My name is Merrie Haskell, and I confess: I used to be obsessed with King Arthur.
I started keeping a notebook on interesting King Arthur facts, and notes on every book I read about him (fiction and non-fiction) when I was 12. In my senior year of high school, I did an independent study on King Arthur and churned out a 50-page paper on “Arthur’s Britain.” (I later put all that stuff on a website which is now defunct, feeling that while it reflected my best work when I was 18? Now, not so much.)
Like many people who are obsessed with things, I also burned out. I can’t think of the last time I’ve read an Arthur-related book and really enjoyed it. I’ll watch the occasional movie (the Clive Owen King Arthur movie was both absurd and insightful, IMO), the occasional myth-abusive TV show (the Merlin episode of Stargate:SG-1), but I tend to avoid longer-term investments like the TV shows Merlin and Camelot. Novels are also longer-term time investments.
So, a short story clearly fits my criteria. And awesomely, the Alphabet Quartet by Tim Pratt, Heather Shaw, Greg van Eekhout and Jenn Reese kicks off with “A is for Arthur“. And it became my favorite short story of The Past Long While, because it asks THE question about King Arthur that I’ve always really wondered about: why did Shakespeare never write a great Arthurian play?
Read it. Love it.
Or don’t, I really have a dog in this race, I just wanted to share how awesome I thought the story was.
6 responses so far ↓
Small Review // July 28, 2011 at 12:14 am
Thank you for the link to the story. I’m a huge King Arthur fan, but more the fantasy retellings than the reality (and I’m not nearly as dedicated as to write a 50 page essay. Wow!)
merrie // July 30, 2011 at 5:37 pm
What’s your fave retelling?
Small Review // August 1, 2011 at 2:49 am
Oh hm, I’ve read so many I can’t remember all of them anymore. I really like T. H. White’s The Once and Future King (part of that is nostalgia for the Disney version of The Sword in the Stone). As for YA books, I Am Mordred by Nancy Springer is one I’ve read a number of times. It’s a more sympathetic look at Mordred and very sad. How about you?
Merrie // August 2, 2011 at 2:59 am
I’m a big fan of Gillian Bradshaw’s Hawk of May, but when I was younger, nothing could defeat the wonder of Mist of Avalon!
I found myself ridiculously taken in by Meg Cabot’s Avalon High at one point.
Greg van Eekhout // August 3, 2011 at 5:28 am
Aw, glad you liked the little story!
One scholarly answer to why Shakespeare never wrote an Arthur play is that, during Shakespeare’s time, England’s interest in Arthur was at a low point. No idea how credible that explanation is, but there it is.
Mer // August 3, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Hey Greg!
I did like it. Loads!
I’d argue with that explanation if I had funding. But I don’t, so I’ll take it for right now.
Like gas stations in rural Texas after 10 pm, comments are closed.