REVIEW: The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
An interesting mix of Arthurian tales, modern language, gallows humor, and grit, Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword is a book with a ton of banter, quests, and heart.
To be honest, I didn’t expect much going into this book. I knew it was about King Arthur and the Round Table, and with that comes certain expectations of epic fantasy where the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and all the characters talk about is how great friends they are and use phrases like “it’s my duty to protect the realm” ad nauseam. Even the title alone of The Bright Sword implies a certain run-of-the-mill epic fantasy.
But that’s not what this book is.
We start with Collum, a young man with no connections and no money, getting into a duel against a mysterious knight on his road to Camelot. Our main character gets told to fuck his mother three or four times within the first five pages, and ends up having to do one of the more brutal executions I’ve read. From there, The Bright Sword continues to be a breath of fresh air while maintaining that familiarity of King Arthur’s world.
“When you were inside them adventures happened slowly, but the aftermath of a failed adventure was even slower.”
The first subversion of expectations established, Grossman doesn’t let up. Instead of focusing on Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad, and all the other more famous ones, he focuses on the lesser known knights. Sir Bedivere, Sir Dagonet the Fool, Sir Palomides, Sir Dinadin, and Nimue. Each one is one I’d only roughly heard of before, and The Bright Sword brings these characters so much life and detail that it’s impossible to pick a favorite.
In the vein of continuing to bring new life to King Arther, we spend most of our time with these lesser-known characters because all the “important things” have already happened. Our main character Collum is too late: everything has already happened. Lancelot and Mordred have completed their betrayals. The Round Table is in ruins. King Arthur is dead.
From there, we get to know all the “left-over” knights rather intimately by having chapters from their POVs dropped in semi-randomly. Now, before I say anything else, Lev Grossman is a master writer and I’ve added the rest of his books to my TBR. I’ll go a step further and say that the wit, prose, action, and character work on display in The Bright Sword is the closest I’ve ever read to Joe Abercrombie’s First Law. With that out of the way, I have to say, I kind-of hated the way that we get these knights’ chapters. The approach follows a rough pattern of two Collum/”main” chapters, then a chapter or two featuring “the tale of Sir (insert knight of your choosing).” With Grossman’s talent, it provides an interesting routine where it’s nearly impossible to put down for thirty pages and then nearly impossible to continue after fifty.
“He’ll keep killing and killing till only one knight survives, and King Galahad will wear a crown of bone and sit on a throne of blood.”
Pacing aside, so much of The Bright Sword just works. Grossman’s writing style is superb, his talent undeniable. The dialogue, the action, the prose, all of it is tip-top stuff. He’s a master. I flipped open a copy of the book while writing this review and every passage I read left me wanting to read more, even though I just read the book last week.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that one of the core themes in The Bright Sword is the closing of the age of magic & the rise of Christianity. It’s like the British version of the last days of the Wild West. Fairies and the old world are being left behind in favor of fervent Christianity, and every character has an opinion on it. Some hate God, some love Him, and a lot have mixed opinions, but every one of them offers their two cents. If you go into the novel, be prepared.
“My God may be harder to love, but that’s because He is not like man. He is greater.”
While I adore the writing style, I did have another nagging issue outside the pacing: the ending. No offense to Grossman, but the ending of The Bright Sword left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s executed as perfectly as it can be, and still, I just hated the concept. Credit where credit’s due, the actual last line is perfection.
Quibbles aside, The Bright Sword is a damn fine book. It’s something that I just can’t imagine anyone ever saying anything less than “this is a great tale,” but it’s also something I can’t imagine someone saying “it’s my favorite book.”
If you’re looking for the familiar word of King Arthur with a fresh voice, relentless talent, and a deft touch, The Bright Sword is here to light your world.
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