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A review by alatarmaia
Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was recommended the ARC of this book by a coworker, and it has surpassed all my expectations. It's a very rare treat to read medieval-inspired fiction, and Arthurian no less, by someone who understands that plate armor was not invented for another thousand or so years after Arthur would have died.
I could talk about the diversity of this book, but I think it's more interesting to say that watching Kay and Lancelot's characters evolve on the page and in my understanding of the pasts they'd lived through was so fascinating. I could talk about how much I liked the slow and clever build of who was important and who might be hiding something big. Every character on the page is exactly who they are from the outset—it's up to us, the reader, to go from page to page and see how their little actions in the beginning set up their big, important decisions at the climax.
There's almost no characters who are flat or ignored here; everyone clearly has something going on in their life, something very important to them (whether that's their beliefs or who they are as a person more unconsciously). Just because it's not relevant enough to be laid out for the plot doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Pulling off that kind of writerly trick is impressive even without the rest of the book to complement it. Side characters who don't get much time still have these sweet moments that tell so much about who they are as people and how they understand the complicated world around them.
I could talk about the diversity of this book, but I think it's more interesting to say that watching Kay and Lancelot's characters evolve on the page and in my understanding of the pasts they'd lived through was so fascinating. I could talk about how much I liked the slow and clever build of who was important and who might be hiding something big. Every character on the page is exactly who they are from the outset—it's up to us, the reader, to go from page to page and see how their little actions in the beginning set up their big, important decisions at the climax.
There's almost no characters who are flat or ignored here; everyone clearly has something going on in their life, something very important to them (whether that's their beliefs or who they are as a person more unconsciously). Just because it's not relevant enough to be laid out for the plot doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Pulling off that kind of writerly trick is impressive even without the rest of the book to complement it. Side characters who don't get much time still have these sweet moments that tell so much about who they are as people and how they understand the complicated world around them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Racism