A review by marimoose
The Well Between the Worlds by Sam Llewellyn
4.0
What a fascinating variation of the Arthurian legends! It's certainly been a while, but once the story got going, there was no doubt which direction it was heading.
After looking at the book jacket, I did believe I was going to read a retelling of Arthur as a boy, and wondered what other fantasy-ish elements were being added to make this a bit more original. A number of names were different (Idris and Ambrose vs. Arthur and Merlin), the area itself was a poisoned heap of land filled with monsters and dirty water, and the story was seemingly about a boy with the destiny of becoming a monstergroom. The beginning was far from anything I had known about Arthurian legends (though I should probably refresh my memory, it's been a while since I've done any reading on the legends), so I thought to myself: "perhaps he's only using names and certain figures as inspirations, and everything else is different..."
Once the story got past character introduction, development, and the setting of pieces of plot, more familiar elements emerged. Ambrose showed himself to be the great tutor that many imagine Merlin was, there were the rumors of a boy who was the rightful king of the land, and, of course, there was the sword stuck in the stone, pulled only by said rightful king.
The twist in the story, however, lies in the title itself. "Well Between the Worlds" sums Idris' adventures about right. Amidst a tumultuous, dying country is a breed of monsters, passing from their world into Lyonesse through well-gates and water. From this, the establishment in Lyonesse included Captains who supposedly kept the monsters at bay. Others have succumbed into greed, seeking to breed the otherwordly creatures with that of the living beings of Lyonesse. And that's only the start of Idris' problems.
So yes. Great read! I'd say I'd have to read more, but that seems to be the case of all the books I like that are part of a series...
After looking at the book jacket, I did believe I was going to read a retelling of Arthur as a boy, and wondered what other fantasy-ish elements were being added to make this a bit more original. A number of names were different (Idris and Ambrose vs. Arthur and Merlin), the area itself was a poisoned heap of land filled with monsters and dirty water, and the story was seemingly about a boy with the destiny of becoming a monstergroom. The beginning was far from anything I had known about Arthurian legends (though I should probably refresh my memory, it's been a while since I've done any reading on the legends), so I thought to myself: "perhaps he's only using names and certain figures as inspirations, and everything else is different..."
Once the story got past character introduction, development, and the setting of pieces of plot, more familiar elements emerged. Ambrose showed himself to be the great tutor that many imagine Merlin was, there were the rumors of a boy who was the rightful king of the land, and, of course, there was the sword stuck in the stone, pulled only by said rightful king.
The twist in the story, however, lies in the title itself. "Well Between the Worlds" sums Idris' adventures about right. Amidst a tumultuous, dying country is a breed of monsters, passing from their world into Lyonesse through well-gates and water. From this, the establishment in Lyonesse included Captains who supposedly kept the monsters at bay. Others have succumbed into greed, seeking to breed the otherwordly creatures with that of the living beings of Lyonesse. And that's only the start of Idris' problems.
So yes. Great read! I'd say I'd have to read more, but that seems to be the case of all the books I like that are part of a series...