King & Raven - Hardcover

James, Cary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312858701 ISBN 13: 9780312858704

Publisher: Tor Books, 1995

Synopsis

Micah of Greenfarm, nicknamed "Raven," is a younger son of a large family on one of the tenant farms that surround Camelot. As a poor farm lad, he is more distant from King Arthur than if they were separated by a vast ocean. But when his beloved sister is raped and murdered by four of Arthur's drunken knights. Raven swears an oath of vengeance far above his station.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Even the legendary Camelot seems dull in this lackluster first novel. Disingenuously narrated by Micah of Greenfarm, a peasant who calls himself "the Raven," the story begins with the rape and murder of Micah's sister by five of King Arthur's knights. Micah vows vengeance and, driven by spite, moves quickly through the ranks of the king's court. He distinguishes himself in battle, manages three orgasms in each of his nights abed and attains ever higher stature even as he asserts his peasant roots. After a brief time in France, Micah (now known as Michel de Verdeur) returns to England just in time to see Camelot unravel. The novel's conception of Arthur's reign is of a government rent asunder by Guinevere's infidelity with Lancelot, but this astute premise is undercut by the narrative's insistence on being politically correct: the few Jews who appear, for instance, are benevolent toward Micah and ill-treated by everyone else. With its tendentious, first-person narration, James's debut, for all its inherent drama and expertly rendered period detail, is a pale and plodding affair.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

After his sister is murdered at the hands of four drunken knights from Camelot, Micah of Greenfarm swears a vow of vengeance that leads him from peasant to knighthood's highest station. James's debut novel offers a version of the Arthurian myth in which the nobles' contempt for those of lowly birth stands in contrast to the knightly codes of chivalry and courtly love. Elegantly written with an eye for the often overlooked details of a savage age, this skillful portrait of a young man's painful collision with legend provides more than just another retelling of the Round Table's rise and fall. Most libraries should consider this revisionist view of Camelot for their fantasy collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0312858701
• ISBN 13: 9780312858704
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384