Half Sick of Shadows

Half Sick of Shadows was a surprisingly melancholy, beautiful, and bittersweet read. I'm not too well-versed in Arthurian legend, so I had tempered expectations going into this; I was mostly intrigued by the premise & a preview of the book.
This was a unique take on this tale I haven't seen before, and an extremely character-driven version as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration of our fate(s) versus our choices that buoyed this tale and thought it was pretty skillfully wrought through the plot. There's also a moral/self-discovery undercurrent (again, not for everyone) which I thought was quite well executed.

I do agree with other reviewers that it might be a slow read for some, but the distinctiveness of the premise managed to show more keep my interest all the way through. And though the ambiguous ending wasn't quite to my taste, I didn't find it unpalatable either.
Overall, a surprisingly pleasant read! show less

I suspect this is one of those books that you either fell completely under its spell or you deeply disliked it. The structure is odd--the action takes place both in flashback, in present day and in visions the main character has of the future, all while playing on the presumed knowledge the reader already has of the Arthurian legends. I can very much see how the structure would turn folks off, but for me the characters were so strong that I didn't care that I didn't always clearly understand what was happening. The description of Avalon made me desperate to go there, I wanted to be Gwen's friend, and I wanted to tell off Morgause. In other words, I wanted more of this book even as I was drawn into the inevitable end.

Where do I even begin.... the "Legend of King Arthur" meets the "Lady of Shallot." While I have always enjoyed Arthurian Legend, this retelling comes from Elaine's, the oracle's, point of view. The beginning was the rough as there was a lot of switching between past, present, and future tense, making it difficult to follow to at times. Once King Uther dies though, and Arthur returns to Camelot to claim the throne, there isn't much in the way of switching. And that is where everything sucks you in. We all know the legend of King Arthur. We've all heard of the Evil Witch Morgan, how Lancelot and Guinevere betray Arthur, how Mordred fatally wounds Arthur in battle. Elaine has seen all of these things happen, in a million different ways, show more but she has also seen a happily ever after and it is that tiny spark of hope that keeps her moving forward. She is Arthur's main advisor and will always put his needs first, he must become King. He must take the throne and claim his birthright, and she will do what is necessary to get him there.
I haven't cried towards the end of the book in a very, very, long time, but I did with one. The author does a great job of building hope, of making you think that maybe, just maybe, that thin shred of hope will be the path this time, but as I said in the beginning, we all know the story of Arthur and what happens in the end. And it was a slap in the face.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Arthurian Legend, or even enjoyed reading the Mists of Avalon. You won't be disappointed. show less

Half Sick of Shadows is a historical fantasy that centers on Elaine, the Lady of Shallot, but a far more consequential Lady of Shallot than the passive victim of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem. She is a seer, blessed or cursed with the ability to see the future, though all futures form a metaverse of possibilities depending on choices made. Her problem is she can see too many futures with too little guidance as to which decisions lead to them.

Elaine grew up in Camelot, unlike Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, who she met when Arthur’s half-sister visited Camelot and befriended her, taking her to Avalon to finish growing up there away from her mother who tried to stifle Elaine’s ability with potions. There she grew up among the show more magical folk who were banned from the strictly mundane Camelot where all magic was banned.

When Arthur’s father died, Arthur, Elaine, Lancelot, and Elaine travel to Camelot while Guinevere travels to her home. In Camelot, Arthur is not welcomed as Mordred claims the through and Morgause allies with him. Merlin is ambivalent, though he leans more toward the sure thing in Mordred. Arthur is set the challenge of traveling to Guinevere’s home and making peace with them. It is not as easy as it would seem.

Meanwhile Elaine is haunted by all the possibilities, none of which seem good.

While Half Sick of Shadows is well-written with a true sense of place and with complex characters, I was disappointed in the story overall. I found the several iterations of the future tedious. At first, they were intriguing, but there were just too many. I suppose you could say we were given insight into the difficulty of being a seer, constantly plagued with possible futures with no certainty how to achieve or avoid them.

There were intriguing conflicts in the story, of course, there is the well-known conflict between Arthur and Mordred who is his half-brother rather than his son in this story. There is a conflict between Morgause and Morgana, as though the mythical woman has been split in two. There is the conflict between the church represented by Merlin and the magical represented by the Lady of the Lake, a conflict Elaine is asked to take sides in. These are all fascinating, but rather than engage, Elaine and the author sidestep the main event. We never learn how the inevitable comes to pass, a strange and disappointing decision.

I received an e-galley of HalfHalf Sick of Shadows from the publisher through NetGalley

Half Sick of Shadows at Berkley | Penguin Random House

Laura Sebastian

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2021/07/11/half-sick-of-shadows/ show less

La historia me encantó, esta muy bien narrada aunque al principio me costó un poco ya que la protagonista nos cuenta su presente, su pasado y las visiones del futuro mezcladas pero después le agarre el ritmo.
No le pongo mas estrellas por que si bien la novela esta genial, el final es abrupto, deja muchas cosas inconclusas y no es emotivo para nada. Realmente siento que se merecía otro tipo de final. Me decepciono un poco.

2.5. Entertaining only because I've never read Idylls of the Kings or any other King Arthur book, I fear that if I had read the actual source material I would have hated it. Marketed as a feminist retelling, which irritates me to no end, just because the main character is a woman doesn't necessarily mean it is feminist. Also this was a Book of the Month book for me and I unfortunately always find that those books are never really all that great. I thought I would like this more than I did because I love tragedies and I thought the concept of this group of friends doomed by the (literal centuries long) narrative would be super interesting but (SPOILERS) the ending is so ambiguous and confusing that you don't get that satisfying feeling show more of reading a tragedy. show less

CW: suicide, bullying, descriptions of drowning

Though I’ve only read the author’s debut Ash Princess before and never managed to continue the trilogy, she is fun to follow on Twitter and I’ve been very excited for this book since it’s announcement. But now I’m pretty unsure of my feelings after finishing it.

I know Arthurian legends are very famous and probably familiar to most western readers from a young age. But I didn’t grow up knowing them, and my only knowledge is pretty limited to the show Merlin and the books The Mists of Avalon, which I encountered less than a decade ago, both of which I don’t remember much of. So I’m not exactly attached to the original mythos and I don’t have the usual complaints like other show more reviewers, that it diverges too much from the original.

My problem is mostly with the plot itself. I frankly didn’t find the non linear timeline structure of the story too difficult, and it was actually interesting to read the “future” chapters and imagine all the various possibilities. It was just that all of the past chapters felt very detached, so when our group of ensemble characters in the present timeline pledge undying loyalty to each other and tell that they would do anything to make Arthur king, I couldn’t find it emotionally engaging because I couldn’t understand why they were actually so close and loyal to each other.

The characters themselves are interesting, I especially loved Elaine because she is kind of a tragic figure, unable live her life properly as she is always thinking about future possibilities and betrayals and how to change them. I really wanted her to have a life where she got what she wanted. Morgana is another character I loved because she is fierce and impulsive, but always remains true to herself. I think I would enjoyed the book more if more of these two women’s dynamic was explored. Gwen is a warrior who gets to make difficult decisions for the sake of her love and her people, but I didn’t feel much of anything towards her. Even the romance between Lancelot and Elaine, or Gwen and Arthur were just peripheral subplots that didn’t have much impact. Arthur himself wasn’t much of a major figure in this book, but I knew that going in because the author herself mentioned it many times, so it didn’t bother me much.

To be honest, I don’t even know where I’m going with this review. It was an okay story, but I could never understand what the goal or ending we were going towards, and I’m not sure if I’m satisfied with the ending, though it was an interesting surprise. I probably could have loved this more if I could’ve felt connected to the characters, but alas that didn’t happen. I don’t know to whom I can recommend this book, but definitely not to those who are very attached to the Arthurian legends and would be unhappy with such a drastically different retelling. show less