Group Reads Discussions 2023: "Spear" Discuss Everything *Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Come share all your thoughts about the first novella to grace our shelves in a long time!

A few questions to get us started:

1. What did you think of the setting?
2. Did it align with your expectations for Arthurian legends?
3. What worked or didn't for you?
4. Overall thoughts?

[Bonnie]

I liked (not loved) it.

I was certainly rooting for Peretur.
One thing I noticed was, before she got to Camelot/Caer Lyon and we learned about her heritage and drinking from the bowl, I was worried she was too powerful? with the magical bees helping her and being able to predict the horses' actions, some of the fights didn't seem fair! Of course the Red Knight was a bad guy so I got over it. :-)

I read The Once and Future King and The Mists of Avalon recently enough that I did a lot of mental comparisons. The Crystal Cave is also in an On Deck pile. This is a much shorter, simpler tale. Although it is interesting to see another take, this one seeming to intertwine Irish and Welsh myths, I don't think it will stick with me like those other books, which have very serious and complex themes.

I was surprised to see Merlin as bad, I am used to Merlin being good.
Always interesting to see different ways of interpreting the "To seek the Holy Grail" legend.

[HeyT]

I really enjoyed this and read it all in one sitting. I have this mental block about Arthurian Lore so I was not thrilled this was the pick BUT it made me realize I don't dislike ALL Arthurian Lore I just really don't enjoy Arthur and his story. Give me all the tertiary characters please. (Especially if they are qaf)

[Bonnie]

I was thinking, why is it called Spear?

The Spear is Excalibur. And there were four artifacts / magical items from the Tuath Dé? No, the sword also...

I might have gone with Spear and Cup as a title. Per had powers because of drinking from the cup.

[HeyT]

I believe it's called Spear because she was her mother's spear and she took the power of the artifact spear within herself at the end.

[Bonnie]

Oh yes! that's right. I was falling asleep as I wrote that. She was her mother's reward and the spear against the god. So what was the fourth? Will look it up...

"... The four treasures of the Tuath are the sword, which is given, the stone, which is hidden, the cup, which I have, and the spear. You are that spear. You are my Bêr-hyddur, my spear enduring. You are Peretur. Know that I do not remove my ward, and under my geas will remain hidden, even from you. Know, too: you have broken my heart."

That stone Merlin was asleep on.

[Jacqie]

I liked how the author drew importance to made things. This is a callback to very old stories and how manufactured artifacts were almost given personalities. It was difficult and time consuming to create and a creation said something about its creator. Peretur had to make everything in her home.

[Liane]

I second HeyT’s sentiments. I really enjoyed Spear. I had no recollection it was Arthurian, and didn’t pick up on that until midway through what with all the twisted names (& that from someone married into a Welsh family - ha!)

[BJ]

Liane wrote: "I second HeyT’s sentiments. I really enjoyed Spear. I had no recollection it was Arthurian, and didn’t pick up on that until midway through what with all the twisted names (& that from someone marr..."

Yes, I also didn't notice until midway! And I'm honestly not sure I even would have if I hadn't peaked at the afterword while trying to see how many pages I had left 😂

I also am not really a King Arthur person, but I really enjoyed this. I thought the style was great! And while I think all the sword fights and knights and finding-your-place-serving-a-kings would have worn out their welcome in a longer book (as indeed they have in the past, since this kind of fantasy tends to run long!), I thought this was really well paced and the perfect length. Enough to get to know everyone and the world but at the same time over before you know it. It left me wanting more! I'm actually really excited to read Griffith's science fiction now, since that is more my thing!

[BJ]

Jacqie wrote: "I liked how the author drew importance to made things. This is a callback to very old stories and how manufactured artifacts were almost given personalities. It was difficult and time consuming to ..."

I agree! And in doing so, she was able to bring together a sort of domestic story about women using and caring for objects in their daily lives with the more mystical, fantastical element in a really effective way.

[BJ]

HeyT wrote: "I believe it's called Spear because she was her mother's spear and she took the power of the artifact spear within herself at the end."

The way I read it, her mother stole the power of the spear from the father when she conceived Peretur, so in addition to drinking from the cup and being half-immortal, Peretur also had the power of the spear within her from the beginning, which is what allowed her to take it from her father in the end and absorb the rest of its power into her!

[Michael]

I like to go into stories without foreknowledge of any specific content, as I did with this. I'd say the author was successfully tantalizing up until, and even a bit after, I realized this was Arthurian legend. Around the point where the main character started having significant interactions with others. Then I gradually started to lose interest. This was a bit too much like the tales of old, I suppose, where there's destiny to be met, where good and bad can be ultimately balanced on a scale, and while stakes might be high for the characters, there's never much doubt for the reader how things will shake out. I appreciate for a complete Arthurian nerd (I read a bit of the end notes), the author was compelled to do this and some readers may really get a kick out of it. For me, this well trod ground needed more sustained nuance and intrigue. One of these books I'm not sorry I read, but wouldn't recommend.

[Ori]

Bonnie wrote: "The Spear is Excalibur."
The sword owned by Arthur is the Excalibur analogue. The spear isn't from the Arthurian mythos, other than perhaps part of the etymology for Percival's Welsh name.

I didn't know anything about the Tuatha Dé Danann so it was fun to learn. And I loved how the mashup with the Arthurian tales (which I'm also awfully unfamiliar with, but know the basics).

I really enjoyed this conversation in the Wizards vs Lesbians podcast:
https://wizlez.libsyn.com/spear

[BJ]

Michael wrote: "I like to go into stories without foreknowledge of any specific content, as I did with this. I'd say the author was successfully tantalizing up until, and even a bit after, I realized this was Arth..."

It's interesting, I feel like in an alternate reality that might have been my reaction as well. I often feel that way about this register of fantasy storytelling - and I rarely have the patience for it in the 500-page tomes that seem to be its natural habitat! But in this case, I felt increasingly drawn in and intrigued, and also impressed by the pacing, which I felt managed to sustain an epic tone and story very concisely, without seeming to be concise.

[Alexandra]

I really loved this. The language was magical, I felt like I was reading something very ancient, yet vivid, alive, and true. It was a wonderful reimagining of Arthurian legends. I've read Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table and Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy, but it was ages and ages ago. Also, for some reason I was convinced that these stories have become tropes, done and redone to pieces. I'm glad to have been proven wrong ;) and will be happy to read more books by Nicola Griffith.

[Faith N.]

I liked this clever reimagining of Arthur's legend and found the characters engaging. If I could change anything it would be adding more detail about Arthur, Gwen, and Lance, more interactions between the trio, and more perspective from their point of view (especially Arthur); the story felt very one-sided. The ending (view spoiler)[quest for the holy grail (hide spoiler)] felt rushed and anti-climatic but perhaps this is only because I did not want the book to finish so soon.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

I liked it for the most part. I thought the setting was well done.

Someone mentioned in the first impressions thread I think that it was told like a fable. I agree with this but am not super keen on telling a story this way for some reason, it makes the characters feel kind of distant.

I also liked the way all the legends/myth was meshed together from both Celtic, Arthurian and Christian lore. It felt very believable.

[Robert]

This was my first book by this author. I liked the story: a short, very well written novella retelling a familiar tale. Other than that, I don't have much to add for good or ill. I give it five stars, on the inflated scale.

[Ori]

I realize I forgot to post this Spear episode of one of my favorite podcasts:
https://wizlez.libsyn.com/spear

I also recommend this just-released 4 hour overview of Arthurian storytelling. (The link jumps to the part about Spear, but the whole video is great, and taught me a lot. It covers some of the same ground as the appendix in Spear)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGC_h...