A review by bookwyrmsam
Spear by Nicola Griffith
4.0
I've recently been super in the mood for Arthurian fiction so when I read the description for this book, I wanted to pick it up immediately! (And I'll be honest and say the cover is what enticed me to read the description in the first place... similar illustrations are scattered throughout the text).
I really enjoyed this book overall. The writing style was beautiful and reminded me of two authors: Katherine Arden for the way the natural world was described, and Ursula K. Leguin for the more distant simple (yet stunning) descriptions of characters and their interactions. This book very much felt like reading a fairy tale so even though I didn't feel super connected to most of the characters, I didn't mind. I felt that the book did interesting things with the story it was trying to tell, and it was nice to see casual queer rep, and a focus on female protagonists in an Arthurian context.
Also, I thought it was interesting that Nicola Griffith opted to use a lot of older Welsh spellings and historical context in this book (she includes a notes section in the back about some of the choices she made and her sources/inspirations).
Overall if you're in the mood for a short, vibey, atmospheric read, I'd recommend this one.
Content Warnings for violence and mention of fertility issues.
I really enjoyed this book overall. The writing style was beautiful and reminded me of two authors: Katherine Arden for the way the natural world was described, and Ursula K. Leguin for the more distant simple (yet stunning) descriptions of characters and their interactions. This book very much felt like reading a fairy tale so even though I didn't feel super connected to most of the characters, I didn't mind. I felt that the book did interesting things with the story it was trying to tell, and it was nice to see casual queer rep, and a focus on female protagonists in an Arthurian context.
Also, I thought it was interesting that Nicola Griffith opted to use a lot of older Welsh spellings and historical context in this book (she includes a notes section in the back about some of the choices she made and her sources/inspirations).
Overall if you're in the mood for a short, vibey, atmospheric read, I'd recommend this one.
Content Warnings for violence and mention of fertility issues.