Hawk of May (1980)

Not as in love with this one as with Kingdom of Summer, its sequel; it is a lot harder to write a child's point of view than an adult's, to be fair, and there were some lovely moments of interaction between Gwalchmai and Agravain. But all in all: Gwalchmai's growth is pretty hard to make sense of — I get his desire to learn from his mother, but his rejection of her is more opaque, and it is especially difficult to understand what happens to him on the Isle of the Blessed — the tension between Light and Darkness is overly simplistic, and I felt as though Bradshaw was only reluctantly writing fantasy. She's clearly much more interested in the power struggles in post-Roman Britain than in epic moral battles and magic. Which is totally fine! I just wish she hadn't tried to do both — own you historical geekery, Gillian! You are really good at it! ( )

Hawk of May started rather slowly, and I found myself reading only a little each day, but once I got to about the middle of it, it was much more absorbing. It's an interesting take on the legend, set while Arthur is still establishing a kingdom, with more ties than is usual to the older Celtic myths and legends, including CuChulainn. So far there's been no sign of the now traditional Lancelot, Guinevere and Arthur love triangle, or Lancelot the super perfect knight. Gwalchmai is Gawain, basically, though I was pleased to find he wasn't portrayed as quite as much of a lout as the Gawains I've been coming across recently. I was also pleased that it had a likeable -- flawed, but likeable -- Agravain: so often he's awful. The kinder portrayal of Medraut (Mordred) as a sweet boy twisted by his mother, Morgawse, is interesting, too.

The idea of serving the Light, of Arthur's cause being that of the Light, isn't new at all, of course. Still, it was dealt with interestingly here -- with Arthur bowed down by his own darkness, and so unable to see the Light in Gwalchmai. With both of them having ties to the darkness, even, ties that won't let go. I liked that Arthur was more of a character than he sometimes is... that he was less of a cypher than he often is. He's not some perfect, lofty king, here -- he's good, even great, but he makes mistakes, just like anyone else.

It's not exactly a quick read, I think -- it's best not read at a gallop, but savoured. That's how I read it, anyway. It's a bit different to a lot of the stuff that's around, which is all courtly romance and whatever. ( )

I read copious amounts of King Arthur fiction when I was younger but have tired of it in recent years.
However, this particular book follows a side character (Sir Gawain) rather than the main action and just just uses the King Arthur story as a backdrop for it's own. It's also not particularly concerned with being historically accurate, and is overtly a fantasy novel with demons, sorceresses, enchanted swords, and magic.

I really enjoyed this interesting take on the legend. Gwalchmai doesn't seem particularly Gawain-like, but the book covers his childhood/early adulthood, so it's not horribly out of character for him compared to the original legend.

I'm definitely going to finsish off the trilogy. ( )

I can always depend upon Bradshaw for a good story grounded in history with appealing characters. If I'm not rating this higher... Well, when it comes to Arthurian works, she has really tough competition--even if you leave aside acknowledged classics of literature by Mallory and Tennyson. There are two basic approaches, the historical and pure, often anachronistic fantasy, with works often distinguishing themselves by how they mix the two. I have two favorites in the subgenre. Mary Stuart in her Merlin trilogy takes a more historical approach, although to my best recollection, it had a hint of fantasy, but more in the vein of Mary Renault where if you squint you could see rational explanations--plus, she's an outstanding, lyrical writer. My other favorite is T.H. White's The Once and Future King, and that's definitely unabashed fantasy that doesn't pretend to be set in a Dark Ages that still remembers Rome. And White's prose would please even finicky consumers of literary fiction. It's a moving, wonderfully written story (The basis for the musical Camelot and for Disney's The Sword and the Stone.)

Bradshaw's work is definitely that rare entity, the historical fantasy. There is dark magic, light magic, human sacrifice, the world of faerie, magical swords and horses. There are also references and quotations from classical works of antiquity and the dark ages and an obviously well researched attempt to create a plausible historical setting. The writing flows very smoothly--it's effortless reading, and her Gawain (Gwalchmai or "Hawk of May") is an appealing first person protagonist. Someone struggling to turn away from darkness, and to convince others he's changed as well. It was a diverting, entertaining read. But in terms of the Athurian works I've read--and I've read tons of them--its just not in the first rank. Good enough though, I'll be reading the next work in the trilogy. So I'd say this just misses a fourth star. ( )

His name was Gwalchmai, but story tellers and legend would call him Sir Gawain. Born to an evil sorceress it was no surprise that his life was on the road to darkness. But one day destiny came calling... sending him on a very important quest. His life would be forever changed when he took up arms under the Pendragon flag.

I thought this was a wonderful take on the King Arthur legends. I love reading books about King Arthur, but this is the first time I've read one just about Sir Gawain. Hawk of May is compelling and magical. The character of Gwalchmai pops off the pages and shines. Originally published in 1981, but the story is still fresh and poignant for 2010. Beautifully descriptive, a must read for any Arthurian fan. ( )