first step toward a life that is grander and more glorious than anything she could have imagined.

The Story of Silence


Alex Myers - 2020
    Taking the original French legend as his starting point, The Story of Silence is a rich, multilayered new story for today’s world – sure to delight fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale.There was once, long ago, a foolish king who decreed that women should not, and would not, inherit. Thus when a girl-child was born to Lord Cador – Merlin-enchanted fighter of dragons and Earl of Cornwall – he secreted her away: to be raised a boy so that the family land and honour would remain intact.That child’s name was Silence.Silence must find their own place in a medieval world that is determined to place the many restrictions of gender and class upon them. With dreams of knighthood and a lonely heart to answer, Silence sets out to define themselves.Soon their silence will be ended.

The Mabinogion Tetralogy


Evangeline Walton - 2002
    these tales constitute a powerful work of the imagination, ranking with Tokien's Lord of the Rings novels and T.H. White's The Once and Future King. Evangeline Walton's compelling rendition of these classic, thrilling stories of magic, betrayal, lost love, and bitter retribution include the encounter between Prince Pwyll and Arawn, the God of Death, which Pwyll survives by agreeing to kill the one man that Death cannot fell, and the tale of bran the blessed and his family's epic struggle for the throne.The Mabinogion is internationally recognized as the world's finest arc of Celtic mythology; Walton's vivid retelling introduces an ancient world of gods and monsters, heroes, kings and quests, making accessible one of the greatest fantasy sagas of all time.

The Wendy


Erin Michelle Sky - 2018
    1789. More than anything in the world, Wendy Darling wants to be the captain of a ship, but women aren't allowed in the Royal Navy. When she learns the Home Office is accepting a handful of women into its ranks, she jumps at the chance, joining the fight against the most formidable threat England has ever faced. Magic.But the secret service isn't exactly what she hoped. Accompanied by a reimagined cast of the original Peter Pan, Wendy soon discovers that her dreams are as far away as ever, that choosing sides isn't as simple as she thought, and that the only man who isn't blinded by her gender might be the worst friend anyone could ask for.Anyone, that is, except Wendy Darling.

In the Shadow of the Oak King


Courtway Jones - 1991
    First in a planned trilogy. A lively extension of Arthurian lore. . . .--Publishers Weekly.

Sherwood


Meagan Spooner - 2019
    And the dreadful Guy of Gisborne, the Sheriff’s right hand, wishes to step into Robin’s shoes as Lord of Locksley and Marian’s fiancé.Who is there to stop them?Marian never meant to tread in Robin’s footsteps—never intended to stand as a beacon of hope to those awaiting his triumphant return. But with a sweep of his green cloak and the flash of her sword, Marian makes the choice to become her own hero: Robin Hood.

The Mermaid


Christina Henry - 2018
    Barnum's American Museum as the real Fiji mermaid. However, leaving the museum may be harder than leaving the sea ever was.Once there was a mermaid who longed to know of more than her ocean home and her people. One day a fisherman trapped her in his net but couldn't bear to keep her. But his eyes were lonely and caught her more surely than the net, and so she evoked a magic that allowed her to walk upon the shore. The mermaid, Amelia, became his wife, and they lived on a cliff above the ocean for ever so many years, until one day the fisherman rowed out to sea and did not return.P. T. Barnum was looking for marvelous attractions for his American Museum, and he'd heard a rumor of a mermaid who lived on a cliff by the sea. He wanted to make his fortune, and an attraction like Amelia was just the ticket.Amelia agreed to play the mermaid for Barnum, and she believes she can leave any time she likes. But Barnum has never given up a money-making scheme in his life, and he's determined to hold on to his mermaid.

Outlaw


Angus Donald - 2009
    A tough, bloodthirsty warrior, Robin is more feared than any man in the country. And he becomes a mentor for Alan; with his fellow outlaws, Robin teaches Alan how to fight - and how to win.But Robin is a ruthless man - and although he is Alan's protector, if Alan displeases him, he could also just as easily become his murderer ...

Wendy, Darling


A.C. Wise - 2021
    She has a husband and a young daughter called Jane, a life in London. But on night, after all these years, Peter Pan returns. Wendy finds him outside her daughter's window, looking to claim a new mother for his Lost Boys. But instead of Wendy, he takes Jane.Now a grown woman, a mother, a patient and a survivor, Wendy must follow Peter back to Neverland to rescue her daughter and finally face the darkness at the heart of the island...

The Sword and the Circle: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table


Rosemary Sutcliff - 1981
    The Fellowship of the Round Table was formed, and the most famous knights in the land came to court.In a new retelling of the well-loved legend, Rosemary Sutcliff dramatically recounts their tales: the quests and adventures, jousts and loves of Gawain, Gareth, Tristan, Percival and many others.But what happened to King Arthur himself—how he got his sword Excalibur, his marriage to Guenever, the magic of Merlin and the threat of the evil Morgan La Fay—makes for the most fascinating story of all.Especially when Lancelot, the world's greatest knight, decided to come to Camelot.Contents:The Coming of Arthur --The Sword in the Stone --The Sword from the Lake --The Round table --The Ship, the Mantle and the Hawthorn tree --Sir Lancelot of the Lake --Sir Gawain and the Green Knight --Beaumains, the Kitchen Knight --Lancelot and Elaine --Tristan and Iseult --Geraint and Enid --Gawain and the Loathely Lady --The Coming of Percival.