Brooke Hamilton

Late last night or should I say early this morning, I finished reading The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman. Grossman is one of my favourite authors; I loved his Magicians series and Codex. He uses fantasy and a sharp wit to tell stories. He doesn’t focus too much on description, but it’s there nonetheless.

The Bright Sword is set in pre-Saxon Britain, after the invasion by Romans but before Angleland or England was founded, which provides a historical backdrop for a completely fantastical tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The main character is a young man named Collum who wants to be a knight and prove himself as a warrior and a man. There are familiar faces as well, Sir Bedivere, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, Nimue, Merlin, Guinevere, and King Arthur himself. There are twists and turns along the way as it is a brand new tale, not a rehashing of a previous work. I rated it a 9/10 as it was excellent and kept me reading happily for weeks.