I saw I Am Mordred: A Tale from Camelot sitting on the discount table at Books-A-Million and passed it up several times due to the cheesy artwork on the cover. It struck me as something that would be perhaps for young children, or just poorly written. When it went down to a dollar, I could no longer resist the temptation.
It would have been worth full price.
This is the tale of Camelot from Mordred’s perspective. Those who enjoy King Arthur tales will adore this book. As most of you know, Mordred is Arthur’s son via a one-nighter with his half-sister. The wizard Merlin has prophesied that Arthur will die at the hands of his own son. To prevent this from coming true, Arthur takes all male babies born that day and puts them to sea to die.
Somehow, Mordred survives and is rescued by a fisherman and his wife, where he is raised happily until a Sorceress named Nyneve arrives and takes him away… The same Nyneve that had tricked Merlin into his own imprisonment.
This is the tale of how Mordred came to learn of his destiny, and how this knowledge becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Mordred is depicted here as a young man who wants nothing more than to be accepted by those around him, and acknowledged by Arthur. He dreams not of wealth and power, and has no desire really to hurt Arthur in any way… but circumstances are against him and it seems there is no getting out of his fate.
Although Mordred is the central focus, you will see many familiar faces such as Arthur, of course, the delightfully wicked Morgane, King Loth, Sir Gawain, and the evil Pellinore… to name a few.
I love the way author Nancy Springer paints all the characters in this book, but most especially Mordred. She has us really sympathizing with this boy and feeling his helplessness. Springer is very adept at vivid character description and just makes every character in this book come to life. I could very easily visualize each scene in this one with no stretch.
As it turned out, I traded a brace of hares to an old charcoal burner for a bucket of limewash, and I painted my shield with it. So with a shield argent -white- as if I were still a virgin knight, I rode on toward Avalon.
I Am Mordred: A Tale from Camelot is written in the first person from his perspective and the words flow easily. This is a very quick 184-page read, and every page will keep you rapt. I read it from cover to cover in a night and could not put it down for a moment… then I read it again. That’s a good book.
I do highly recommend this one to Arthurian lovers and those who just like a good period fantasy tale. There’s everything in here from love to betrayal. Knowing how this legend turns out does not detract from it in any way. This is a very good one to curl up with before bed. Ahhhh what heavenly dreams it inspired.
