Beyond the Myst: The Lost Years of King Arthur

by Shari Prestwood, Ashley Kuppersmith, N.K. Schlaudecker

Arthur has fallen, and his passage into Avalon has flung Britain into darkness and despair at the hands of his wicked half-sister, Morgana. After striking an alliance with Gwyn ap Nudd, Lord of the Underworld, Morgana has named herself empress, and seeks to gain control, not only of the mortal realm, but of Avalon and the Otherworld as well. With the help of the soulless Black Knight, she is able to steal the mystic Blue Rose from Avalon, and strip the Lady of the Lake of almost all of her power. The Lady of the Lake, left with no other option, uses her waning magic to call Merlin out of his prison, instructing him to recover Sir Gawain from his own captivity in Limbo. Together, they must awaken Arthur from his twenty year sleep, for Arthur alone has the strength to rescue Avalon and restore balance to all worlds before Morgana completes her domination.

Genres: Fantasy

220 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2013

Reviews

[Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beyond the Myst by Shari Prestwood, Ashley Kuppersmith and N. K. Schlaudecker throws the reader into a dark post-Authur period. It’s an exciting read filled with larger-than-life characters that are often pushed and tested, adding to the tension. The authors have managed to bring fresh twists into the well tread world of Arthurian literature. Looking forward to more in this series. Recommended read.
I received this copy in order to write an honest review.

[Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book surprised me in how much I enjoyed it. My knowledge of the King Arthur myth is only to the extent that I have consumed it in other pop culture such as movies and television. So, what appears to be a continuation from the literary mythology would not seemingly sync up for me.

However, it ended up not mattering. From the beginning with the fall of Arthur, the retrieval and change of Gawain, and the magic of Merlin, I was hooked.

The book with brief and fast paced, where you could read a large piece of it without even realizing it.

My biggest issue was not knowing that this would be part of a series, I was expecting things to wrap up more and as the book got closer and closer to the end, I got worried that they would have to race to give it any real conclusion, or just leave it fully open.

However, after seeing it was part of a series, I was able to take a deep breath and prepare for the next installment. I will be grabbing ahold of the next book as soon as I am able.

I hope that in the end it pays off. The first book was mostly setup for what is to come. There were some really good bits, like the Gawain change and the battle with the Black Knight. However, there are some other bits that don't have as much import, like Arthur's disguise. So, I will hold out judgement on them for the time being.

Overall, though, I was very pleased with the book and am looking forward to the next one.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize when I was reading this that it wasn't a one shot book. When I was at 80% I couldn't figure out how they were going to wrap up this entire story in the next 20%. Well they weren't. Bah.


All in all it is a really good story. It tells the story of what would happen if many years later, Arthur, Merlin and Gawain came back to the land of the living to fight Morgana and her wicked army from destroying all of Britain.

All of the characters have their crosses to bear. They must all battle their personal demons and change the outcome of the last battle. Gawain has the heaviest burden to bear. Sometimes he bears it well, other times his old self gets the best of him.

I would love to read the next book so I can see how it turns out for poor Gawain.