Shalott

Shalott #1

by Felicity Pulman

Callie is fascinated by her father's virtual reality machine. She wonders if she could use it to visit Camelot and change its history. But as she works on her program she is interrupted by her sister El and her friend Meg who want to be part of the game - they want to be characters at Camelot too. In spite of her misgivings, Callie finds herself adding the pair and, finally, two boys they barely know - Lev the street-kid and Stephen, a loud snob. It is all a game that Callie feels is getting out of hand, being spoilt by her pushy sister. But she has no idea just how out of hand this game will get when she is bumped and accidentally pushes the button that draws all five teens into the machine and back into the very real world of Camelot.

Genres: Young Adult, Arthurian, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

271 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2001

About the author

I grew up (a long time ago!) in a small bush town in Africa. No TV, iPods, computer games and surfing the internet – you could say I had a very deprived childhood! Not so. Instead, for entertainment I learned to read. Books became my windows to the world: they told me about dragons and fairies and magic. They told me about other countries and other cultures. They told me about myself. And I have never stopped reading, because I love stories.

I guess I always did things back to front – the hard way! In Africa, when I ran out of books to read, I wrote my own. I love writing stories, but I never thought about it as a grownup occupation. As a grownup, I had to go back to school to find out that I really was a writer. After doing the HSC at the age of 40, I went on to do a BA (Communications) degree at UTS. My major was creative writing, and suddenly I found myself experimenting with all sorts of genres and, in particular, writing the sorts of stories that I love to read – crime and timeslip fantasy back into the past.

Reviews

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in 2001 when it first came out (and when I was much closer to its target demographic). Sadly, it's reread value isn't high. The characters are all fairly unlikeable. Their dialogue and actions don't ring true for teenagers at all, the plot development is often clumsy, and the writing itself is painfully Australian but with slang that shows how dated this book is now. (Before anyone asks, yes, I am Australian and no, I've never once heard people speak the way the characters in this book do. The dialogue is really quite awful.) I've rated it a two because I did enjoy it quite a lot on the first read and the idea itself is not a bad one, just executed in a way that isn't timeless. Younger readers probably won't mind the flaws. Adult Arthurian fans will almost certainly want to stick with Lawhead and Zimmer Bradley.

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

Shalott is the first book in this trilogy by Felicity Pulman.

Plot

Callie's mission was straightforward: use a computer program to alter the Lady of Shalott's destiny so that she can be saved together with King Arthur and the Round Table knights. However, when the five adolescents get up in Camelot, they get entangled in the palace intrigues, the illegal love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere, and the ambition of the mysterious Morgan le Fay. Do they possess the bravery necessary to survive the threats they encounter? And how, when everything they have ever known and believed is under question, can they find their way back home? Callie's journey will forever alter all of their lives, while what she discovers in Camelot will crush her heart.

The plot of the book was interesting, but the pacing was a huge problem for me. The beginning was really slow and in some parts confusing and the ending was really rushed. This book lefts some lose ends and I hope some of those things can be address in the next books.

Characters

This story is about two twins Callie and El and their friends Stephen, Lev and Meg. As I said above, they go to Camelot to try and make Lancelot fall in love with Callie and save Camelot.

The characters weren't developed enough. Both the modern characters and the characters from the legend were really bland and one dimensional, which was a shame and for some reason Callie really annoyed me most of the time.

Writing

The writing wasn't bad, it is simple, but for some reason it wasn't my favorite style.

World-Building

I don't think the author knew how the explain the computer program. Even now, I still don't know how it works, how they enter and how they came back. Right now, I'm in the middle of the second book and I still confused by this and I still don't know how this works.

Romance

The love triangle is between Guinevere, Lancelot and Callie, but this part wasn't fully developed in this book, so I will have to wait and see what will happen in the next novel.

Final Thoughts

The book wasn't that bad, despite all its flaws, the concept was interesting and I really enjoyed some parts of the book. Let's see what will happen in the next two.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I got this book from a friend when she was getting rid of books and it has taken me this long to read it. I am so glad I finally got around to reading this book. Granted it took me a little while to get into it but once things got moving I was hooked. It helped I had been watching the TV show Merlin so I was very much in mind set to be reading about King Arthur and Medieval England.

I honestly loved this book, I loved how Modern day and Myth were weaved together to create this story. Each character was drastically different and I loved that about it, how Lev, the weakest character, physically, became knighted. How Stephen gained friendship and Callie, El and Meg were great, how Callie wanted to change the course of 'history' with trying to win over Lancelot. How Meg talks to Mordred and just everything about this was interesting.

I was probably fifty pages off finishing this book so I ran out today and grabbed the last two in the trilogy and am so excited to continue this adventure with these five characters, especially since Lev decided the stay in the past.

[Pudding · Rating 2 out of 5]

Idk if I’m the first to mention this but why is the main character, a literal teenager, in love with a THIRTY year old man?? From history textbooks and was alive like a thousand years ago?? Like what? I thought literally everything other than these were great and enjoyable. I enjoy blends of modern and history like this but since mc being in love with LANCELOT THE THIRTY YEAR OLD MAN WHO WAS ALIVE A MILLION YEARS AGO was a huge thing, I feel like I couldn’t properly enjoy it. Also I thought the twin sister was annoying and that the main character forgave her way too fast. Why was she trying to flirt with the Lancelot who the mc, her own sister, liked? While she knew mc liked him? AND while she had a man of her own?? Either way he was thirty so I guess it doesn’t matter.

[Sam Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this so long ago (well over 15 years ago now) and I loved it so much that I still remember how much I loved it and how happy it made me.

From the other reviews I’ll withhold any potential re-read though because time and age might just ruin it for me.

[Serene Conneeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five teenagers face danger in the magical world of Camelot as they try to save the life of the Lady of Shalott – and also save themselves…
I loved Into the Unknown, book one of the Shalott Trilogy by Felicity Pulman. Five teenagers of today accidentally end up back in Camelot, and have to figure out how to get home – while also trying to stay alive in a dangerous period of history. There’s magic and mystery, a witch and a curse, and a page-turning plot that brings the legend and its beloved characters vividly to life. It’s so well researched that you can practically see and hear (and smell!) court life, and are swept up in the intrigue of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot’s lives just as Callie, her sister El, their friend Meg and the two almost-strangers they unwittingly brought with them are. Will they be able to change history in order to prevent the tragedy that brought down Camelot and led to the death of the Lady of Shalott? Can they overcome their loathing of each other to form a plan to get home, and will it work? Perhaps most importantly, will the teenagers grow and change from their experience, and discover who and what they really want to be? The story arc plays out to a perfect conclusion – while teasing a new mystery that will continue in book two, Dangerous Magic, out in September.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shalott tells the story of Callie, her twin sister El, their friend Meg, and two boys from their school – Stephen and Lev – who accidentally go back in time to Camelot, through Callie and El’s father’s virtual reality program. Callie – an artistic girl who seeks her father’s recognition for her abilities – wants to save Camelot by making Lancelot fall in love with the Lady of Shalott instead of Queen Guinevere, preventing a chain of events which would lead to the destruction of Camelot – then El and Meg interfere, and an accident sends them back through time, where they are caught up in the court of King Arthur and the magic of Morgan Le Fay.

This novel is a YA medieval fantasy, with elements of romance and adventure, and though that isn’t a genre I would usually read, I greatly enjoyed this novel. Undeniably, the author has researched the setting and myth of Camelot, and the detail within Shalott makes for a believable novel, even in a fantasy setting. The characters all had depth and I felt for their dilemma – would they ever be able to return home to Australia and the present day? (Or, in the end, would they even want to?)

Shalott is the first novel in a series of four, following the adventures of the five teenagers and their adventures in Camelot. This is a novel definitely worth reading for fans of fantasy and medieval novels, but one which I think a lot of teenagers would enjoy. An enchanting novel.

[Arthurianmaiden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of twin sisters El and Callie who end up dragging their friends (sort of) Meg, Stephan and Lev back in arthurian time, using a virtual reality simulator.
Callie wants to make Lancelot fall in love with her, to save Camelot, and so she depicts herself as the Lady of Shalott.
This is an 'on hold' review. I finished the novel but even if it seems and looks complete, it /felt/ incomplete and I hope in the next novels of the trilogy many things will be picked up.
I loved how the pieces came together, by the end, how at the end the story of the lady of shalott managed to be the same but, oh so different. And I liked Mordred's characterization, but I felt like him and Meg were the only characters that had a round characterization.
My main problems with this novel were two: the slow and confusing start and the quick ending. About the ending, I'll put this on hold to see how it'll evolve. About the start... well. It is long and confusing. The characters stumble, their characterizations are so hard to understand (or they were for me, they were like smoke, I had no idea who they were) and the virtual reality thing is confusing and badly explained.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Arthurian nerdiness mixed with a friend's boasting about this wonderful series she read as a kid practically made me read this. While early on I was a bit confused about the computer program Callie was using once we got to the part where we're sucked back into Camelot I really started to enjoy myself. It was all a bit fun and over too quickly (luckily there's two more then hey). The last third where it all really starts coming together was just a little bit brilliant however sometimes the modern characters could be a bit too childish, or driven by one defining trait. Minor flaw though as it is a children's book and the characters don't need to be hidden under layers upon layers of depth.

[Archee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this novel when I had just started high school - it was completely consuming. It caught my eye because it's based on that wonderful poem by Lord Tennyson - I know a lot of people consider it overrated, but it's gorgeous and will always be one of my favourites. I think this and Marianne Curley's work evoke a similar sort of feeling, so it's a lovely read for those who've finished one or the other and need a new read.

[Elly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was probably the first fiction book on Arthurian legend I ever read... and it was my gateway drug to the full range of the Arthurian stories. Seriously you guys, Arthurian legend, love it.

[Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite books as a kid