THE NEW CAMELOT

Imagine a world where all genders are equal, merit rather than birth dictates power, and love is love: magic, indeed.

Despite packing in at least two books’ worth of content and condensing major portions of the canon into a span of months, this closer effectively wraps up both the trilogy’s dramatic (and sometimes bawdy) teen romances and its competing power plays. In this alternate Arthurian world, Merlin is a girl, Guinevere got pregnant by and eloped with someone who is neither Arthur nor Lancelot (who is himself happily involved with Percival), and Arthur would rather read than lead. Arthur and Emry journey to Anwen on a magical quest and fight multiple battles at home, where Arthur’s council wishes to keep Camelot static, and in the field, where King Yurien seeks dominion over Camelot and is aided by evil sorceress Bellicent. Many secondary characters have their own meaningful arcs, particularly Guinevere and Morgana. Sir Tor, the young nonbinary knight, serves as a wise mentor to Lance and Arthur in ways that readers may find uncomfortably evoke the trope of the “magical other,” but the casual acceptance of a range of queer identities is a key component of the new Camelot. Previous books established racial diversity among secondary characters; class and gender are greater obstacles to acceptance and advancement.

A rollicking retelling, wrapping commentary on our world into a delightful ahistorical package.