The Hawk's Grey Feather

The Tales of Arthur #1

by Patricia Kennealy

Told through the eyes of Taliesin, King Arthur's foster brother, this tale follows Arthur as he learns the ways of battle and life under the tutelage of Merlynn

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Arthurian, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic, Medieval

400 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1990

Reviews

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

REREAD#2 (at least): 9 April 2020 to 14 April 2020 = (10/10)

Another "Lockdown 2020 Reread". And another one I loved rereading. I love the Keltiad books - I'm sure there are all sorts of things critics could complain about about them, but I just don't care. They are a joy to read. The cadence of the writing feels like you've fallen into a bardic tale rather than a grim and gritty story that might befit normal people. It's more like a fairy tale than a tell it all memoir.

I also love Arthurian retellings, although I admit to having a habit of bailing before the last volume when all the betrayal starts happening. I've never read Mary Stewart's The Last Enchantment, I never finished Catherine Christian's [The Sword and the Flame|33779408] or Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset. (I'm rather sorry to say that I did finish The Mists of Avalon.

I also never finished the third book in this series, The Hedge of Mist, but I hope to keep going and finish the story. Kennealy-Morrison tells her stories with a light and deft touch, and she lightens some of the harsher set pieces without lessening the whole - there is no incest in the story in her version for example. It's like I said in the first paragraph; the Keltiad novels carry a lightness to them that doesn't diminish the power or the events of the story, but make them lovely comfort reads at times like this, when they are needed.

I still hope to this day that a least a few of the Keltia stories she promised us at the height of her writing career will one day appear, despite all the time that has gone by. The title titles that teased as at the back of the latter books can still take me on wild flights of fantasy all on their own. Oh, to have a story behind them.


The Hawk's Grey Feather - Patricia Kennealy
The Tales of Arthur, Book 1; Fantasy; Reread; 8/10

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Are you tired of these endless rehashes of the Arthurian legend? No, I'm not either. And it was an imaginative recasting of the whole cast and history. That said, The Hawk's Gray Featherjust didn't engage me. I doubt if I'll read the follow on volumes.

Kenneally-Morrison adds science fiction to the usual mix of fantasy and myth, but she doesn't do it well. Despite occasional references to starships and laser weapons, her tales are firmly planted in late Dark Ages Britain. Science fiction isn't just the occasional jump between planets, is a world transformed by information gathering and dissemination, altered materials and processes and, yes, weird and wonderful weapons. We got none of that.

Lovers of all things Celtic will revel in her pronunciation guides and quixotic spellings; the rest of us would have settled for something a bit easier to read.

I love maps, but her's was wasted by an illegible font for the labels. At first glance I couldn't figure out where Swynedd was. (The "g", improbably, looked so much like an "s".)

[Ema · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very bored for the vast majority of the reading of this—only in the last hundred (give or take) pages did I start to get invested. It seemed to drag on, lingering over moments that did not need it and passing quickly over others. There was a tendency to tell grand swathes of years in pages, so that Taliesin and Arthur went from twenty-six to forty in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

And speaking of those two: they’re boring. Taliesin, despite being the perspective character, has little of consequence actually happen to him; he seems like an observer in everyone else’s life. Arthur, on the other hand, is either an insufferable brat or a constantly melancholy and dismal adult. He’s dull, and moody, and I would hate to be around him.

Another thing—this book has a tendency to not explain things in full, or to simply assume the reader will know things. It’s frustrating, to say the least. Such as in describing the plan for the final battle—it is mentioned several times that the “center” is “not a true center”, but the reader is not told why until several pages later.

Honestly, this could have been way better. I expected more, considering it has such high reviews.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of flat. Not very inspiring, but will give the rest of the series a shot.
Volume 1 of the Tales of Arthur. Sets the saga in a distant solar system. Brendan's voyage went a bit further than we have been led to believe.

Told from the point of view of Taliesin, Arthur's foster-brother, tells the story of Arthur's quest to restore his family to its rightful kingship. Talyn marries Morgan, who is on the good side for a change. They seek to take Keltia back from the evil druid Edeyrn. As the book closes, Arthur is in mortal combat with Owein--Edeyrn's heir.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of the Tales of Arthur sequence in the Keltiad novels, and one of my favourite books of all time. These books are hard to get now but absolutely worth the effort, if you enjoy a good bit of Celtic myth clothed in fantasy/scifi. They are beautifully written, as always with Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, whose love of language is clear in every sentence she wrote. This series of books, narrated in the first person by Taliesin (her version of the legendary Welsh bard of the same name), are luscious to the eye and ear, and feel very much like listening to an actual bard.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was an excellent start - I very much enjoyed it.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written when Kennealy wasn't yet calling herself Kennealy-Morrison, this is an inventive, colorful adventure, the first of three Arthurian books set in her Keltiad universe. Narrated in first person by the legendary bard Gwydion - that is, the Keltiad version thereof - it re-invents the tale of Camelot as a science-fiction tale with imaginative twists aplenty, brave and likeable characters, and a great sense of texture, pace and place. It's the story of how young Gwydion grows up as Arthur's foster-brother and begins his career as a bard, while watching Arthur grow into the military genius and born leader destined to deliver the Keltian throneworld, Tara, from the grip of the renegade Death-druid Edeyrn. Along the way we meet all the other Arthurian characters in their Keltiad guises: Morgan, here Taleisin's beloved and wife-to-be; Morgawse, here Marguessan, still up to no good; Merlynn, Gweniver, and so on. I'm halfway through the second book. The Oak Above the Kings, now, and I wish her work had stayed this good.

I have one huge peeve with Kennealy's writing here, though, and it irks me fiercely: it's her constant and totally unnecessary interjection of words from her invented neo-Gaelic language. There's a parallel to this in anime fanfic writing - it's called "fangirl Japanese" and it's regarded as a glitch of young writers that one ought to eventually outgrow (I did). There is just no excuse for this unless there is no equivalent in English, and then the accepted thing to do is to translate it the first time one uses it. She occasionally does that, but much, much more often resorts to the smug little device of a glossary in the back, which brings your reading to a full halt time and again while you go look up a word that turns out to mean "purse" or "dress" or "barrel". (It's slightly less over-used in the second book, but still grates.)

Despite that, this is an enjoyable adventure, especially if you're a fan of Celtic myth and/or the Arthurian cycle, and worth spending a summer day or two with.

[Kristine (fezabel) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book seems to be nothing more than another retelling of the Arthurian legends. But it is so much more than that. It majestically weaves colorful characters and intriguing storylines with a fresh plot. I highly recommend it for any fans of Celtic legends and certainly any Arthur fans.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is superb, lyrical, poetically descriptive. A "savor" book instead of "devour." I had forgotten how much I enjoy Kennealy-Morrison's prose.

A re-telling of the Arthurian legend, set on a different planet in a Celtic society. Combines fantasy, legend, science fiction.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is the first of a series that is a futuristic Arthurian tale, and is related to the series that starts with the Copper Crown. This series is set in the past of the Copper Crown series, and does somewhat help make the other series make sense. Loved both of these series.

[Kim Stewart]

Please see my review here.

[Norman Howe]

Science-Fiction

[Michael D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago - about 20 years ago. The notion of an outer space version of the Arthurian cycle was very interesting. Great read.