Vivienne is the Lady in Waiting for Guiniever, Arthur’s
new bride and refugee from the cursed city of Lyonesse. She has to be proper,
she as strict rules about how her future will be –and she’s not following any
of them, sneaking out every night to study with the Machinist and ex-wizard,
Merlin (who has a penchant for absinthe).
But when Morgan Le Fay, the king’s sister and destroyer
of Lyonesse, comes to Camelot wielding forbidden magic, the whole city may be
grateful for Vivienne’s tinkering and the old wizard’s inventions.
The premise of this book is excellent, a truly original
retelling of Arthurian Legends in a Steampunk setting. A Camelot that has
eschewed magic and turned instead to the wonders of alchemy and technology
(which, admittedly, does some pretty magical things) and not just out of random
prejudice – but out of a very real fear of what stealing magic does (and “stealing”
is used for a reason – which adds to the richness and great potential for
further stories in this world).
We have Merlin, a recovering magic user, still
desperately feeling the pull of magic, the urge to use the power he has inked
on his skin but trying to adhere to the strictures of the mechanical. It’s a
really strong depiction of a man struggling with addiction – a good man, a
strong man, a man who can even help people in the depths of his craving, but
still a man who has to struggle every day with what he has lost and what he
cannot have.
And we have Vivienne. Intelligent, secret apprentice to
Merlin who is unwilling to let the strictures of class and gender (or her
family’s expectations) dictate what she can or cannot do. She has no time for
boorish knights regardless of their titles. She’s brave – and not just in the
face of danger but also in the face of social embarrassment. She has her
doubts, she isn’t perfect, she often needs confidence and there are times when
her own personal dreams – desperate and impossible as they seem – overtake her
to the exclusion of realising she’s needed here and now. And she’s not the only
capable woman, Guinevere is good and kind, capable, brave and determined even
when regarded with suspicion and outright derision.
While there are few POC, and the one there is a small
role, there is an interesting dynamic of technology. Alchemy and machinery have
been mastered in the Middle East, and Merlin, Vivienne and everyone else fully
and freely acknowledges the Middle East’s superior knowledge, technology and
skill. It’s a well needed reminder that when Western Europe was mired in its “dark
ages”, the Islamic world was flourishing.
I also like how Arthurian legend has been used and
blended into this Steampunk story – Guinevere and Lancelot, Modred, Morgan Le
Fay – they’re all there, they all have elements of their original story,
reworked into this original setting and plot line.
So… issues. Yes there are some. Firstly a complete
absence of any GBLT people is an all-too-common problem. I’m also not sure
there was a particular need for Vivienne to develop a romance with Marcus – it didn’t
dominate the plot but it did feel overwrought and unnecessary in many places,
especially considering the knightly oath of celibacy to give them proper star
crossed pathos. Though Marcus, as the son of a serf, did give some good
insights into class divide in this world.
And the writing wasn’t a perfect execution – just a
little long winded and confused in places. In particular action and fight
scenes completely lost me. There’s an epic battle at one point that goes on for
pages and pages that gives me the strong impression of Vivienne largely
standing around and watching and at least two occasions where a character I was
sure just got killed was still fighting. I’m not sure if the fight was outside
the castle, inside the castle, quite possibly floating above the castle – there
was a moat and some platforms that apparently did stuff but I still have no
real idea what – in the end I skimmed past it with a big “fight scene, people
die” note.
It’s a relatively small point, but action does consume a
lot of this book so it falling apart is a problem.
This is the first book in a series and I’m definitely
curious to see where it goes from here, especially with the rather dramatic
ending that I didn’t remotely predict. There’s so much more to see and a lot
more of Vivienne’s character to grow and develop – I’m in, let’s see this
develop.
