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Metal & Lace #1
Camelot Burning
By day, Vivienne is Guinevere's lady-in-waiting. By night, she's Merlin's secret apprentice, indulging in the new mechanical arts and science of alchemy. It's a preferred distraction from Camelot’s gossipy nobility, roguish knights, and Lancelot’s athletic new squire, Marcus, who will follow in all knights’ footsteps by taking a rather inconvenient vow of chastity.
More than anything, Vivienne longs to escape Camelot for a future that wouldn't include needlework or marriage to a boorish lord or dandy. But when King Arthur's sorceress sister, Morgan le Fay, threatens Camelot, Vivienne must stay to help Merlin build a steam-powered weapon to defeat the dark magic machine Morgan will set upon the castle. Because if Camelot falls, Morgan would be that much closer to finding the elusive Holy Grail. Time is running out and Morgan draws near, and if Vivienne doesn't have Merlin's weapon ready soon, lives would pay the price, including that of Marcus, the only one fast enough to activate it on the battlefield.
More than anything, Vivienne longs to escape Camelot for a future that wouldn't include needlework or marriage to a boorish lord or dandy. But when King Arthur's sorceress sister, Morgan le Fay, threatens Camelot, Vivienne must stay to help Merlin build a steam-powered weapon to defeat the dark magic machine Morgan will set upon the castle. Because if Camelot falls, Morgan would be that much closer to finding the elusive Holy Grail. Time is running out and Morgan draws near, and if Vivienne doesn't have Merlin's weapon ready soon, lives would pay the price, including that of Marcus, the only one fast enough to activate it on the battlefield.
408 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2014
13 people are currently reading
3140 people want to read
About the author
Kathryn Rose
5 books87 followersKathryn Rose was born in Toronto, Canada, and grew up in the Kitchener-Waterloo region of Southern Ontario. After graduating with honours from York University, where she studied literature and philosophy, she relocated to Los Angeles, California. She lives on the west coast with her partner Leland and their two cats.
Kathryn is the author of the METAL & LACE series, an Arthurian legend retelling with a steampunk twist, from Flux Books. In 2024, she founded Château Boho Books, an imprint for her fantasy novels.
Kathryn is the author of the METAL & LACE series, an Arthurian legend retelling with a steampunk twist, from Flux Books. In 2024, she founded Château Boho Books, an imprint for her fantasy novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
March 28, 2014
This book is really hard for me to review, because so many parts of it are fine. It had an interesting concept and an engaging plot, decent characters, plenty of fun mechanical creations. But the writing. I have rarely encountered writing so hard to slog through. And, seeing as this is a book, if the words are a muddled mess, that makes it hard to appreciate anything else that’s going on. The characters and plot and such are made of words, after all. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to tell how much of my problem with the writing was it being poorly written and how much was me just getting annoyed and cranky.
The idea behind this book -- a steampunk version of Camelot -- is a lot of fun. It had a lot of problems (like how a lot of unrelated stuff suddenly turned Victorian-era for no effing reason at all), but on the whole it gave us some good material. I also liked the clashes between ‘magic’ and ‘mechanical arts’ in this book. There was a very vague and wavy line between magic and alchemy, which was irritating, but on the other hand that dodgy shades-of-grey stuff is fun precisely because it is messy.
Since my knowledge of the Arthur myth doesn’t extend beyond BBC’s Merlin *dodges rotten fruit SORRY!* I can’t say how close this book hews to the legends, but nothing stuck out as obviously beyond the purview of a ‘retelling.’ The characters were fun, especially Merlin.
Although chalk this book up as another one that has one ‘worthy’ female amongst a host of male characters. The only female characters beyond Vivian were her mother and Guinevere, and both were largely absent from this novel. Despite a tepid attempt to paint Vivian and Guinevere as ‘fast friends,’ I think the two share three scenes together, and the sum total of their conversations is “You need me for anything?” “Nope, run off now.” She’s supposed to be Guinevere’s handmaid, and she spends the entire novel ‘relieved’ of her duties.
So, that writing. Oh, man, that writing. It irritated the hell out of me. It was hard to follow. There was very little setting description, so half the time I couldn’t tell where anyone was. Vivian stands in a garden and watches stuff going on at a gate that is…far away? Right next to her? The castle gate? City gate? Down a hill? Same level? WHO KNOWS! Not us. The lack of establishing descriptions means that people and objects pop up out of the blue in the middle of scenes, and I was constantly flipping through pages going “where the fuck did that come from?”
Another problem was Vivian’s voice. Very unemotional, and somewhat…weird. Combine the two and it’s even more confusing. She uses very odd turns of phrase, quite a few clunky metaphors, and then when something actually bizarre happens (random ghost dragon?) she has no emotional reaction them. Smoke in the shape of a dragon bursts out of the ground and it took like a whole page before I figured that, no, she actually meant that literally. Because there wasn’t even an ounce of “weird, ghost dragons are a thing, go figure,” added to her metaphor clunkers meant that I was ready to believe she was talking about actual smoke and just being fanciful talking about it. With this girl, anything is possible.
The third biggest flaw is the use of “comic book timing.” You know how in comic books, they can shove an entire conversation in a single frame which depicts a relatively short activity (like punching someone)? Same thing here. Vivian often acts like a 3rd person narrator and ‘overhears’ other characters doing stuff, but in order to eavesdrop on these very lengthy conversations, she either has to be standing around mutely staring off into space, or the absolute slowest nurse ever. (And she must have really good eyesight, because she reports perfectly on events taking place far away. Or maybe not that far away. Again, no establishing descriptions!)
Overall, I couldn’t get into this book. The technical writing made it too hard for me to do so, and everything that I could have enjoyed was a chore instead. I wanted to love it -- it had so much potential! -- but I ended up feeling very ‘meh’ on it instead.
The idea behind this book -- a steampunk version of Camelot -- is a lot of fun. It had a lot of problems (like how a lot of unrelated stuff suddenly turned Victorian-era for no effing reason at all), but on the whole it gave us some good material. I also liked the clashes between ‘magic’ and ‘mechanical arts’ in this book. There was a very vague and wavy line between magic and alchemy, which was irritating, but on the other hand that dodgy shades-of-grey stuff is fun precisely because it is messy.
Since my knowledge of the Arthur myth doesn’t extend beyond BBC’s Merlin *dodges rotten fruit SORRY!* I can’t say how close this book hews to the legends, but nothing stuck out as obviously beyond the purview of a ‘retelling.’ The characters were fun, especially Merlin.
Although chalk this book up as another one that has one ‘worthy’ female amongst a host of male characters. The only female characters beyond Vivian were her mother and Guinevere, and both were largely absent from this novel. Despite a tepid attempt to paint Vivian and Guinevere as ‘fast friends,’ I think the two share three scenes together, and the sum total of their conversations is “You need me for anything?” “Nope, run off now.” She’s supposed to be Guinevere’s handmaid, and she spends the entire novel ‘relieved’ of her duties.
So, that writing. Oh, man, that writing. It irritated the hell out of me. It was hard to follow. There was very little setting description, so half the time I couldn’t tell where anyone was. Vivian stands in a garden and watches stuff going on at a gate that is…far away? Right next to her? The castle gate? City gate? Down a hill? Same level? WHO KNOWS! Not us. The lack of establishing descriptions means that people and objects pop up out of the blue in the middle of scenes, and I was constantly flipping through pages going “where the fuck did that come from?”
Another problem was Vivian’s voice. Very unemotional, and somewhat…weird. Combine the two and it’s even more confusing. She uses very odd turns of phrase, quite a few clunky metaphors, and then when something actually bizarre happens (random ghost dragon?) she has no emotional reaction them. Smoke in the shape of a dragon bursts out of the ground and it took like a whole page before I figured that, no, she actually meant that literally. Because there wasn’t even an ounce of “weird, ghost dragons are a thing, go figure,” added to her metaphor clunkers meant that I was ready to believe she was talking about actual smoke and just being fanciful talking about it. With this girl, anything is possible.
The third biggest flaw is the use of “comic book timing.” You know how in comic books, they can shove an entire conversation in a single frame which depicts a relatively short activity (like punching someone)? Same thing here. Vivian often acts like a 3rd person narrator and ‘overhears’ other characters doing stuff, but in order to eavesdrop on these very lengthy conversations, she either has to be standing around mutely staring off into space, or the absolute slowest nurse ever. (And she must have really good eyesight, because she reports perfectly on events taking place far away. Or maybe not that far away. Again, no establishing descriptions!)
Overall, I couldn’t get into this book. The technical writing made it too hard for me to do so, and everything that I could have enjoyed was a chore instead. I wanted to love it -- it had so much potential! -- but I ended up feeling very ‘meh’ on it instead.
May 29, 2013
THIS BOOK.
Where do I begin.
Okay, so, take the adorable characters of the TV show Merlin, mix them with the intense battles of the movie King Arthur, throw in crazy awesome devices and tech, and you get CAMELOT BURNING.
If that doesn't grab you by the throat and shake you into excitement, did I mention there's a super hot knight-in-training? And Vivienne's kickass, take-charge attitude is exactly the kind of admirable quality we all love and adore in female leads? AND Merlin is just mysterious and weird enough to be hot all on his own? Seriously, this book. THIS BOOK. Read it.
That is all.
Where do I begin.
Okay, so, take the adorable characters of the TV show Merlin, mix them with the intense battles of the movie King Arthur, throw in crazy awesome devices and tech, and you get CAMELOT BURNING.
If that doesn't grab you by the throat and shake you into excitement, did I mention there's a super hot knight-in-training? And Vivienne's kickass, take-charge attitude is exactly the kind of admirable quality we all love and adore in female leads? AND Merlin is just mysterious and weird enough to be hot all on his own? Seriously, this book. THIS BOOK. Read it.
That is all.
December 20, 2014
Yeah, I read it. :)
November 4, 2024
What’s not to like about an Arthurian steampunk novel? I was instantly intrigued by the premise of this story, and it didn’t let me down. I was so engrossed that I read half of the book on the train journey to and from London (three hours total). Weaving various characters of Arthurian legend into an original steampunk-based tale, as well as introducing some new, I thought it worked really well.
There are the familiar figures of legend such as King Arthur himself, Merlin (a bit of a drug-addled hippie, no surprise there), Guinevere, Lancelot and various other Knights of the Round Table. From the description of the knights with their dragon tattoos, leather outfits and bars through their ears, as well as kohl-rimmed eyes, I was constantly imagining them as bikers! Somehow this fit in pretty well with the steam and metal filled version of Camelot.
Vivienne, the main character, managed to fit into two sides of society: high society, as the queen’s handmaid, and a secret life as apprentice to Merlin. She was passionate about this secret side of her life, clever and inquisitive, and I just wanted her to completely step away from the court with its dresses and curtsies, embrace something that she obviously loved doing, and screw the consequences. She didn’t mope, she didn’t constantly fawn over her love interest and she just got things done. Talking of the romance, it was a blossoming interest, rather than insta-love (yay!), so much more enjoyable to watch develop – although it would be nice to learn a little more about Marcus.
Vivienne’s family were present but negligible – her parents a lord and lady, her brother a squire – and there is a nice twist in the story about three quarters of the way through that would have really benefited from knowing her family better. As it was, it just wasn’t shocking because I didn’t know anything about the family member in question.
One of my main issues with the book was the world building. Apart from Camelot and its immediate surroundings, the reader wasn’t really told much about the outside world. Jerusalem was mentioned, as was Lyonesse – but world felt so small. As as a result, Morgan le Fay’s threat didn’t seem too great, seeing as the whole ‘world’ pretty much just encompassed the castle of Camelot – how many people would it really affect if she took over? Another problem was magic – or more specifically, why magic was taboo. This wasn’t explained anywhere, so I never really got a sense of just how much danger Merlin or Vivienne were putting themselves in by practising. All I understood is that it was suddenly banned, not why or how, or even when. Magic could also be stolen, which was another thing that wasn’t explained.
A highly enjoyable take on Arthurian legend, recommended for steampunk fans or anyone interested in retellings/alternate tellings of mythology. Despite the lack of world-building, it has a fast-paced and thrilling conclusion, some great steampunk inventions and a clever interpretation of the mythology – the Metal & Lace series is definitely one I’ll be continuing.
I received a copy of this book for free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Originally posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.
There are the familiar figures of legend such as King Arthur himself, Merlin (a bit of a drug-addled hippie, no surprise there), Guinevere, Lancelot and various other Knights of the Round Table. From the description of the knights with their dragon tattoos, leather outfits and bars through their ears, as well as kohl-rimmed eyes, I was constantly imagining them as bikers! Somehow this fit in pretty well with the steam and metal filled version of Camelot.
Vivienne, the main character, managed to fit into two sides of society: high society, as the queen’s handmaid, and a secret life as apprentice to Merlin. She was passionate about this secret side of her life, clever and inquisitive, and I just wanted her to completely step away from the court with its dresses and curtsies, embrace something that she obviously loved doing, and screw the consequences. She didn’t mope, she didn’t constantly fawn over her love interest and she just got things done. Talking of the romance, it was a blossoming interest, rather than insta-love (yay!), so much more enjoyable to watch develop – although it would be nice to learn a little more about Marcus.
Vivienne’s family were present but negligible – her parents a lord and lady, her brother a squire – and there is a nice twist in the story about three quarters of the way through that would have really benefited from knowing her family better. As it was, it just wasn’t shocking because I didn’t know anything about the family member in question.
One of my main issues with the book was the world building. Apart from Camelot and its immediate surroundings, the reader wasn’t really told much about the outside world. Jerusalem was mentioned, as was Lyonesse – but world felt so small. As as a result, Morgan le Fay’s threat didn’t seem too great, seeing as the whole ‘world’ pretty much just encompassed the castle of Camelot – how many people would it really affect if she took over? Another problem was magic – or more specifically, why magic was taboo. This wasn’t explained anywhere, so I never really got a sense of just how much danger Merlin or Vivienne were putting themselves in by practising. All I understood is that it was suddenly banned, not why or how, or even when. Magic could also be stolen, which was another thing that wasn’t explained.
A highly enjoyable take on Arthurian legend, recommended for steampunk fans or anyone interested in retellings/alternate tellings of mythology. Despite the lack of world-building, it has a fast-paced and thrilling conclusion, some great steampunk inventions and a clever interpretation of the mythology – the Metal & Lace series is definitely one I’ll be continuing.
I received a copy of this book for free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Originally posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.
April 28, 2014
I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley. I was excited when I heard that this was a blend of steampunk and Arthurian legend. While I enjoyed the idea behind the world, I did have some trouble engaging with the story and I had some trouble with the writing style.
Vivienne is a handmaiden to Guinivere. When we join the story Guinevere is set to marry King Arthur in a day or two. Vivienne also has a secret life as an apprentice to Merlin where she is learning to build many different steampunk devices. Although Camelot is protected by a massive spell, the community as a whole has turned away from magic in favor of the mechanical arts. When Morgan le Fey shows up she causes all sorts of trouble in Camelot. As tension builds Merlin and Vivienne struggle to build a weapon to save Camelot from Morgan's power.
I wanted to love this book, I was all set to love this book, I was super excited to read this...but the reality was that I had a lot of trouble focusing on the story and reading it...it was hard to picture the surroundings and hard to stay engaged.
This book is built on a very cool concept and there are some very interesting characters in this book. However, the writing itself leaves a lot to be desired. The descriptions could have been better and the writing was a bit clumsy and didn't flow well.
Vivienne has potential to be an interesting character. She is straddling two worlds; that of a handmaiden where her future is one of marriage and that of an inventor’s apprentice. The two don’t mix well. Still despite all of this I had trouble engaging with Vivienne, she just seemed somewhat passive at points and again with the lack of description it was hard to really get pulled in to her story.
Merlin is portrayed as a sorcerer who has struggled with an addiction to magic in the past, but is trying to forge a new kingdom built on mechanical wonders. He was probably the most interesting character of the bunch. He is incredibly flawed, Camelot is dependent on him for magical protection which is hard to balance with his need to not do magic. He is quirky and gruff but quick to recognize Vivienne’s mechanical genius when he sees it.
Vivienne’s love interest in the book is Lancelot’s squire, Marcus. Again, Marcus (like Vivienne) comes off as a bit blah to me. I never really engaged with him. I thought he was very inconsistent. One moment he is talking about his dedication to becoming a knight and the next he is asking Vivienne to run away with him. He’s very off and on with his commitments.
The plot is very straightforward, there are a couple twists and turns...but they are pretty easy to predict.
Overall this ended up being an okay read. There was so much I wanted to love about this book. I love Arthurian retellings and steampunk, and it was interesting to see the two blended. I was disappointed in how much I had to struggle to get through this book. It took me a long time to read because I honestly kept either falling asleep or wandering off to do something else because this book wouldn't hold my attention. I will not be reading more books in this series. It’s a cool idea, but just not executed all that well.
Vivienne is a handmaiden to Guinivere. When we join the story Guinevere is set to marry King Arthur in a day or two. Vivienne also has a secret life as an apprentice to Merlin where she is learning to build many different steampunk devices. Although Camelot is protected by a massive spell, the community as a whole has turned away from magic in favor of the mechanical arts. When Morgan le Fey shows up she causes all sorts of trouble in Camelot. As tension builds Merlin and Vivienne struggle to build a weapon to save Camelot from Morgan's power.
I wanted to love this book, I was all set to love this book, I was super excited to read this...but the reality was that I had a lot of trouble focusing on the story and reading it...it was hard to picture the surroundings and hard to stay engaged.
This book is built on a very cool concept and there are some very interesting characters in this book. However, the writing itself leaves a lot to be desired. The descriptions could have been better and the writing was a bit clumsy and didn't flow well.
Vivienne has potential to be an interesting character. She is straddling two worlds; that of a handmaiden where her future is one of marriage and that of an inventor’s apprentice. The two don’t mix well. Still despite all of this I had trouble engaging with Vivienne, she just seemed somewhat passive at points and again with the lack of description it was hard to really get pulled in to her story.
Merlin is portrayed as a sorcerer who has struggled with an addiction to magic in the past, but is trying to forge a new kingdom built on mechanical wonders. He was probably the most interesting character of the bunch. He is incredibly flawed, Camelot is dependent on him for magical protection which is hard to balance with his need to not do magic. He is quirky and gruff but quick to recognize Vivienne’s mechanical genius when he sees it.
Vivienne’s love interest in the book is Lancelot’s squire, Marcus. Again, Marcus (like Vivienne) comes off as a bit blah to me. I never really engaged with him. I thought he was very inconsistent. One moment he is talking about his dedication to becoming a knight and the next he is asking Vivienne to run away with him. He’s very off and on with his commitments.
The plot is very straightforward, there are a couple twists and turns...but they are pretty easy to predict.
Overall this ended up being an okay read. There was so much I wanted to love about this book. I love Arthurian retellings and steampunk, and it was interesting to see the two blended. I was disappointed in how much I had to struggle to get through this book. It took me a long time to read because I honestly kept either falling asleep or wandering off to do something else because this book wouldn't hold my attention. I will not be reading more books in this series. It’s a cool idea, but just not executed all that well.
September 13, 2014
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: This is a story of Camelot like you have never heard before. Add all the characters from the original story and then add alchemy and steam punk to it. Plus a wonderful heroine in Vivienne who may have to sacrifice all she has ever wanted to keep the kingdom safe.
Opening Sentence: When a mechanical falcon takes flight from Merlin’s tower, it means the sorcerer is bored or drunk on absinthe.
Excerpt: Yes
The Review:
This was a very unique twist to the tale of King Arthur and his kingdom, Camelot. Vivienne the handmaid to Guinevere and the secret apprentice to the one time sorcerer Merlin, must use all her skills with alchemy and machines to save Camelot from King Arthur’s sister Morgan le Fay. Morgan will do all in her magical powers to take the kingdom from her brother and put their son Mordred on the throne. Vivienne may have to give up all she holds dear, including the love of her life or her life itself to stop Morgan’s evil plans.
At first I wasn’t sure if I would like Vivienne. She never seemed happy with her life. She is a girl from a well to do family but bemoans her status because it comes with obligations. In a way I can understand, because who wants to have no control of her life and have to do whatever is asked of her. On the other hand she has a family who cares for her, a secure place as the queen’s handmaid and a secret job that she loves. As the story progressed though I came to like Vivienne. Throughout the story Vivienne wants out of Camelot and dreams of finding her way out, but when Camelot needs her she stays and fights for what she believes in even when it might mean losing everything. Also in the face of danger she did not run and hide, instead she stands her ground and fights Morgan even though Morgan wants nothing more than to get her hands on Vivienne.
I usually do not like books that deal with predefined stories but I really liked this story. Adding the steampunk made it seem new and exciting. Also the fact that King Arthur or one of the Major characters is not the main character also helps. You get to see the fall of Camelot through someone else’s eyes. I also thought that with the magic involved it was a very unique concept to add alchemy to what caused the downfall. At first I thought that would take from the story but it made the story new. I am now hoping that there is going to be a new book and I can’t wait to read it if there is one. I recommend this book to lovers of the King Arthur legend and also to steampunk lovers. If you have a fondness for alchemy this book is full of it.
Notable Scene:
“This is the birthplace of Camelot. A geographical crossroads between the old age of magic and the new era of mechanical arts. The founders lie in the caskets around these walls. Here is also the origin of the greatest weapon Camelot will ever know.” He regards the iron dragon’s skeleton.
FTC Advisory: Flux provided me with a copy of Camelot Burning. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: This is a story of Camelot like you have never heard before. Add all the characters from the original story and then add alchemy and steam punk to it. Plus a wonderful heroine in Vivienne who may have to sacrifice all she has ever wanted to keep the kingdom safe.
Opening Sentence: When a mechanical falcon takes flight from Merlin’s tower, it means the sorcerer is bored or drunk on absinthe.
Excerpt: Yes
The Review:
This was a very unique twist to the tale of King Arthur and his kingdom, Camelot. Vivienne the handmaid to Guinevere and the secret apprentice to the one time sorcerer Merlin, must use all her skills with alchemy and machines to save Camelot from King Arthur’s sister Morgan le Fay. Morgan will do all in her magical powers to take the kingdom from her brother and put their son Mordred on the throne. Vivienne may have to give up all she holds dear, including the love of her life or her life itself to stop Morgan’s evil plans.
At first I wasn’t sure if I would like Vivienne. She never seemed happy with her life. She is a girl from a well to do family but bemoans her status because it comes with obligations. In a way I can understand, because who wants to have no control of her life and have to do whatever is asked of her. On the other hand she has a family who cares for her, a secure place as the queen’s handmaid and a secret job that she loves. As the story progressed though I came to like Vivienne. Throughout the story Vivienne wants out of Camelot and dreams of finding her way out, but when Camelot needs her she stays and fights for what she believes in even when it might mean losing everything. Also in the face of danger she did not run and hide, instead she stands her ground and fights Morgan even though Morgan wants nothing more than to get her hands on Vivienne.
I usually do not like books that deal with predefined stories but I really liked this story. Adding the steampunk made it seem new and exciting. Also the fact that King Arthur or one of the Major characters is not the main character also helps. You get to see the fall of Camelot through someone else’s eyes. I also thought that with the magic involved it was a very unique concept to add alchemy to what caused the downfall. At first I thought that would take from the story but it made the story new. I am now hoping that there is going to be a new book and I can’t wait to read it if there is one. I recommend this book to lovers of the King Arthur legend and also to steampunk lovers. If you have a fondness for alchemy this book is full of it.
Notable Scene:
“This is the birthplace of Camelot. A geographical crossroads between the old age of magic and the new era of mechanical arts. The founders lie in the caskets around these walls. Here is also the origin of the greatest weapon Camelot will ever know.” He regards the iron dragon’s skeleton.
FTC Advisory: Flux provided me with a copy of Camelot Burning. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
July 31, 2014
I don't see how I neglected to rate this book, maybe because I finished it when I didn't have any internet but I still should have. I really did like it and it was cool how magic was banned kinda like it was in BBCs Merlin. I like the description of Merlin too, although he's still older than Colin Morgan's Merlin I still envisioned him at that age but different.
Where in the book he was bald and had ruinic tattoos on his head I envisioned him with a slight mohawk. Also, where the book describes him as having a long(ish) beard I imagined him with a goatee.
Just really enjoyed this book and I hope there'll be another one soon.
Where in the book he was bald and had ruinic tattoos on his head I envisioned him with a slight mohawk. Also, where the book describes him as having a long(ish) beard I imagined him with a goatee.
Just really enjoyed this book and I hope there'll be another one soon.
Read
December 3, 2014Arthurian steampunk?
*faints*
SIGN ME UP.
*faints*
SIGN ME UP.
March 22, 2017
Review:
Protagonist: Vivienne is the queen's lady-in-waiting by day, but by night she secretly studies the mechanical arts and alchemy from Merlin himself. As a woman in Camelot, it's not appropriate for a woman to be learning anything other than maintaining a household and how to catch the attention of a suitable husband, but Vivienne dreams of more than a life at court and a loveless marriage to some noble or dandy. She wants to learn new things and build mechanical feats of brilliance. While I did enjoy the character of Vivienne, I also found her to be a bit too much of a cookie cutter "strong and inquisitive heroine." most of the time she has a fairly logical mindset, but when her emotions come into play she can be impulsive and charge headfirst into danger. She is a great character, but I feel she lacks something to set her apart from the archetype she embodies.
Romance: This book did get off to a great start in terms of the romance. Vivienne is intrigued by Marcus, Lancelot's new squire, and that curiosity eventually blooms into attraction, though she knows nothing could come of that attraction since knights are required to be celibate, a requirement that it seems everyone knows isn't actually kept, but any sort of marriage with Marcus is still off the table. However, while this romance starts off at a slower, but very enjoyable pace, at a certain moment I feel as though there's a skip in the romantic development, and before I could fully get on board with these two characters' romance they suddenly were sharing their intensely strong feelings toward one another. Now, I'm not opposed to these characters being together, in fact, I think they work really well together, but the abrupt jump in their devotion to one another is extremely jarring. My hope is that in the next installment we'll see more chemistry between these two characters so that I don't feel as though I missed a bunch of romantic development between these two characters.
World Building: A Steampunk Camelot? Sign me up! I was really excited to read this book on the Arthurian Legend aspect alone, but a steampunk element really amped up my excitement to read this story. (Although it did take me nearly three years to get around to, please don't judge me!) One of the elements to this story I found the most compelling was that the author didn' romanticize the famous characters from Arthurian legend. They all have flaws, some more than others, and it helped to bring a nice element of realism to this magical and mechanical world. Now as for the settings that we get to see, I was a bit bummed that Camelot felt sort of generic, much like our heroine, in that while we hear about Camelot as this wonderful utopia-esque place, there's nothing that really separates it from other kingdoms and since we don't get to see much of the world outside of Camelot, there wasn't all that much to this world, at least from a setting standpoint that stood out to me. As for the steampunk and alchemical elements to this story, I sort of felt underwhelmed by them, I mean there were definitely a few really cool steampunk scenes, but I felt as though the alchemy wasn't explained the best it could be and while I'm sure we'll get a greater understanding of it in later installments, I wish it was explained better in this book.
Predictability: As far as predictability goes, I was also similarly underwhelmed. I mean, there were quite a few surprising twists in this book. There were things I had no way I could see coming just pop right up, but in most of these cases, I never got the shock factor that I usually get when a surprising twist is revealed. One of the twists, I'm not going to go into specifics because I don't want to spoil anything, but one of the twists was actually a trope I've seen a lot of times before, but since there was no real foreshadowing for it, there was no way I could have seen it coming, and yet when it happened I sort of just brushed it off. Now, that's not to say that I was never shocked, nor was there never a time that I was able to predict something and get super excited that I got it right, but they were very few and far between.
Ending: Honestly, as this story started to wrap up I had a lot of theories about what was going to happen next, but I was surprised and even shocked, to learn where all of the characters end up by the time this story is over. The ending of this book actually had the majority of shocking moments for me in this book, and most of them happened during an epic final climax. There's a lot of tension as this book ramps up toward the ending and there are a few "blink and you'll miss it" moments. As the story winds down we get to see where the story will be going and how Vivienne and those she cares about factor into it.
Rating:
I do sort of feel like I've trashed this book more than I meant to because it is a really enjoyable book, but there were a lot of things that just felt underwhelming or didn't pop in the way I wanted them to. I will be continuing this series, but probably not for a little while.
Protagonist: Vivienne is the queen's lady-in-waiting by day, but by night she secretly studies the mechanical arts and alchemy from Merlin himself. As a woman in Camelot, it's not appropriate for a woman to be learning anything other than maintaining a household and how to catch the attention of a suitable husband, but Vivienne dreams of more than a life at court and a loveless marriage to some noble or dandy. She wants to learn new things and build mechanical feats of brilliance. While I did enjoy the character of Vivienne, I also found her to be a bit too much of a cookie cutter "strong and inquisitive heroine." most of the time she has a fairly logical mindset, but when her emotions come into play she can be impulsive and charge headfirst into danger. She is a great character, but I feel she lacks something to set her apart from the archetype she embodies.
Romance: This book did get off to a great start in terms of the romance. Vivienne is intrigued by Marcus, Lancelot's new squire, and that curiosity eventually blooms into attraction, though she knows nothing could come of that attraction since knights are required to be celibate, a requirement that it seems everyone knows isn't actually kept, but any sort of marriage with Marcus is still off the table. However, while this romance starts off at a slower, but very enjoyable pace, at a certain moment I feel as though there's a skip in the romantic development, and before I could fully get on board with these two characters' romance they suddenly were sharing their intensely strong feelings toward one another. Now, I'm not opposed to these characters being together, in fact, I think they work really well together, but the abrupt jump in their devotion to one another is extremely jarring. My hope is that in the next installment we'll see more chemistry between these two characters so that I don't feel as though I missed a bunch of romantic development between these two characters.
World Building: A Steampunk Camelot? Sign me up! I was really excited to read this book on the Arthurian Legend aspect alone, but a steampunk element really amped up my excitement to read this story. (Although it did take me nearly three years to get around to, please don't judge me!) One of the elements to this story I found the most compelling was that the author didn' romanticize the famous characters from Arthurian legend. They all have flaws, some more than others, and it helped to bring a nice element of realism to this magical and mechanical world. Now as for the settings that we get to see, I was a bit bummed that Camelot felt sort of generic, much like our heroine, in that while we hear about Camelot as this wonderful utopia-esque place, there's nothing that really separates it from other kingdoms and since we don't get to see much of the world outside of Camelot, there wasn't all that much to this world, at least from a setting standpoint that stood out to me. As for the steampunk and alchemical elements to this story, I sort of felt underwhelmed by them, I mean there were definitely a few really cool steampunk scenes, but I felt as though the alchemy wasn't explained the best it could be and while I'm sure we'll get a greater understanding of it in later installments, I wish it was explained better in this book.
Predictability: As far as predictability goes, I was also similarly underwhelmed. I mean, there were quite a few surprising twists in this book. There were things I had no way I could see coming just pop right up, but in most of these cases, I never got the shock factor that I usually get when a surprising twist is revealed. One of the twists, I'm not going to go into specifics because I don't want to spoil anything, but one of the twists was actually a trope I've seen a lot of times before, but since there was no real foreshadowing for it, there was no way I could have seen it coming, and yet when it happened I sort of just brushed it off. Now, that's not to say that I was never shocked, nor was there never a time that I was able to predict something and get super excited that I got it right, but they were very few and far between.
Ending: Honestly, as this story started to wrap up I had a lot of theories about what was going to happen next, but I was surprised and even shocked, to learn where all of the characters end up by the time this story is over. The ending of this book actually had the majority of shocking moments for me in this book, and most of them happened during an epic final climax. There's a lot of tension as this book ramps up toward the ending and there are a few "blink and you'll miss it" moments. As the story winds down we get to see where the story will be going and how Vivienne and those she cares about factor into it.
Rating:
I do sort of feel like I've trashed this book more than I meant to because it is a really enjoyable book, but there were a lot of things that just felt underwhelming or didn't pop in the way I wanted them to. I will be continuing this series, but probably not for a little while.
May 18, 2017
Personal Response: This book seemed like an interesting one even before I started to read it. I was not wrong in that assumption and I am glad that I decided to read it. This book used an interesting mix of Steampunk and magic to hit the tale of King Arthur from a different viewpoint. This book started out in a way that I did not expect with a handmaid assisting Lady Guinevere. This still seemed interesting to me and this book still kept my interest. This book did not want to let go of that either it kept a hold of that throughout the beginning the middle and the end of the book.
Plot: This book started out with a scene of Vivienne helping Guinevere in her room and getting distracted by Merlin. This progressed later to her rushing to get to Merlin’s tower and getting stopped by her brother Owen and his friends. She worked with Merlin in his tower on different trinkets and inventions. However, on that day Merlin introduced her to Jaseemat which he used his own version to make his mechanical falcon, Caldor, fly earlier without wires. Later, Vivienne saw Lancelot and his new squire Marcus arrive back at Camelot. She met Marcus and the two hit it off immediately and he asked her to dance at Guinevere and Arthur’s wedding. Him asking her to dance turned out awkward and ended up with Vivienne running out of the wedding. Later, there was a disturbance at the main gate and it turned out to be Arthur’s sister,Morgan Le Fay, a witch, arriving at Camelot despite being banished. Morgan was admitted to Camelot on Arthur’s orders and sent up to the keep. Morgan acted innocent and weak while in the keep. However, later after meeting Merlin, who despised Morgan, she tried to use magic to attack them, but it failed. While trying to escape, she abducted and held Vivienne hostage who turned out to be a more valuable hostage than initially thought as she knew something that Morgan wanted. Vivienne managed to escape from Morgan and Morgan disappears into thin air, but not after Vivienne saw an army of black clad demonic soldiers. This turned out to be a major event that set a whole bunch of gears into motion.
Characterization: Vivienne, in the beginning, was a coy girl who only wanted to leave Britannia with Azur so she could continue to work in the mechanical arts with a more skilled teacher. she also wanted to see the world.She slowly changed. As the story progressed she slowly turned less coy and wanted to leave Camelot less and less as more events happened.
When Marcus was first introduced he was not much different than he was in the end. However, Marcus did change to be more open and a bit less by the book. Marcus wasn’t very by the book in the first place anyway.
Impacts of Setting: Most of the setting of this book took place in Camelot whether it be during the day or night. The impact this has on the story is that it helped ingrain the whole tale of King Arthur based plot.
Thematic Connection: A theme that I pulled from this is to be careful with forces as powerful as magic, as it will slowly corrupt you and drive you mad with power. This was evident with Merlin’s body slowly fading away from a curse.This was also shown by Morgan trying to conquer Britannia which she never would have done if Merlin had not introduced her to Alchemy.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to anyone, guy or girl, in the age range of 12 to 24. I give this recommendation due to the fact that this book is not that difficult, but has content that would be hard for younger readers to read into.
Plot: This book started out with a scene of Vivienne helping Guinevere in her room and getting distracted by Merlin. This progressed later to her rushing to get to Merlin’s tower and getting stopped by her brother Owen and his friends. She worked with Merlin in his tower on different trinkets and inventions. However, on that day Merlin introduced her to Jaseemat which he used his own version to make his mechanical falcon, Caldor, fly earlier without wires. Later, Vivienne saw Lancelot and his new squire Marcus arrive back at Camelot. She met Marcus and the two hit it off immediately and he asked her to dance at Guinevere and Arthur’s wedding. Him asking her to dance turned out awkward and ended up with Vivienne running out of the wedding. Later, there was a disturbance at the main gate and it turned out to be Arthur’s sister,Morgan Le Fay, a witch, arriving at Camelot despite being banished. Morgan was admitted to Camelot on Arthur’s orders and sent up to the keep. Morgan acted innocent and weak while in the keep. However, later after meeting Merlin, who despised Morgan, she tried to use magic to attack them, but it failed. While trying to escape, she abducted and held Vivienne hostage who turned out to be a more valuable hostage than initially thought as she knew something that Morgan wanted. Vivienne managed to escape from Morgan and Morgan disappears into thin air, but not after Vivienne saw an army of black clad demonic soldiers. This turned out to be a major event that set a whole bunch of gears into motion.
Characterization: Vivienne, in the beginning, was a coy girl who only wanted to leave Britannia with Azur so she could continue to work in the mechanical arts with a more skilled teacher. she also wanted to see the world.She slowly changed. As the story progressed she slowly turned less coy and wanted to leave Camelot less and less as more events happened.
When Marcus was first introduced he was not much different than he was in the end. However, Marcus did change to be more open and a bit less by the book. Marcus wasn’t very by the book in the first place anyway.
Impacts of Setting: Most of the setting of this book took place in Camelot whether it be during the day or night. The impact this has on the story is that it helped ingrain the whole tale of King Arthur based plot.
Thematic Connection: A theme that I pulled from this is to be careful with forces as powerful as magic, as it will slowly corrupt you and drive you mad with power. This was evident with Merlin’s body slowly fading away from a curse.This was also shown by Morgan trying to conquer Britannia which she never would have done if Merlin had not introduced her to Alchemy.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to anyone, guy or girl, in the age range of 12 to 24. I give this recommendation due to the fact that this book is not that difficult, but has content that would be hard for younger readers to read into.
May 30, 2014
Sometimes, just once in a great while, I finish a book and I just feel inspired. I feel excited and just want to share my thoughts with the world about the book. This book was one of those such books. It was an absolutely fabulous story that was very nearly perfection.
This is a sort of retelling about Arthur and Camelot but with many unique twists. We have the King, Arthur; we have his new wife, Guinevere; we have his champion, Lancelot and of course we have his Sorcerer Merlin. There are other familiar people as well and Morgan Le Fey is the 'bad guy'. The general out line of the story is pretty familiar if you are familiar with Arthurian legend. However this is most definitely it's own story.
The main character, Vivienne, is a hand-maid to Guinevere and secretly Merlin's apprentice. Magic has been outlawed and things are run more on steam and inventions and a bit of alchemy. Magic is forbidden. Vivienne is brilliant. She has been apprentice to Merlin for awhile so she's already pretty good at inventions but she's also brilliant in so many other ways. She's also bold and brave. She thinks of the safety of others and all of Camelot before her own. She rushes into danger not in stupidity but bravery and for others. Really, I just adored her.
Marcus is a squire that Vivienne meets in the beginning of the book. It's clear they have strong feelings for each other, especially after spending some time together, but he's going to be a Knight and cannot be with her. Of course this is something that is hard for them but I thought for the most part it was handled really well. They have a lot going on with other things so the issues between them can't really be focused on much of the time. Just trust me that the romance works and will have you aching for them to find a way to be together! There's the perfect amount of 'moments' between them to really feel it, without it overpowering the story. And every moment had so much meaning!
Marcus himself is absolutely wonderful. Honestly I'm not sure what to say about him because it would be easy to get spoilery. Trust me, you want to meet him!
The other characters, from Arthur to Guinevere to Lancelot and to Merlin were done really well. They were authentic enough to the original tales but yet felt unique as well. I think that the author somehow nailed bringing these characters we know and love into a brand new story.
I've read my share of stories in Camelot and this Camelot was pictured a bit differently in my head. But it was perfect! It was the beautiful and tranquil place, and I pictured it clearly in my head.
This book is one of the best I've recently read in creativity and pace. The book has a lot of action going on, but it wasn't overwhelming action where I wanted them to just sit and breathe for a minute. It was perfect. The creative bit was the melding of magic and steampunk elements. It's hard to explain the steampunk but it felt unique to me and I've read quite a few steampunk books.
The author d0es not hold back. Be prepared for some scary and intense stuff. People die. Things happen. It's not an 'everything will be okay' kind of book. And it's perfect that way! Yeah, of course I don't want people to die! But the real feel of danger and knowing that death is RIGHT there added to the intensity and reality of it all. Even if it's a fantasy, we want to feel it, to where it feels real to us. And if everything was all good then it wouldn't be real.
Negatives~ Sometimes I felt like I got a tad lost, like the descriptions of some things were hard to understand (mostly regarding some inventions) and I'm not sure if it was all my interruptions and distractions, my reading too fast, or what the issue was. I was able to overlook it because it wasn't that important to me.
Some things seemed a little far-fetched to me. That Vivienne could disappear so often without it being a big issue, that she was able to be around when important things were going on (like the King talking with the Knights, etc). This also wasn't a big issue for me though. Especially later when it was clear that she was going to do what she felt was right whether they liked it or not.
The book was absolutely freaking awesome! It took a few chapters to warm up and settle into the world, but once I did I didn't want to put the book down. I was constantly surprised by the awesome I found within the pages. I loved the characters, the world, the action and even the ending! This is a first in a series but the ending was done RIGHT! No major cliffhanger but at the same time we're left knowing that some serious awesome in going to come in the next book! I highly recommend!
You can find this review and others at my blog http://www.candacesbookblog.com
This is a sort of retelling about Arthur and Camelot but with many unique twists. We have the King, Arthur; we have his new wife, Guinevere; we have his champion, Lancelot and of course we have his Sorcerer Merlin. There are other familiar people as well and Morgan Le Fey is the 'bad guy'. The general out line of the story is pretty familiar if you are familiar with Arthurian legend. However this is most definitely it's own story.
The main character, Vivienne, is a hand-maid to Guinevere and secretly Merlin's apprentice. Magic has been outlawed and things are run more on steam and inventions and a bit of alchemy. Magic is forbidden. Vivienne is brilliant. She has been apprentice to Merlin for awhile so she's already pretty good at inventions but she's also brilliant in so many other ways. She's also bold and brave. She thinks of the safety of others and all of Camelot before her own. She rushes into danger not in stupidity but bravery and for others. Really, I just adored her.
Marcus is a squire that Vivienne meets in the beginning of the book. It's clear they have strong feelings for each other, especially after spending some time together, but he's going to be a Knight and cannot be with her. Of course this is something that is hard for them but I thought for the most part it was handled really well. They have a lot going on with other things so the issues between them can't really be focused on much of the time. Just trust me that the romance works and will have you aching for them to find a way to be together! There's the perfect amount of 'moments' between them to really feel it, without it overpowering the story. And every moment had so much meaning!
Marcus himself is absolutely wonderful. Honestly I'm not sure what to say about him because it would be easy to get spoilery. Trust me, you want to meet him!
The other characters, from Arthur to Guinevere to Lancelot and to Merlin were done really well. They were authentic enough to the original tales but yet felt unique as well. I think that the author somehow nailed bringing these characters we know and love into a brand new story.
I've read my share of stories in Camelot and this Camelot was pictured a bit differently in my head. But it was perfect! It was the beautiful and tranquil place, and I pictured it clearly in my head.
This book is one of the best I've recently read in creativity and pace. The book has a lot of action going on, but it wasn't overwhelming action where I wanted them to just sit and breathe for a minute. It was perfect. The creative bit was the melding of magic and steampunk elements. It's hard to explain the steampunk but it felt unique to me and I've read quite a few steampunk books.
The author d0es not hold back. Be prepared for some scary and intense stuff. People die. Things happen. It's not an 'everything will be okay' kind of book. And it's perfect that way! Yeah, of course I don't want people to die! But the real feel of danger and knowing that death is RIGHT there added to the intensity and reality of it all. Even if it's a fantasy, we want to feel it, to where it feels real to us. And if everything was all good then it wouldn't be real.
Negatives~ Sometimes I felt like I got a tad lost, like the descriptions of some things were hard to understand (mostly regarding some inventions) and I'm not sure if it was all my interruptions and distractions, my reading too fast, or what the issue was. I was able to overlook it because it wasn't that important to me.
Some things seemed a little far-fetched to me. That Vivienne could disappear so often without it being a big issue, that she was able to be around when important things were going on (like the King talking with the Knights, etc). This also wasn't a big issue for me though. Especially later when it was clear that she was going to do what she felt was right whether they liked it or not.
The book was absolutely freaking awesome! It took a few chapters to warm up and settle into the world, but once I did I didn't want to put the book down. I was constantly surprised by the awesome I found within the pages. I loved the characters, the world, the action and even the ending! This is a first in a series but the ending was done RIGHT! No major cliffhanger but at the same time we're left knowing that some serious awesome in going to come in the next book! I highly recommend!
You can find this review and others at my blog http://www.candacesbookblog.com
May 7, 2014
This was an interesting new take on Arthurian legends - many aspects are familiar if you have read stories about Camelot but there are little intriguing twists to change the meaning of magic and the purpose of Camelot. Unfortunately I often thought aspects of the world-building was very unclear, and it was a bit confusing trying to understand why magic is so taboo.
I think the world-building is the most disappointing aspect of this book. The mechanical arts that is favored over magic often seems indistinguishable from actual magic, and I didn't understand the exact reasons why using magic was so dangerous, or why it was so corrupting. Camelot's reinvention was not very magical either - the nobility and the knights aren't very likable and it doesn't seem like they deserve the power or distinction they have. It's a very different take on Camelot and I wasn't very enthralled with it because I didn't think the place was worth all the tremendous efforts taken to protect it throughout this story.
Vivienne and her romance with Marcus was a bit disappointing as well. They are well constructed characters technically, but Vivienne especially was often seen as someone very special and important and I didn't really see how that was deserved either. I just didn't feel emotionally invested in the story in general with such uninspired characters and confusing world-building.
There are some redeeming points about the story however - it is very imaginative and unique and it might be interesting to see how the story and the world develops in the next book. I enjoyed Merlin as a character - he was so dedicated and tenacious, and his sparring moments with Morgan le Fay was tense and dramatic. Even though the pacing is sometimes off, the story had many exciting moments and a big battle scene in the end with some very unexpected developments. This book has a lot of flaws but also a lot of promise.
(I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review.)
I think the world-building is the most disappointing aspect of this book. The mechanical arts that is favored over magic often seems indistinguishable from actual magic, and I didn't understand the exact reasons why using magic was so dangerous, or why it was so corrupting. Camelot's reinvention was not very magical either - the nobility and the knights aren't very likable and it doesn't seem like they deserve the power or distinction they have. It's a very different take on Camelot and I wasn't very enthralled with it because I didn't think the place was worth all the tremendous efforts taken to protect it throughout this story.
Vivienne and her romance with Marcus was a bit disappointing as well. They are well constructed characters technically, but Vivienne especially was often seen as someone very special and important and I didn't really see how that was deserved either. I just didn't feel emotionally invested in the story in general with such uninspired characters and confusing world-building.
There are some redeeming points about the story however - it is very imaginative and unique and it might be interesting to see how the story and the world develops in the next book. I enjoyed Merlin as a character - he was so dedicated and tenacious, and his sparring moments with Morgan le Fay was tense and dramatic. Even though the pacing is sometimes off, the story had many exciting moments and a big battle scene in the end with some very unexpected developments. This book has a lot of flaws but also a lot of promise.
(I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review.)
November 24, 2025
Camelot Burning brilliantly combines steampunk and magic into a most familiar tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
In this highly complex storytelling, Vivienne, Guinevere's lady in waiting, has a secret life as Merlin's apprentice. When Morgan le Fay, Arthur's sister, comes to over through Camelot, Vivienne must help Merlin create a mechanical weapon that might save them all from Morgan's evil magic.
While the bases of the story stay the same as the lore, this story has many new aspects. I found it a little difficult to follow with many unexpected plot twists and distractions from the main storyline. Although it was complex, I was captivated by where Rose was taking us.
Rose's characters will keep you invested till the very end. Vivienne was a wonderfully developed heroine who saw to her duties even at her own sacrifice. Merlin was elusive, keeping many secrets, speaking in riddles and 1/2 truths. Arthur was highly dislikable, and 100% at fault for all that befalls Camelot and even Guinevere. There is a connection to Jerusalem, the search for the Holy Grail, which brought in additional characters from the east.
I enjoyed this non-stop, action-filled adventure and look forward to future installments in the Metal & Lace series.
I received this ARC copy of Camelot Burning from Flux in exchange for an honest review. This book is set for publication May 8, 2014.
In this highly complex storytelling, Vivienne, Guinevere's lady in waiting, has a secret life as Merlin's apprentice. When Morgan le Fay, Arthur's sister, comes to over through Camelot, Vivienne must help Merlin create a mechanical weapon that might save them all from Morgan's evil magic.
While the bases of the story stay the same as the lore, this story has many new aspects. I found it a little difficult to follow with many unexpected plot twists and distractions from the main storyline. Although it was complex, I was captivated by where Rose was taking us.
Rose's characters will keep you invested till the very end. Vivienne was a wonderfully developed heroine who saw to her duties even at her own sacrifice. Merlin was elusive, keeping many secrets, speaking in riddles and 1/2 truths. Arthur was highly dislikable, and 100% at fault for all that befalls Camelot and even Guinevere. There is a connection to Jerusalem, the search for the Holy Grail, which brought in additional characters from the east.
I enjoyed this non-stop, action-filled adventure and look forward to future installments in the Metal & Lace series.
I received this ARC copy of Camelot Burning from Flux in exchange for an honest review. This book is set for publication May 8, 2014.
August 13, 2014
Rating: 3.5 Stars
This book was an easier read than I first thought it would be. I really enjoyed the mix of Arthurian legend/myth and steampunk elements. Since the extent of my Arthurian mythology lies in a couple of episodes of the show Merlin, I can't really say how closely it sticks to it, but I thought it was very interesting.
Vivienne is Guinevere's lady-in-waiting, but also Merlin's secret apprentice who dabbles in tinkering machinery that could prove useful in the war against Morgan Le Fay, King Arthur's evil older sister. Morgan is looking to claim what she believes is rightfully hers - Camelot - as well as the Holy Grail, which would render her immortal. However, Merlin is working hard to make sure that does not happen.
The world that the author creates is very interesting, but I feel she could have elaborated or done more to explain the intricacies that lie in Camelot. There were a couple of concepts and ideas that were mentioned but never fully explained that would have enhanced the story.
Vivienne, for the most part, was awesome and really fought for what she believed in. Even though she is headstrong, she was able to realize that she could not always get what she wanted and that a part of growing up is realizing that there are responsibilities that everyone has. The world is not so simple. Choices are difficult.
I'm excited for the next one!
This book was an easier read than I first thought it would be. I really enjoyed the mix of Arthurian legend/myth and steampunk elements. Since the extent of my Arthurian mythology lies in a couple of episodes of the show Merlin, I can't really say how closely it sticks to it, but I thought it was very interesting.
Vivienne is Guinevere's lady-in-waiting, but also Merlin's secret apprentice who dabbles in tinkering machinery that could prove useful in the war against Morgan Le Fay, King Arthur's evil older sister. Morgan is looking to claim what she believes is rightfully hers - Camelot - as well as the Holy Grail, which would render her immortal. However, Merlin is working hard to make sure that does not happen.
The world that the author creates is very interesting, but I feel she could have elaborated or done more to explain the intricacies that lie in Camelot. There were a couple of concepts and ideas that were mentioned but never fully explained that would have enhanced the story.
Vivienne, for the most part, was awesome and really fought for what she believed in. Even though she is headstrong, she was able to realize that she could not always get what she wanted and that a part of growing up is realizing that there are responsibilities that everyone has. The world is not so simple. Choices are difficult.
I'm excited for the next one!
April 7, 2014
I received a complimentary copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley.
Moonlighting as Merlin's secret alchemy apprentice, lady-in-waiting Vivienne is about to become a key part in the war for Camelot. When Morgan le Fay threatens to take over Camelot in an attempt to find the location of the Holy Grail, Vivienne and Merlin must build a machine to stop her. Yet Vivienne finds it hard to commit to her task when Marcus, Lancelot's squire, catches her eye and she learns his role in the war may take his life. Treachery and cowardice lie beneath the perfect veneer of the city and there may be no saving it.
The steampunk Camelot is richly drawn in Kathryn Rose's Camelot Burning. I loved the whole concept of a lady-in-waiting secretly working for Merlin to create a war machine. I wanted a little more development in the love story between between Vivienne and Marcus and I also wanted a little more insight into King Arthur's motivation for some of his actions. He is certainly not the heroic King Arthur that is present in so many Camelot stories. Overall an imaginative take on the Arthurian legends.
Moonlighting as Merlin's secret alchemy apprentice, lady-in-waiting Vivienne is about to become a key part in the war for Camelot. When Morgan le Fay threatens to take over Camelot in an attempt to find the location of the Holy Grail, Vivienne and Merlin must build a machine to stop her. Yet Vivienne finds it hard to commit to her task when Marcus, Lancelot's squire, catches her eye and she learns his role in the war may take his life. Treachery and cowardice lie beneath the perfect veneer of the city and there may be no saving it.
The steampunk Camelot is richly drawn in Kathryn Rose's Camelot Burning. I loved the whole concept of a lady-in-waiting secretly working for Merlin to create a war machine. I wanted a little more development in the love story between between Vivienne and Marcus and I also wanted a little more insight into King Arthur's motivation for some of his actions. He is certainly not the heroic King Arthur that is present in so many Camelot stories. Overall an imaginative take on the Arthurian legends.
October 9, 2015
Not my favorite. I really am not a big fan of animatronics/alchemy based metal animation so this story just became very 'Blah' very fast.
I was intrigued at first, and then disappointed. The main girl is awkward and sleep deprived and leads a double life (by day she's Guinevere's hand maiden, and by night she's Merlin's apprentice). What was really disappointing was that in this book, Magic was outlawed because of it's addictive properties, so she wasn't learning magic with Merlin, just a type of alchemy. Merlin is portrayed as a man that looks to be about 50 years old, bald with a small goatee, and a drug addict that will have sex with any woman that's willing. (Here I should note that there are absolutely NO SEX scenes--thank goodness--that fact is just noted in passing when describing Merlin's character)
It was kind of disappointing. I tried to soldier through, but after 8 chapters of just feeling "Meh..." I was done.
I was intrigued at first, and then disappointed. The main girl is awkward and sleep deprived and leads a double life (by day she's Guinevere's hand maiden, and by night she's Merlin's apprentice). What was really disappointing was that in this book, Magic was outlawed because of it's addictive properties, so she wasn't learning magic with Merlin, just a type of alchemy. Merlin is portrayed as a man that looks to be about 50 years old, bald with a small goatee, and a drug addict that will have sex with any woman that's willing. (Here I should note that there are absolutely NO SEX scenes--thank goodness--that fact is just noted in passing when describing Merlin's character)
It was kind of disappointing. I tried to soldier through, but after 8 chapters of just feeling "Meh..." I was done.
April 20, 2014
I thought all of the Arthurian retellings had been written, but Kathryn Rose's steampunk version sucked me in and spit me out in an exhausted heap. Non-stop action, a tragic love story, and a totally kick-ass heroine made this a must-read.
February 18, 2015
[2.5 Stars] just wanted to say that this book had so many different interesting ideas but unfortunately did not execute them particularly well. Check out my full video review down below.
[Non-Spoiler Video Review] http://youtu.be/krJhAPYYuBs
[Non-Spoiler Video Review] http://youtu.be/krJhAPYYuBs
Want to read
December 7, 2013Arthurian Legends mixed with steampunk? I have GOT to read this one :o)
September 11, 2016
Great concept: Camelot plus Steampunk
But......
Confusing world building
Insta love
Jumpy plot
But......
Confusing world building
Insta love
Jumpy plot
![Profile Image for Lala_Loopsie [fire breathing B!tch Queen].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1477498129i%2F41378358._UX200_CR0%2C77%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
August 24, 2015
Great book to read!
March 20, 2017
Pretty review here https://thebookrook.blogspot.com/2017...
So Camelot has banned magic in favor of the ‘Mechanical Arts’ which means that Excalibur is a giant sword with a gauntlet that attached to a person’s arm and Merlin is actually an inventor. Well, he’s also a recovering magic addict which is equally crazy. Unknown to the rest of the court Merlin has taken on an apprentice, Vivienne, Guinevere’s lady-in-waiting. Other than Vivenne’s looming future (which promises a good bit more embroidery than alchemy or metallic creatures) things are going well for Camelot. Arthur has recently married Guinevere and his knights are off in search of the Holy Grail. Then Morgan Le Fey shows up to blow things up because of course she does.
Characters
Vivienne: I have a problem with this child’s face. Mostly because I can’t quite figure out why she rubbed me the wrong way. She just never clicked with me. I never felt like I understood her very well and her reactions (or occasionally lack thereof) fell a bit flat because of that. Every scene was a guessing game of ‘why did that surprise her?’ or ‘why would she act like that’ I don’t know maybe I just missed something.
Merlin: Was actually really cool even if he was a jerk sometimes. Not to mention is whole ‘past addiction’ shtick reminded me so much of Sherlock Holmes. I guess he was just one of those characters that was so unexpectedly unique that you liked them by default.
Marcus: Why is there so many ‘M’ names in this book! There’s Merlin, Morgan, Marcus and Mordred! My poor brain couldn’t keep track of them all.
Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere kinda sorta not really: there is a surprisingly little amount of the actual ‘main characters’ in this book. Arthur spends a good bit of time off in the woods doing who knows what (not defeating Morgan that’s what) and Guinevere and Lancelot making adulterous googly eyes at each other I mostly disliked all three of them.
Likes
The concept is super cool: I mean steampunk Camelot! Excalibur is a giant sword with a mechanical gauntlet that can tell if it’s Arthur who’s holding it (who knows how though). And if it isn’t Arthur well say bye, bye to your fingers. I’m not entirely sure how you can have steampunk in a medieval setting though. I guess it sort of worked but it was still a bit weird.
It promised evil magic and it delivered evil magic: do you ever start a book and everybody is all ‘magic is actually really bad for you and evil don’t touch it’ and you just know that a few chapters later the protagonist will find out that magic is perfectly fine as long as you use it right/don’t abuse it/etc. Well for once the magic stayed bad for you. Magic was portrayed more like an addictive substance that humans weren’t technically supposed to possess.
Dislikes
Arthur and Morgan Le Fey (his half-sister) had a kid together: First of all, EWW!! Arthur spends a good bit of time off in the woods doing who knows what (not defeating Morgan that’s what) and Guinevere and Lancelot making adulterous googly eyes at each other I mostly disliked all three of them.
Likes
The concept is super cool: I mean steampunk Camelot! Excalibur is a giant sword with a mechanical gauntlet that can tell if it’s Arthur who’s holding it (who knows how though). And if it isn’t Arthur well say bye, bye to your fingers. I’m not entirely sure how you can have steampunk in a medieval setting though. I guess it sort of worked but it was still a bit weird.
It promised evil magic and it delivered evil magic: do you ever start a book and everybody is all ‘magic is actually really bad for you and evil don’t touch it’ and you just know that a few chapters later the protagonist will find out that magic is perfectly fine as long as you use it right/don’t abuse it/etc. Well for once the magic stayed bad for you. Magic was portrayed more like an addictive substance that humans weren’t technically supposed to possess.
Dislikes
Arthur and Morgan Le Fey (his half-sister) had a kid together: First of all, Eww! Second of all EWW!! Arthur, honey, I’m aware that you aren’t known for your decision-making skills but that’s far even for you. Anyway, that was all kinds of nasty. I don’t even care if it was in the old legends because that was definitely an image I didn’t need.
Insta-love why? Every time. Every time. If I ever stop reading YA books altogether it will be purely because of Insta-love. Look I’m sure authors are perfectly capable of having a character’s first interaction with their love interest not revolve around how hot they are respectively. Believe it or not but it gets really annoying after a while.
Tiny complaint about the writing: the description was really oddly distributed. There were several main areas where the characters interacted but I never knew how they all fit together which left me feeling very lost and confused. Not to mention an insane amount of time was spent on dresses and people’s faces instead of the much more interesting mechanical dragons and stuff.
Concluding this review is kind of difficult guys. I absolutely love the world and the concept behind it but the confusing writing and subpar characters just kind of ruined it for me. I was bored a lot and the climax left me feeling vaguely cheated and annoyed. In the end Camelot Burning just wasn’t entertaining.
So Camelot has banned magic in favor of the ‘Mechanical Arts’ which means that Excalibur is a giant sword with a gauntlet that attached to a person’s arm and Merlin is actually an inventor. Well, he’s also a recovering magic addict which is equally crazy. Unknown to the rest of the court Merlin has taken on an apprentice, Vivienne, Guinevere’s lady-in-waiting. Other than Vivenne’s looming future (which promises a good bit more embroidery than alchemy or metallic creatures) things are going well for Camelot. Arthur has recently married Guinevere and his knights are off in search of the Holy Grail. Then Morgan Le Fey shows up to blow things up because of course she does.
Characters
Vivienne: I have a problem with this child’s face. Mostly because I can’t quite figure out why she rubbed me the wrong way. She just never clicked with me. I never felt like I understood her very well and her reactions (or occasionally lack thereof) fell a bit flat because of that. Every scene was a guessing game of ‘why did that surprise her?’ or ‘why would she act like that’ I don’t know maybe I just missed something.
Merlin: Was actually really cool even if he was a jerk sometimes. Not to mention is whole ‘past addiction’ shtick reminded me so much of Sherlock Holmes. I guess he was just one of those characters that was so unexpectedly unique that you liked them by default.
Marcus: Why is there so many ‘M’ names in this book! There’s Merlin, Morgan, Marcus and Mordred! My poor brain couldn’t keep track of them all.
Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere kinda sorta not really: there is a surprisingly little amount of the actual ‘main characters’ in this book. Arthur spends a good bit of time off in the woods doing who knows what (not defeating Morgan that’s what) and Guinevere and Lancelot making adulterous googly eyes at each other I mostly disliked all three of them.
Likes
The concept is super cool: I mean steampunk Camelot! Excalibur is a giant sword with a mechanical gauntlet that can tell if it’s Arthur who’s holding it (who knows how though). And if it isn’t Arthur well say bye, bye to your fingers. I’m not entirely sure how you can have steampunk in a medieval setting though. I guess it sort of worked but it was still a bit weird.
It promised evil magic and it delivered evil magic: do you ever start a book and everybody is all ‘magic is actually really bad for you and evil don’t touch it’ and you just know that a few chapters later the protagonist will find out that magic is perfectly fine as long as you use it right/don’t abuse it/etc. Well for once the magic stayed bad for you. Magic was portrayed more like an addictive substance that humans weren’t technically supposed to possess.
Dislikes
Arthur and Morgan Le Fey (his half-sister) had a kid together: First of all, EWW!! Arthur spends a good bit of time off in the woods doing who knows what (not defeating Morgan that’s what) and Guinevere and Lancelot making adulterous googly eyes at each other I mostly disliked all three of them.
Likes
The concept is super cool: I mean steampunk Camelot! Excalibur is a giant sword with a mechanical gauntlet that can tell if it’s Arthur who’s holding it (who knows how though). And if it isn’t Arthur well say bye, bye to your fingers. I’m not entirely sure how you can have steampunk in a medieval setting though. I guess it sort of worked but it was still a bit weird.
It promised evil magic and it delivered evil magic: do you ever start a book and everybody is all ‘magic is actually really bad for you and evil don’t touch it’ and you just know that a few chapters later the protagonist will find out that magic is perfectly fine as long as you use it right/don’t abuse it/etc. Well for once the magic stayed bad for you. Magic was portrayed more like an addictive substance that humans weren’t technically supposed to possess.
Dislikes
Arthur and Morgan Le Fey (his half-sister) had a kid together: First of all, Eww! Second of all EWW!! Arthur, honey, I’m aware that you aren’t known for your decision-making skills but that’s far even for you. Anyway, that was all kinds of nasty. I don’t even care if it was in the old legends because that was definitely an image I didn’t need.
Insta-love why? Every time. Every time. If I ever stop reading YA books altogether it will be purely because of Insta-love. Look I’m sure authors are perfectly capable of having a character’s first interaction with their love interest not revolve around how hot they are respectively. Believe it or not but it gets really annoying after a while.
Tiny complaint about the writing: the description was really oddly distributed. There were several main areas where the characters interacted but I never knew how they all fit together which left me feeling very lost and confused. Not to mention an insane amount of time was spent on dresses and people’s faces instead of the much more interesting mechanical dragons and stuff.
Concluding this review is kind of difficult guys. I absolutely love the world and the concept behind it but the confusing writing and subpar characters just kind of ruined it for me. I was bored a lot and the climax left me feeling vaguely cheated and annoyed. In the end Camelot Burning just wasn’t entertaining.
June 19, 2022
I truly, desperately, wanted to love this book. It's King Arthur! And steampunk! (and written by a Canadian author!)
But it didn't grab me. The writing itself felt messy at times - I couldn't quite picture things like the unique weapons, and some leaps of logic the MC made didn't always quite get explained sufficiently.
It didn't help that the romance was lackluster. The MC just sort of immediately fell in love for no particular reason, and the ending was, well, the ending. Considering how it panned out, it should have just remained a pining, in my opinion.
If it had delved deeper into explaining magic and mechanics and alchemy and how they work in this world, I think it would've been better. Morgan could have been a great villain, especially with the history implied between her and Merlin, but her motivation was weak, and Mordred just . . . sort of shows up at the end.
There was a great world here, and what could have been an amazing story, but it didn't feel anywhere near explored or explained enough. As a result, it just sort of fell flat for me.
Also, I just want to know who the Blacksmith is, 'cause the man has GOT to have some double identity going on.
But it didn't grab me. The writing itself felt messy at times - I couldn't quite picture things like the unique weapons, and some leaps of logic the MC made didn't always quite get explained sufficiently.
It didn't help that the romance was lackluster. The MC just sort of immediately fell in love for no particular reason, and the ending was, well, the ending. Considering how it panned out, it should have just remained a pining, in my opinion.
If it had delved deeper into explaining magic and mechanics and alchemy and how they work in this world, I think it would've been better. Morgan could have been a great villain, especially with the history implied between her and Merlin, but her motivation was weak, and Mordred just . . . sort of shows up at the end.
There was a great world here, and what could have been an amazing story, but it didn't feel anywhere near explored or explained enough. As a result, it just sort of fell flat for me.
Also, I just want to know who the Blacksmith is, 'cause the man has GOT to have some double identity going on.
November 14, 2019
DNF at 54%. I tried more than once to quit this book, but then I would say to myself, "maybe it gets better, I'll stick with it a little longer." It never got any better and I decided to be done with it. The different take on the King Arthur story was unique and different but the execution of the story and characters was poorly done. All the characters are very flat and one dimensional. There is no real connection between any of them. There is some insta-love between the main character and a squire that is very forced and extremely annoying. The plot is somewhat interesting but there are big stretches where nothing happened. The writing is awkward and doesn't flow very well. So overall I couldn't bring myself to finish this book. 2 out of 5 stars.
April 26, 2014
ATTENTION: HERE THERE BE SPOILERS (Only if you're unfamiliar with various incarnations/versions of Arthurian legend - also slight spoilers for the end)
People who read this will most likely fall into two camps - true enjoyment or the deconstructions of an angry/annoyed, Arthurian purist. I will admit that I have things I am a purist about and would absolutely abhor to see retold, or altered in any way whatsoever; for me, Arthurian legend is NOT one of these things! I am usually not a fan of steampunk at all, which was my initial hesitance at reading this book. I am glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone, because I truly enjoyed it. I definitely needed to read an Arthurian retelling that departed from the original legends in more than just minor details. I feel like most of the stuff I've experienced based on Arthur's legends has been a rehash, just told from different points of view, in a different time period, sympathetic to a still-evil Morgan, etc. I was getting bored with it all. This book is a game changer, to be sure.
The book is told from the perspective of teenaged Vivienne, who is nobility of Arthur's court and the lady in waiting to soon-to-be Queen, Guinevere. She knows it is her destiny to be a wife and mother, lady of the court and to stay in Camelot for all her days. However, Vivienne is working to change her destiny by being Merlin's apprentice in alchemy and the mechanical arts. The former magic-addict/sorcerer has been dedicating his life to bringing Camelot into the mechanical age, and reshaping his talents towards inventing useful things. But things begin to get dark again when the King's sister, the evil sorceress Morgan Le Fay, returns to Camelot seeking to destroy everything Arthur has built for himself and his people. Their twisted relationship will be Arthur's undoing, unless he can break free of her influence. Also, what secrets are Lancelot, Guinevere, and Lancelot's squire, Marcus, hiding? Will their price be higher than any of them imagined? It's up to Vivienne and Merlin to save Camelot (and its royals) from ultimate destruction at the hands of an abomination, with a mechanical invention the likes of which has never been seen. Can they manage before its too late? And can Vivienne fight against her own forbidden love for Marcus?
The difference in Merlin's backstory I think was the clincher for me. It intrigued me to the point of needing to finish this book, to see what would happen! And also, I loved that the author didn't shy away from the nastier, darker aspects of the usually dreamily portrayed Camelot mythos. Lots of retellings find some way to skirt around the fact that Morgan is Arthur's half-sister - and they happen to have an illegitimate child together! Mordred was the product of incest, yo'! Squicky, but a truth of Camelot. The portrayal of Viv didn't give her overmuch personality, but I did enjoy her as a character. All she wanted was something more from life than domesticity - she wanted adventure and freedom! Plus, she has no problem getting down and dirty, not to mention putting her brother and his asshole friends (fellow knights-in-training) in their place! The whole conflict with magic being outlawed has been mentioned in Arthurian legend, but usually Guinevere is a devout Christian and a root cause of the phenomenon. In this, she is from a kingdom called Lyonesse that was destroyed down to every last person (except for her) and doesn't seem to be quite as religious. Lancelot and Guinevere's affair was played off as a curse on the part of Morgan, when Arthur foolishly let her inside the city. I did like the slight vague, iffy nature of it though. From their interactions pre-curse, you could tell they had a history. How much of their adultery was magic and how much was real?
The dark magic, mutated soldiers that Morgan used were described so realistically that it was downright horrific to think about! Also, the only thing I have to say in regards to Mordred is "Poor Mordred!" Those are two words I NEVER thought I would put together in my entire life. But dear God, his mother sure does a number on him in this version. That is all I will say for fear of spoilers, needless to say it isn't pretty. The book leaves off with Merlin becoming something completely different than they ever imagined and going away to reclaim himself, Camelot basically being demolished, everyone dying that originally died (trying to avoid spoilers) Guin going to a convent, and Lancelot taking over what's left (i.e. not a whole helluva lot). It's up to Vivienne to use what Merlin taught her as his apprentice to help the Knights on their continued quest for the Holy Grail, which is about the only thing that could ever restore Camelot. Overall, this book has a great twist on a familiar mythology, some kick-ass action scenes and battles, a sweet romance, interesting steampunk elements that add to it without dominating everything, and a great direction for a sequel. I'd highly recommend it, if you don't mind your Camelot doused in mechanical parts and grease. It's definitely not for everyone!
VERDICT: 4/5 Stars
*I received this book from Flux, on NetGalley. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is May 8th, 2014.*
People who read this will most likely fall into two camps - true enjoyment or the deconstructions of an angry/annoyed, Arthurian purist. I will admit that I have things I am a purist about and would absolutely abhor to see retold, or altered in any way whatsoever; for me, Arthurian legend is NOT one of these things! I am usually not a fan of steampunk at all, which was my initial hesitance at reading this book. I am glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone, because I truly enjoyed it. I definitely needed to read an Arthurian retelling that departed from the original legends in more than just minor details. I feel like most of the stuff I've experienced based on Arthur's legends has been a rehash, just told from different points of view, in a different time period, sympathetic to a still-evil Morgan, etc. I was getting bored with it all. This book is a game changer, to be sure.
The book is told from the perspective of teenaged Vivienne, who is nobility of Arthur's court and the lady in waiting to soon-to-be Queen, Guinevere. She knows it is her destiny to be a wife and mother, lady of the court and to stay in Camelot for all her days. However, Vivienne is working to change her destiny by being Merlin's apprentice in alchemy and the mechanical arts. The former magic-addict/sorcerer has been dedicating his life to bringing Camelot into the mechanical age, and reshaping his talents towards inventing useful things. But things begin to get dark again when the King's sister, the evil sorceress Morgan Le Fay, returns to Camelot seeking to destroy everything Arthur has built for himself and his people. Their twisted relationship will be Arthur's undoing, unless he can break free of her influence. Also, what secrets are Lancelot, Guinevere, and Lancelot's squire, Marcus, hiding? Will their price be higher than any of them imagined? It's up to Vivienne and Merlin to save Camelot (and its royals) from ultimate destruction at the hands of an abomination, with a mechanical invention the likes of which has never been seen. Can they manage before its too late? And can Vivienne fight against her own forbidden love for Marcus?
The difference in Merlin's backstory I think was the clincher for me. It intrigued me to the point of needing to finish this book, to see what would happen! And also, I loved that the author didn't shy away from the nastier, darker aspects of the usually dreamily portrayed Camelot mythos. Lots of retellings find some way to skirt around the fact that Morgan is Arthur's half-sister - and they happen to have an illegitimate child together! Mordred was the product of incest, yo'! Squicky, but a truth of Camelot. The portrayal of Viv didn't give her overmuch personality, but I did enjoy her as a character. All she wanted was something more from life than domesticity - she wanted adventure and freedom! Plus, she has no problem getting down and dirty, not to mention putting her brother and his asshole friends (fellow knights-in-training) in their place! The whole conflict with magic being outlawed has been mentioned in Arthurian legend, but usually Guinevere is a devout Christian and a root cause of the phenomenon. In this, she is from a kingdom called Lyonesse that was destroyed down to every last person (except for her) and doesn't seem to be quite as religious. Lancelot and Guinevere's affair was played off as a curse on the part of Morgan, when Arthur foolishly let her inside the city. I did like the slight vague, iffy nature of it though. From their interactions pre-curse, you could tell they had a history. How much of their adultery was magic and how much was real?
The dark magic, mutated soldiers that Morgan used were described so realistically that it was downright horrific to think about! Also, the only thing I have to say in regards to Mordred is "Poor Mordred!" Those are two words I NEVER thought I would put together in my entire life. But dear God, his mother sure does a number on him in this version. That is all I will say for fear of spoilers, needless to say it isn't pretty. The book leaves off with Merlin becoming something completely different than they ever imagined and going away to reclaim himself, Camelot basically being demolished, everyone dying that originally died (trying to avoid spoilers) Guin going to a convent, and Lancelot taking over what's left (i.e. not a whole helluva lot). It's up to Vivienne to use what Merlin taught her as his apprentice to help the Knights on their continued quest for the Holy Grail, which is about the only thing that could ever restore Camelot. Overall, this book has a great twist on a familiar mythology, some kick-ass action scenes and battles, a sweet romance, interesting steampunk elements that add to it without dominating everything, and a great direction for a sequel. I'd highly recommend it, if you don't mind your Camelot doused in mechanical parts and grease. It's definitely not for everyone!
VERDICT: 4/5 Stars
*I received this book from Flux, on NetGalley. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication is May 8th, 2014.*
November 16, 2017
Interesting concept and unique characters but all was executed poorly. I'm in love with steampunk flavor and much of Rose's imagery was beautiful but actions by some characters and fight scenes were a confusing or just didn't make sense at all. 3 out of 5 for sure, definitely a casual read for fantasy and steampunk lovers.
April 9, 2018
Stumbled across this series and fell in like with it. I loved the combination of magic, old-world, and steam-punk in the storyline. I liked the way the main character challenged what her father and society wanted her to be. Later in the series, it felt like the plot was dragging a little, but it was still worth finishing.
May 9, 2014
I was drawn to this book like a moth to a flame, I mean....it's all about Arthurian legend, and it's set in Arthurian times with all the well known figures. The history geek in me was screaming in joy, and freaking out, I mean STEAMPUNK ARTHUR?! I couldn't get the book fast enough. I'm the girl who has every season of Merlin on DVD and re-watches it twice a year at least twice. Do you see how badly I wanted to love this book?!
The concept of the book was fantastic. It was really intriguing, and interesting, don't get me wrong. The problem was, Steampunk is usually set in the Victorian era. As I was reading the book, I kept noticing how some things kept turning all Victorian era-y for no reason at all, or maybe because the author struggled to translate Victorian to Arthurian? I'm not sure, but it was grating and annoying. The magic and mechanical aspects did keep me quite interested though, although there was a messy line involving magic and alchemy, which at some points was fun but at others was just downright annoying and sloppy.
Regarding whether or not this was accurate to the actual myths, as far as I remember Merlin did not have an addiction to magic at any point, he didn't really protect Camelot with his magic either, he assisted Arthur and was more of an advisor to him. Obviously the mechanical inventions weren't a thing but I expected that. To be honest, normally this kind of thing with the inaccuracies would annoy me, but Arthurian Legend is legend, and it's interesting to see other takes on it.
Merlin's flaws and his addiction to magic made him more realistic, and a more interesting character that you could really fall for, and get invested in and connect with. I loved how he was quirky and gruff, when he's usually portrayed as wise and all knowing and so on. Merlin may be the only character who actually managed to engage me, and who I actually connected with, he was the only decently written character in the whole book.
Vivienne. She's pretty much the Hannah Montana of this books world. She's leading a double life, handmaiden and inventor's apprentice, which sets her up to be really cool and interesting and you know...engaging. She fell very short. The two lives didn't mix well, and I think it was down to the writing, there was more than one problem with the writing. I couldn't connect with her at all, which is when I really start to struggle with books. If she was a real person, I can't even begin to imagine what she sounded like, her voice/narrative was so emotionless and clunky thanks to the words she used. Does she mean things literally? Did it actually happen? Who knows. She has no reaction to anything.
I also couldn't connect with her love interest at all. Marcus is just boring. It really irritated me how he supposedly has this huge thing about becoming a Knight, but it's like "oh run away with me" at points, he has no dedication to his commitments.
The author tried to paint this whole thing where Vivian and Guinevere are friends, which would have worked a whole lot better if they actually had more than a couple of scenes together. Guinevere's absent for pretty much the entire book, they don't have any conversations except instructions or whatever and Vivian has to be the only handmaiden I've ever heard of who never actually does any work. If you're hoping for all the Arthurian cast you'll be sadly mistaken.
The problem I was talking about above, with Vivian and how I couldn't connect with her and such, is largely down to the writing. The writing for this book is truly awful. The writing was so incredibly hard to get through, I struggled so much, and I only kept going because of the good parts of the book. So much of the book is muddled and sloppy it's hard to work out what's going on, to keep engaged with the book or to even to concentrate on it.
Part of my blah reaction to Vivian is because of the lack of description. There was next to no setting description, so it was impossible to picture the world the author was "creating" I was subbing the blanks with images from Merlin and what I already knew about Arthur. This lack of setting description is a huge part of the reason it was nearly impossible to get fully pulled in to the world, and engaged with the characters and plot. I mean half the time I'm just reading like "where did you come from?" "where did that come from?" "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WHERE ARE YOU ALL?!", my patience ran out quite quickly after a point.
Half the things Vivian overhears, or see's happening just aren't possible and makes no sense, but then again that could be because of the lack of description. Who knows? Does the author even know?!
Everything that was good about this book was pretty much ruined by all the bad. Normally you could overlook a couple of bad things, but seeing as the problem was with the prose and the words, it was pretty hard to overlook and the entire book was an utter disaster. Part of me wants to read the rest of the books in the series, but when I think about the struggle to get through just this one....I don't think I will touch them with a barge pole. Very disappointing.
The concept of the book was fantastic. It was really intriguing, and interesting, don't get me wrong. The problem was, Steampunk is usually set in the Victorian era. As I was reading the book, I kept noticing how some things kept turning all Victorian era-y for no reason at all, or maybe because the author struggled to translate Victorian to Arthurian? I'm not sure, but it was grating and annoying. The magic and mechanical aspects did keep me quite interested though, although there was a messy line involving magic and alchemy, which at some points was fun but at others was just downright annoying and sloppy.
Regarding whether or not this was accurate to the actual myths, as far as I remember Merlin did not have an addiction to magic at any point, he didn't really protect Camelot with his magic either, he assisted Arthur and was more of an advisor to him. Obviously the mechanical inventions weren't a thing but I expected that. To be honest, normally this kind of thing with the inaccuracies would annoy me, but Arthurian Legend is legend, and it's interesting to see other takes on it.
Merlin's flaws and his addiction to magic made him more realistic, and a more interesting character that you could really fall for, and get invested in and connect with. I loved how he was quirky and gruff, when he's usually portrayed as wise and all knowing and so on. Merlin may be the only character who actually managed to engage me, and who I actually connected with, he was the only decently written character in the whole book.
Vivienne. She's pretty much the Hannah Montana of this books world. She's leading a double life, handmaiden and inventor's apprentice, which sets her up to be really cool and interesting and you know...engaging. She fell very short. The two lives didn't mix well, and I think it was down to the writing, there was more than one problem with the writing. I couldn't connect with her at all, which is when I really start to struggle with books. If she was a real person, I can't even begin to imagine what she sounded like, her voice/narrative was so emotionless and clunky thanks to the words she used. Does she mean things literally? Did it actually happen? Who knows. She has no reaction to anything.
I also couldn't connect with her love interest at all. Marcus is just boring. It really irritated me how he supposedly has this huge thing about becoming a Knight, but it's like "oh run away with me" at points, he has no dedication to his commitments.
The author tried to paint this whole thing where Vivian and Guinevere are friends, which would have worked a whole lot better if they actually had more than a couple of scenes together. Guinevere's absent for pretty much the entire book, they don't have any conversations except instructions or whatever and Vivian has to be the only handmaiden I've ever heard of who never actually does any work. If you're hoping for all the Arthurian cast you'll be sadly mistaken.
The problem I was talking about above, with Vivian and how I couldn't connect with her and such, is largely down to the writing. The writing for this book is truly awful. The writing was so incredibly hard to get through, I struggled so much, and I only kept going because of the good parts of the book. So much of the book is muddled and sloppy it's hard to work out what's going on, to keep engaged with the book or to even to concentrate on it.
Part of my blah reaction to Vivian is because of the lack of description. There was next to no setting description, so it was impossible to picture the world the author was "creating" I was subbing the blanks with images from Merlin and what I already knew about Arthur. This lack of setting description is a huge part of the reason it was nearly impossible to get fully pulled in to the world, and engaged with the characters and plot. I mean half the time I'm just reading like "where did you come from?" "where did that come from?" "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WHERE ARE YOU ALL?!", my patience ran out quite quickly after a point.
Half the things Vivian overhears, or see's happening just aren't possible and makes no sense, but then again that could be because of the lack of description. Who knows? Does the author even know?!
Everything that was good about this book was pretty much ruined by all the bad. Normally you could overlook a couple of bad things, but seeing as the problem was with the prose and the words, it was pretty hard to overlook and the entire book was an utter disaster. Part of me wants to read the rest of the books in the series, but when I think about the struggle to get through just this one....I don't think I will touch them with a barge pole. Very disappointing.
May 18, 2018
Not exactly my kind of book but I enjoyed it and I love the main character.
August 23, 2018
I love a story about Camelot and King Arthur and this one did not disappoint. I loved this story of Vivianne and Marcus and Merlin.
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