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The Bright Sword

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The Bright Sword

By: Lev Grossman
Narrated by: Mr Nicholas Guy Smith, Lev Grossman
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of the Magicians trilogy returns with a triumphant reimagining of the King Arthur legend for the new millennium.

When gifted young knight Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a place on the Round Table, he quickly discovers that he’s too late:The king died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table are left.

And the survivors aren’t the heroes of legend either, like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Table, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill.

But it’s up to them to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance, even as God abandons Britain and the fairies and old gods are returning, led by Morgan le Fay. They must reclaim Excalibur and make this ruined world whole again.

But first they’ll have to solve the mystery of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell.

The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, The Bright Sword is a story about imperfect men and women, full of strength and pain, who are looking for a way to forge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves.

'For anyone who’s ever craved a seat at the Round Table. Utterly enchanting.'

Rebecca Yarros, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fourth Wing

©2024 Lev Grossman (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Dragons & Mythical Creatures Epic Fantasy Historical Arthurian Feel-Good

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Absolutely great book. Amazing writing, the story weaves left and right, hands you familiar happy tropes then turns them upside down and inside out and folds them into something more fascinating. The characters are flawed and heroic and villainous, and totally engaging. The maze of the story pretends to depart so far from the norms it might potentially disappoint then winds back to familiar ground only to deliver you somewhere else. That is a perfectly satisfying and appropriate conclusion to all the exciting craziness that has gone before. Thought it was just great. Very much hope to read/listen to a story half as good again soon.

Fabulous and fantastic adventure in the finest Arthurian spirit.

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First book in a long time I’ve recommended to basically everyone I know. Very engaging, well paced, great storytelling. I’m coming in as an Arthurian novice, genuinely surprised to have enjoyed this book so much!

Brilliant

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Lev is a master wordsmith. His prose is up there with the very best. I’ll read everything he writes.

Great Book

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Couldn't stop listening, a great story and excellent character. Reminded me of the magicians trilogy but with the backdrop of Camelot

Epic Arthurian Story

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The book does a great job of portraying the mystical world of old Briton. But anything that threatens to grip you with this story, is fleeting.

The main narrative itself is excitingly slow, as it is short. Constantly interrupted by short origin stories of secondary characters, that more of often serve as an unwelcome distraction that sap what little pace may have been brewing in the story.

Slowly going nowhere

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