The Book of Mordred

First of all, let me declare that I will read (and probably enjoy) almost anything related to the Arthurian legend.

We learn about Mordred through the eyes of 3 women, Alayna, Nimue, and Kiera, and the story is told in three parts over time, each focusing on one of the women. Only Nimue was familiar to me from the tradition Camelot story. Alayna, a young widow, is befriended by Mordred while rescuing her daughter, Kiera. They supposedly have a deep and lasting love between them, although the story never shows us that. Later, Nimue encounters Mordred in another rescue and again, they develop a relationship. The final story involves Kiera, now a young woman, and her relationship with Mordred, Alayna, and Nimue.

Each story was well-told and show more well-paced. But, especially in Kiera's story, characters and plot lines are introduced with little explanation or backstory--not just the bones of the Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere triangle, but other plots as well. And in the final sections, Morgana (Morgan la Fay) suddenly shows up and plays a major role in the outcome.

This book is considered YA. Characters were not explored in as much depth as I would have liked. And, most bothersome to me, the key character is still somewhat of a mystery, even at the end. Was he acting on his own or under Morgana's control? What influence, if any, did Nimue have? Too many unanswered questions for me to rate this book higher. I felt like it was a "surface" story without much depth. show less

loved it! weird that modern and old English were mixed together ("yon" and modern swears)

I liked it 'till the last section. Of course I already knew where the story was going, but having the girl be able to see into the future certainly did not help.

Still love the author, but still can't get into anything Arthurian. Even after reading the whole first book of this, over 100 pp.

I remember having A Lot of Feelings about this book when I read it, no idea if I'd still enjoy it now...

It has action, adventure, and love. I read the inside cover and it was very appealing. AHS/JM

Disappointing and unfocused.