Rise of Knight and Sword

One Sword Saga

by Miriam Wade

Avalon, city of kings. Sky towers and airships dominate its skyline, dinosaurs roam freely throughout its parklands, and bounty hunters lurk in its shadows.

Guinevere has always lived on the outskirts of Avalon, working as an archivist in the central library. While corruption runs rampant throughout the city, her life is fairly mundane and predictable. That is, until she discovers the map to Excalibur and uncovers a plot to usurp the throne.

Finding herself on the run from these would-be king-slayers, Guinevere sets out to find the mythical sword. But with no one to trust and no where to hide, she must form an uneasy alliance with a pair of notorious bounty hunters.

"My future, and the future of Avalon are forward."

Rise of Knight and Sword is the first installment of the One Sword Saga. It reimagines Arthurian legend in a steampunk fantasy world at the height of the 1920's. Follow Guinevere and her crew as they face off against smugglers, wild dinosaurs, hidden motives, and mistrust.

Genres: Fantasy, Retellings, Young Adult

357 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 21, 2024

About the author

Miriam Wade is a Minnesota local who writes young adult fantasy, adventure, and urban fantasy driven by resilient young women, filled with twisty plots, and garnished with a hint of romance. She loves coffee, playing video games, and riding her bicycle. When she is not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their two young daughters, and their cat. Wade is the author of the award-winning steampunk Arthurian inspired series, One Sword Saga, and the forthcoming paranormal urban fantasy, The Woman of Blythe Manor, as well as a featured poet in several anthologies.

Reviews

[Ellie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Also Netgalley looking at this 1 star review like: :/

This book is … not good. I know it’s a debut novel, which I would love to support, but I cannot do it in this case. It’s very telling when my motivation to read a book is simply to finish it so I can move on to something better.

This book has far too much going on with it: it’s a retelling of Arthurian legend, with modern technology in a fantasy world, and dinosaurs. Yes, dinosaurs. I was excited about the dinosaurs at first (Dinotopia was one of my favourite shows when I was little) but the dinosaurs in this book were irrelevant. They were simply there so the book has an interesting marketing phrase: King Arthur but with DINOSAURS. They are simply background decoration. It doesn’t work. I would’ve loved to see just Arthurian legend and dinosaurs, without the modern technology. How cool would it be to read about dinosaurs in a medieval setting? It could’ve been done so well.

The characters are very bland and cliche. Guinevere is your typical ‘fierce’ heroine who makes silly mistakes and is meant to be intelligent but isn’t. She’s also incredibly beautiful, which everybody points out, especially Arthur, who’s smitten with her immediately. Speaking of Arthur, he’s … weird. All the characters are weird. They don’t speak like humans as the dialogue is very stilted and cliche, so I never cared about any of them.

The book needs to be edited to be much tighter and more tense. There’s a lot of description that could be cut — when Guinevere stows away on Arthur and Mordred’s ship, we spend too many pages following Arthur sleeping, being woken up, then sleeping again, then waking up again for no reason, then sleeping AGAIN, and then eating, and then FINALLY discovering Guinevere.

Also, I have never been able to spot a debut novel faster: this book literally starts with Guinevere waking up to her alarm and going about her day as normal. Why not start when she’s already at the library when that important delivery arrives?

This book can be fixed, but it needs someone with a lot of red pen to do so. If it was still early in the editing process I wouldn’t mind, but this book comes out in November this year, so I don’t have much hope.

[Rachel Kathryn Wright · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book I did not know going in that it was a debut novel but it was easy to tell once I started. And it was easy to tell because the book had a great premise but everything was so vague and there were certain things that were overly detailed. This book also did a lot more telling than showing. The world building was not great, we were told the few places that Guinevere goes to like the library but it didn’t get a great description, I couldn’t visualize myself there. And the period that this book is set in I have no idea when because people are using guns and then there are dinosaurs. Yes, dinosaurs, I wish more was done with them because I didn’t feel like they added anything. One of the big problems in the story was how it dealt with Guinevere’s assault, after it happens both Arthur and Mordred acted like she wanted it and then a little while later they have no memory of it. And not only that but there was a moment where Arthur had to be pulled away from Guinevere because she and others thought that he was going to physically assault her. And the messed up thing is that Guinevere takes the blame and apologizes, and then they continue on together and moments earlier they were all lovey dovey. The characters felt very one dimensional and needed character development to make it so readers can connect with them. Because they follow the formula of all the cliches and stereotypes. And their dialogues did not sound right to me. Overall, I feel this book had a lot of potential but it needed a lot of editing.
•
I got this book from netgalley for a fair and honest review.

[Brinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I requested a copy of this book before I saw the rating, and as soon as I saw it, I was super skeptical. My skepticism proved to be wrong though, because I still really enjoyed this book. While it was far from the best I've read, the plot kept me intrigued.

This book follows Guinevere on her journey to find Excalibur, highlighting a character usually ignored in the legend. Along the way she meets familiar characters, like Merlin, Arthur, Mordred, and Lancelot. All of these characters have been rewritten to fit into a steampunk world with dinosaurs roaming the wild, so the story felt completely different from other Arthurian legends.

The characters in this were really the star of the book. Guinevere became a historically savvy heroine with a world to protect. Mordred became a gruff bounty hunter with a hidden soft spot. Merlin became a mysterious fortune telling female knight. And, saving the best for last, Arthur became a pirate-esque smuggler, with something to prove. As soon as he waltzed in with his double pistols, I was in love. He was by far my favorite character, I loved his sarcasm and the constant banter between him and Mordred.

Speaking of Mordred, I kind of despised him at times. He was a total jerk, and swung between being kind to Guinevere, and demeaning her. I did my best to ignore his faults, but I do have to say that I was somewhat happy when he fell out of the narrative.

The romance in this book was one of the weakest points. As soon as Arthur laid eyes on Guinevere, he was in love, and because I hate insta-love, I was immediately a bit irritated. Thankfully, Guinevere played hard to get, so our romance turned slightly slow-burn. Arthur and Gawain's flirtations with Guinevere were always a light spot in the book, and kept me smiling.

Now, a lot of the complaints in the other reviews I've seen were about the writing style. Don't get me wrong, it definitely had its problems, but I found myself adapting to it, and by the end of the book, it didn't bother me. We had several large info dumps that I ended up skimming, and the author also had a tendency to write in the "she did this. she did that" formula, which felt super choppy. This may have been because this was a debut novel, but it did make reading a bit hard at times.

Despite the lower ratings on this book, I did enjoy it. I am a fan of most Arthurian retellings though, so that might have been part of it. I loved Wade's reimaginings of the classic characters, and the plot had enough action to keep me interested. I would say that this book is pretty hit-or-miss with readers, and I do understand some of the lower ratings.

Thanks to Miriam Wade and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

[Alex Nonymous · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Rise of Knight and Sword in exchange for an honest opinion

This is a debut book. That is a fact I knew before reading the author bio on the back of the book. I don't agree on being more lenient with debuts so I'll still discuss it as I would anything else but since a lot of my issues with this are thing you normally find in debuts, I'd like to ask you to keep this in mind.

Rise of Knight and Sword either doesn't know what it wants to be, or doesn't know how to communicate it with the reader. The description puts an emphasis on Guinevere pre-adventure but we get very little of that in the actual story. When are we? Where are we? Who are our characters? Everything felt vague even though it was also ultra descriptive. This book has too many adjectives and adverbs, especially when it comes to dialogue tags. You'll rarely find a 'said' without a qualifier following it. I like books that trust you to understand how the character feel based off of context clues but we never get that hear. Mind you, I read an advanced version so phrases like "yawned tiredly" may change, but its such a prevalent problem that I doubt it'll be rectified before publication. The narrative really, really hurts this story here.

So what of the story? It was... it was, I suppose. Some parts were good, some parts were boring or confusing, but perhaps I only found those parts boring or confusing because of my inability to connect to the narrative. This may sound weird because I doubt quite know how to describe it, but I'm not entirely sure if Arthurian lore is Wade's passion. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she doesn't like it and isn't knowledgeable of it, but loving someone's story so much that you adapt it for a new world and plot requires this level of admiration that normally leaks through the pages. Rise of Knight and Sword felt a lot more like an 'in-name-only' adaptation with characters names and alliances copied over but everything else changed, almost like when you do an AU for a fanfic and put your angsty warlords in a coffee shop. It's still a quest for escaliber so I'm not sure why I felt that way, but its the only way I can make sense of why I had trouble with this plot so I'll leave you there.

[eme☾ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Release date: 11/17/2020

***********

Rise of Knight and Sword is a debut novel and a kind of Arthurian retelling that tells us the story of Guinevere, an Avalon's local library archivist, and how she runs away with the map that has the location of Excalibur, in order to protect the sword to be taken by the corrupted Ranger's leader Gorlois.
I definetely didn't have high hopes for this book but I didn't expect it to be this bad. Really. I know it's a debut novel, and writing is far from easy but this work sometimes felt as an act of laziness. And why I say this? Because there was no logic or explanation for anything that happened.

The world-building and ambientation were awful. For me, these aspects are really important as a reader, and more if you are writing a fantasy novel. For me this book didn't have the basic concepts of the genre, there was no magic system or logic. Having dinosaurs (FOR REAL) does not make this a Fantasy YA, because they are not magical creatures, they did exist.
Everything in this world was such a mess: as I mentioned they were dinosaurs (they appeared every two lines) and holographs, and guns and mechanical's body replacements but girls used corsets (? It really felt like a drug-induced dream. And a pretty lame one.
It could have been better if the author have any explanation for this, or if everything were there for a prupose but no. It seems that she only has a fetish for dinosaurs and she wanted them to be there, for no reason.

The characters were one dimensional and had no personality. They didn't have any remarkable aspect and I didn't care for them at all. It made me really angry because this was supposed to be an Arthurian retelling so it wasn't like the author had to make a big job creating the characters. But again, I suppose she was just lazy and decided to write them as plain as a paper.
Another thing that annoyed me was that the side characters were introduced late on the story so (as you may assume) they weren't well developed either.
The romance had everything I hate: insta-love, chessy-throwing up inducing lines, and this surreal thing that every male character felt attracted to the female MC (who was pretty boring and did nothing special).

The plot was so predictable that I didn't know if I had to feel good for me or bad because I was reading a pretty bad book. Every conflict that appeared was resolved out of nowhere and with 0 participation of the characters. The funniest of all was one scene when everyone was happy and chill but male MC gets angry for no reason (???? with the female MC but after literally TWO PAGES they 're in good terms again. Like I said, hilarious isn't it?

It's pretty clear that I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Not even my worst enemie. I don't want to be mean but I can't say anything good about it. I really believe that the author had some ideas in her head but she wasn't capable of writing them so people that doesn't read minds (everyone I assume) could understand them.

[Gee Rothvoss · Rating 2 out of 5]

(I received an ARC from GenZ Publishing, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review! Thanks to both for trusting me with 'Rise of Knight and Sword')

'Rise of Knight and Sword' follows Guinevere, a young lady who works as a librarian in the city of Avalon and, one day, comes across a mysterious map while unboxing some ancient books recently found at an archaeological site. As soon as she and her two colleagues see the mysterious symbols scribbled all over the map, they realise that they're looking at a miracle: the long-lost map to Excalibur, a sword that is as much myth as it is a weapon. A sword that is meant to make history... But many are planning to seize the throne at any prize once the current king, Uther, dies. In her quest to retrieve Excalibur, Guinevere meets Mordred and Arthur, two bounty hunters on the very edge of the law who will tag along as she follows the map and tries to save Avalon from the hands of those who want to corrupt it.

Which sounds quite decent! Anyone who knows me beyond a superficial acquaintance can tell you that I'm a sucker for myths and legends, as well as for anything related to the Middle Ages. So, as you may (correctly) suspect, I absolutely *love* anything related to the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. That is the reason why, as soon as I read this book's blurb, I clicked on 'Request without stopping for nearly a literal minute. King Arthur, BUT with DINOSAURS, as well as GUINEVERE as the MAIN CHARACTER? Instead of holier-than-thou Arthur? PLUS STEAMPUNK!? Gimme that! The premise itself isn't bad. We get a tattooed, air pirate Arthur, as well as dinosaur smugglers, a bunch of Clone-ish army deserters itching for a good ole' battle against evil, and a fortune teller with more chill than anyone I've ever met. But...

But that's not enough to save the book. Although I did like (as I already explained) the premise, what I found was that it was poorly executed. The first chapter is a literal description of Guinevere's morning, from her waking up to the sunlight entering through the window to her riding the train to her workplace. It took me over 50% of the book to vaguely know what was going on, because the first chunk of the book was SO confusing. She has the map, but then we never hear of it again because she's measuring her bravado with Mordred, then there's this extremely random job at a party where a dinosaur smuggler nearly abuses Guinevere... I knew even less than Jon Snow. Several times, I thought of just not finishing the book and moving on to something else, because I couldn't make sense of it. When I finally did (kinda) sense the ghost of a plot, I had read over half of the story already. It was a literal act of blind faith.

The writing itself didn't help, either. Most of the sentences were short, simple ones, often sharing the very same grammar and structure, and it came to a point that I wanted to cry. And rewrite almost every paragraph. So much description could've been cut, and at the same time, so many things that were told could've been shown. Despite being a highly sensitive person with an excess of empathy, I didn't feel for any of the characters except for, maybe, Guinevere when she was left alone with Hueil. That was it, though. Everyone else was simply too... Awkwardly developed. I didn't feel like they were real characters, because there was no consistence whatsoever. Their personality, their speech, their actions... Nothing was solid. Just like the plot, the characters were foggy, blurry, and undefined.

So was the pacing. At the end of the book, barely a month has passed since Guinevere fled the library. And yet the character dynamics are supposed to be ones that would've taken several months, if not years, to develop! Just who the hell swears loyalty to some random guy they just met in the middle of a forest squirmish? The meet-and-greet ft. the Knights of the Round Table felt really forced, and... Stiff. Bonds just aren't forged that way, nor that easily or that quickly. Maybe it's a downside to being a major in Psychology, but I know enough about interpersonal relationships, social skills, and affective processes (ie. emotions, feelings, and the likes) to tell you that this is NOT how this stuff works. Obviously not everyone has studied Psychology, so not everyone knows the science behind human behaviour. But we're all people, we all know people, we all interact with others, and we all can tell what is, and what isn't, realistic representation of that. This wasn't. Just... Wasn't.

Bonus: I wanted to rip Mordred and Arthur's eyes off, like, several times. There is a scene in which, after Guinevere gets physically and sexually assaulted, Mordred gets angry at her because she DARES yell at Arthur for suggesting she had been 'asking for it'.. And yet, a few pages after, they act as if nothing had happened!? Plus, at the beginning of the book Guinevere acts extremely skittish around all men. It implies that she might've had some kind of traumatic experience. But she still agrees to go to that party and seduce Hueil so he gives up his secrets??? That was really NOT okay. Exactly the same as Arthur's mood swings, which more often than not ended up getting Guinevere yelled at. There was a scene in which he had to be physically pulled away from her, because she was, like everyone else in the room, afraid that he'd get violent with her to the point of hitting her. Yet they ended up sleeping together that same night??? No. Just... No.

As for the worldbuilding, I still don't have a clue about where this all happens. There's a city named Avalon, with a library, and then there's Arthur and Mordred's airship. And then there's... A forest... With a thatched hut somewhere, as well as a lake... Somewhere I think there was a castle? But we don't get to learn about the world Wade has created.

All in all, I'm giving this two stars because the premise itself isn't bad, nor are some of the twists on the original Arthuric legend. The cover absolutely rocks. Débutante Wade has clearly worked hard on creating this story. But... The efforts didn't pay off as much as they should, or could, have. With heavy editing and more character development, this could be something far more enjoyable. And I do hope that, in future books, the author will learn from the mistakes in RoKaS and create something as original, but with a better execution.

(Still: DINOSAURS! RAWWWR!)

[isaac · Rating 1 out of 5]

i won this in a storygraph giveaway, which is why i felt obliged to read it

unfortunately this book feels extremely unedited to the point of outright grammer mistakes and wrong names, flat characters with inexplicable personality changes within the same scenes, odd pacing and a plot that barely makes any sense at all. i think there are some good ideas in there somewhere, but this feels like a first draft that shouldn't have seen the light of day.

to add some constructive critism: i think there's more potential in the knight-rebels going up against the goverment and their found family dynamic than in the first 80% of the book, and i think focusing on that as a starting point would have been a better choice. i think there's a dystopian young adult rebel story in there that doesn't reinvent the wheel, but might tell an interesting story. the way the goverment and the plot surrounding it currently works is almost comedically unbelievable, and so is the rebellion and their plans succeding. i think all of this and the characters should've been more fleshed out.

also for the love of god please don't kill of a major character and make it this irrelevant

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

**N.B. I am the cover designer, and I received a copy of the book on NetGalley for review**

Imagine a mixture of this:
- Han Solo + Leia romance
- Dinotopia
- Arthurian Legend
... And you get pretty close to understanding what Rise of Knight and Sword is about. If you watched/read Cursed and thought it needed more steampunk and pterodactyls, then you'll probably love this debut by Miriam Wade.

In this first in the One Sword series (trilogy?), we get political power-grabs, a fancy library, teenage infatuation, Excaliber, and Zeppelin stowaways. There's space for the characters to grow and develop (protag. and antagonists alike), but, at the very least, it adds new elements to a familiar story. I don't recommend reading if you're not a fan of anachronistic reimaginings of Arthurian lore (and definitely not if you're not a fan of Arthurian legends period).

[Miriam Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rise of Knight and Sword is a fresh take on Arthurian legend blending modern life with steampunk fantasy with a splash of dinosaurs.

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow.

“Rise of Knight and Sword” is an interesting take on the lore of Camelot as Guinevere finds a map hidden away in a box of artifacts and sets off to find Excalibur with the help of an unlikely duo.

I don’t know where to begin.

Let me start by saying that I appreciate the attempt here at giving the story we all know a sci fi twist however the execution was not as successful as the idea itself.

There’s not a lot of time given to organically build the story, characters or their relationships and a lot of what happens plot wise happens so fast that you almost get whiplash trying to keep up. From the very beginning I was lost trying to understand a world where the descriptions of her home, self and morning routine sound very modern day contrasted quickly with the sudden introduction of pterodactyls before she is handed a map that shatters her world, again no real build up as to why other than the city is big on tourism and not helping its actual citizens, and then we have spaceships?

For me I like to see growth and some exposition before we dive head first into the overall arc which never managed to happen here, there is very little structuring outside of point a and point b and I spent more time side eyeing the narrative especially when it came to the trio as they kept flip flopping on so many things with the biggest being a sexual and physical assault where she gets yelled at by Mordred for showing anger towards Arthur for suggesting she wanted it prior to seeing the bruises and then a handful of chapters later she brings it up again and they both act like this is new information? And Arthur was just the absolute worst which isn’t a new thing for me with the recent reimagining of this tale but my god did this guy need a solid punch to the face for his mood swings and the way he treated Guinevere to the point that in one scene he had to be pulled away because she along with everyone else expected him to become physically violent with her literally three pages after being happy and affectionate which is not okay nor romantic at all and she is the one who has to apologize and take all the blame? Absolutely not.

The relationships themselves are one dimensional and cartoonish at times with insta love an obsession with her beauty and nothing else along conversations that should be happening after a longer period of time than what we get on the page. This isn’t a new dynamic where we have our heroine stumble into a position far outside her comfort zone and try to make the best out of a bad situation and rise to the occasion over the course of the novel as the journey is what keeps us readers coming back to explore and grow with them but with this take there is none of that and I was pretty disappointed.

There’s a lot of moments here that I wish I could show to fully explain my confusion with the story as a whole but I think this book needed a few more drafts to fully flesh out every aspect. I can’t tell you a single defining characteristic for this version of the infamous Camelot characters and while the plot again had some potential with the genre bending it was never going to be successful for me as there was no real way for me to connect with them and the task at hand which was a shame.

I hope I am in the minority as I hate to dislike a book and see it do poorly but overall this was a giant misstep for me.


**special thanks to the author and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Fantasy
*Rating* 3-3.5

*Thoughts*

Miriam Wade's Rise of Knight and Sword is the first installment of the authors One Sword Saga. It reimagines Arthurian legend in a steampunk fantasy world at the height of the 1920's. Guinevere Cornwall has always lived on the outskirts of Avalon, working as an archivist in the central library. She studies manuscripts, preserves them, and translates them. One manuscript in a particular is of great importance to her. The location of the fabled Excalibur sword which is said to give the bearer right to choose the legitimate ruler of Camelot.

*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*

https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...

[Moony (Captain Mischief) MeowPoff · Rating 1 out of 5]

The retelling seemed very interesting when i read the blurb.
But i did not like how the retelling was made and Arthur was annoying rolling his eyes almost every chapter, at least it felt like it. Our heroine was trying too hard to be fierce and outstanding? wich, made it even harder to like her.

I got this earc from Netgalley.

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Zenith Publishing for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Guinevere has a normal life until the map of finding Excalibur arrives at her library. Although they are not sure the map is actually legitimate, one thing is clear: it can fall in the wrong hands. So she takes the map with her and runs away, ending up in a ship she doesn't know with bounty hunters she will have to trust.

I am not really a fan of historical stories, or retellings, or King Arthur so I haven't read a lot about Arthur or Excalibur, but this book is set in a futuristic world and the cover is gorgeous so I gave it a try. One thing I wasn't expecting are dinosaurs, I have to be honest and say I don't like dinosaurs, in general, I found that they didn't give anything to the story, moreover, it gives confusion to the whole story, where am I? Past? Future? What kind of world is it? Without dinosaurs, everything would have been easier to understand. What are they for? Is it a try to do something original? I found the story original in itself, dinosaurs were not necessary, taking in a count that they have like two important moments in the whole book that could be replaced with anything else.

The book is well written, the story has really good points but I found it kind of slow, especially in the beginning with is a full description, I would have loved more establishing of the characters in the beginning before everything starts, maybe get to know a little bit more Guinevere before her running away, watching her interacting with people.

The characters are kind of weird, at least the interactions they have with each other, Guinevere acts like a superior human being when she is with Arthur which makes me hate her a lot. Arthur, on the other hand, is more like the typical male character who hasn't ever talked to girls and doesn't know how to communicate with her and he is nearly obsessed and adores her out of nowhere it is the weirdest love at first sight I've ever seen. I just... I don't get it, these two are weird, and then there is Mordred which is the only normal character in the book, he got reasonable reactions, even if I don't like how he acts.

What annoyed me the most was that I felt like the last four chapters were too fast and the characters were not themselves at all, a lot of information and actions in a short period of time that was kind of forced. Also, I think that the book could have finished before them or maybe give them more time to develop and understand exactly why and what is happening.

I liked the book, although it was slow reading, it was fresh and new, it is something I wouldn't read like ever and I was gladly surprised, but I can't help thinking that changing a few things in this book could achieve a whole new level.

[For more reviews you can follow my blog: https://betweennewletters.wixsite.com... ]

[K.T. Egan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wade's debut novel is definitely a refreshing take on an old-literary favorite.

If you've ever read White's The Sword and the Stone then you know that there are a lot of ways that Arthurian legend can be interpreted. Wade's Rise of Knight and Sword is reminiscent of White's attempt to reinvent Arthur, Guinevere, and the story that brought Arthur to power in Camelot - with a couple of modern twists.

The steam punk feel of the world Wade creates, including an intrinsic look at the age's technological fascination, goes hand-in-hand with her retelling of the struggle to power that put Arthur on the throne and created a whole new era for the citizens under his reign. With strong female characters, like Guinevere and Merlin, and sassy male hot-heads (looking at you Arthur),, Wade takes you on an adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat at times.

I laughed, I shook my head, I got extremely angry at Mordred and had to stop reading for a while. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am super excited to see what Arthur and Guinevere's next adventure will be.

My only complaint has to do with the dinosaurs. Not gonna give away any spoilers though, so if you wanna find out what's up with the dino's you'll have to pick a copy up for yourself.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publishers, GenZ Publishing. All views and opinions expressed are my own.

[Emmeline (The Book Herald) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this novel via netgalley with thanks in return for an unbiased review.


UGH.

My style of reviewing typically commences with a quote I have found interesting or intriguing. The lack thereof should be somewhat indicative of my personal thoughts towards this book.

Disclaimers: I am an honours holder in ancient history (inclusive of archaeology) I am a totally myth nutcase, so please understand that I may come off as somewhat critical.

Let's get started.

my iteration of the plot:
Guinevere was a normal girl.
With a normal job.
With a normal life.
and then she found a document, a document whose worth and value could cause immense danger in the hands of the wrong person.
The quest to find Excalibur. The sword of power.
So she ran. As fast as she could.
Fate had a different plan for her as she landed in a space she never fought she would and met people she never saw coming into her life.

Okay, even I know my iteration was bad. GUYS, this book was ughhhhhh! I didn't like it. at all.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm open-minded to readaptations of mythological histories that are so near and dear to my heart.

BUT....pterodactyls...ichthysaur? really? And other assorted dinosaurs in an otherwise, kinda steampunkish-modern...convenience stores, I-don't-even-know-how-to-describe-it setting? no thanks.

The setting blew my mind (not in a great way, I could barely visualize and mentally engage in it). it was so left field for me. The entire time, I had one resonating thought in my mind, "just what the heck is happening here?!"

This book felt like a chore. I'm sorry to be harsh but it was an effort to even read 15% of it.

I also don't know how I felt about a meek and naive sky pirate/art thief Arthur. A cyborg-sounding Mordred. And a somewhat sexualized-taro card reading female merlin. Not my cup of tea.

And the characters themselves? UGHHH! No, no no. The end.

Do I recommend it? No.

Do I think that my word is the law and therefore you shouldn't give this a try? Nope!

Do I want to read the follow-up book of this saga? probably not.

Did I like anything in it? The writing was good, I think this author has great potential.

Stay awesome,
Emmeline
The Book Herald

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was received as an ARC from GenZ Publishing - Zenith Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love everything Arthurian Mythology and I was super excited to find out that this book is the first of a new upcoming YA series to be released this year. My jaw was wide open and my excitement increased with pleasure as I kept reading each page. The stamina and tenacity Guinevere showed as she discovered the map to Excalibur I could not help but cheer her on the entire way. It always cheers me up when I get excited in anticipation for the next installment for a series and I haven't had that feeling since I finished the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast and having loved Rise of Knight and Sword, can not wait for Book 2. Our teen book club will be in frenzy for this book.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

[Westveil Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was granted complimentary access to an eARC of Ride of Knight and Sword by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to be approved for this book because it sounded so promising. A librarian in Camelot who answers the call to adventure? Sign me up! Alas, I've been trying to finish this book for over a month, and I've decided to throw in the towel. The opening chapter is painfully slow as Guinevere goes about her morning routine in far too detailed mundanity. Then we get past that and start to see the world we're in. Camelot has been made into a modern world full of technology and real-world 21st-century luxuries and worries but we're going to go on a King Arthur rehash adventure and there just so happens to be inconsequential dinosaurs wandering around? Arthurian legend usually has dragons, I'll give you that, but dinosaurs with no purpose? They just exist in this modern fantasy world and nobody cares? Make Arthurian dragons based in prehistoric life, sure. Tell me a story about what Camelot has become in the many centuries since Arthur, sure. Rehash King Arthur but in modern times with modern tech, sure. All of the above at once? There's too much going on and we've somehow focused on the more boring details of it all.

I try to include positives in my reviews even with I chose not to finish, or slogged through but didn't like what I read, but I'm struggling with this one. I see from the current Goodreads average of 2.16 stars after 33 reviews that I'm not alone in this. I will say the cover design is spectacular and the reason I looked at this listing in the first place. I do think some of the concepts in this book are strong, and with a serious tear-down by a developmental editor, it could become something great. This author has good ideas but needs someone in the pre-publication process (the earlier the better) to be brutally honest about what isn't working.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a different version of the old Arthur tell. It had all of our favorite characters in it. It kind of felt like a studio Ghibli story mixed with the mandolin. It was a good story , I enjoyed the steampunk retelling of one of my favorite fairytale stories. I would recommend this book if you like any of the Forementioned styles of books. It was an interesting ride with airships and dinosaurs but very glad I read it and I loved this take on Merlin.

[everkarolina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an early copy of this by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Guinevere, a librarian working at the Camelot city library, accidentally comes across an encoded map rumoured to lead to Excalibur and decides to take it upon herself to find this mythical sword and fix the corrupted land she calls home. Thus, she is forced to form new alliances, like a duo of wise-cracking bounty hunters, and learn to use her book-smarts for good.

Rise of Knight and Sword presented many cool concepts, like dinosaurs living alongside humans in this version of Camelot, and had the potential to create a page-turning adventurous story. Sadly, it was anything BUT page-turning. In fact, at times it was hard to even pick it up let alone read another chapter. The world-building was overwhelming and felt flat, I was genuinely confused over the plotline, some things felt next-level ridiculous. Characters, especially Guinevere, felt too... Random in their presentation? One second Guinevere is your average middle-class worker, next - every man Guinevere comes across drools over her and she is suddenly a badass bow-wielding schemer, not five minutes passes and she turns into a damsel in distress. I feel bad going hard on a debut novel, but it feels more like a Wattpad-esque story rather than published work. I believe Rise of Knight and Sword should have gone through a few more rounds of heavy edits. That truly makes me sad as this was the first book I requested from NetGalley and was approved for…

[Rebecca Veight · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book smart Guinevere in a steampunk Avalon with dinosaurs! In this modernized twist to the Arthurian legend, Guinevere goes on the quest to find Excalibur with two bounty hunters, using an ancient map found in the library she works.

With a creative premise, so inventive, I loved how the difference the characters have in this like who the bounty hunters are (nope won't spoil the surprise) even gender swapping one of my fave characters. Plus the little quirky details like Hengroen is an airship instead of a stallion!

Exceptional world building, decorated with plentiful details of the wonderous places and gadgets that the author has imagined. Descriptions that bring the action alive and make the suspense oh so captivating, oh so sweeter.

Guinevere's got spunk as one of the characters says, a bit naive but open to new things, vulnerable in a good way. The bounty hunters are wiseasses and so smirk-worthy. I love the trio's interactions. As hoped and expected, Guinevere is becoming braver, more of a force to be reckoned with.

Cleverly planned out by the author, I really enjoyed the twisty route of the story. Also the action is quite fast-paced and a lot is happening at once, so you really have to pay attention. But the author does a good job of explaining.I really like that the dinosaurs are not abstract, but actually are part of the story. Also that finding Excalibur becomes a matter of saving their world from the clutches of an evil king.

A hopeful romance that we know is destined but still surprising in how it is portrayed, you actually root for them. Arthur is not quite what you expect. It's interesting to see him slowly transform into the valiant knight we know. Also the path is not clear or straightforward for him to become the "once and future king".

Was a little disappointed with a betrayal that happens. It was confusing in my opinion and the reveal didn't play out as well as it could. A bit of a plot misstep in an otherwise great tale. Also the ending was a bit abrupt, as we are enjoying a nice 'final battle' suddenly things are tied up too neatly in a nice bow.

Presenting themes of inner strength, loyalty, faith and standing up for what you believe in, this was an exciting roller coaster of an adventure. I adored how fun it was. Who doesn't need some old fashioned fun in their life? This gets 4 stars on charm alone.

[Jamice Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was a very interesting retelling of Arthurian legend, with modern technology in a fantasy world, and dinosaurs. To me the story felt like if you took Star Wars mashed it together with a little Final Fantasy and sprinkled in dinosaurs, like I said it was a very interesting plot. I liked the characters but Merlin was by far my favorite. I’m mean who wouldn’t like a fortune telling, warrior female version of Merlin. Overall the book wasn’t too bad, a little rough on some spots but still an enjoyable read.

[Avani ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rise of Knight and Sword (One Sword Saga) by Miriam Wade is a retelling the mythos of the Arthurian legend in a new, steampunk setting. The thing that attracted me the most was dinosaurs. But that was not the main part of this story. The blurb is very promising but that does not reflect in the story. It was beating around the bush but nothing was moving ahead. The characters were not fully developed and felt very felt. The relationships between the characters wasn't even clear and not sure in which direction was it moving ahead.
________

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Maria Maldonado · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF'ed this book a few chapters in. The story wasn't very gripping and I didn't find myself excited to see what happens next. however this is just my personal opinion and encourage you to try it out and see for yourself if this book is a good fit:)

[Kristina Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. It seems to be set in a futurized version of Camelot, but also still retains the Medieval details of the original legend (there are pterodactyls, but Camelot is still a stone castle, for example). It seems like random things are added just so it can be marketed as an updated retelling--King Arthur, but with dinosaurs!--instead of having a cohesive world. Even worse, almost none of the details we're given in those pages adds anything to the worldbuilding, characterization, themes, or plot. Those details that do relate to worldbuilding, even, seem entirely random. It is incredibly confusing to read if you're trying to figure out where/when you are at any given time.

The other main issue that contributes to its severe lack of readability is its constant, tedious descriptions. It takes 12 pages for the main character to wake up and get to work, because every single action she takes is described, no matter how mundane and unnecessary. This trend unfortunately continues throughout the entire book: we get a minute description of everywhere she walks, everything she sees, every time she sits on a train or boat. The same details repeat over and over in these repeated iterations of the same tedious actions (or, as the case may be, lack of actions). You could skip about 75% of this book and not miss a single plot point or important detail (and there are precious few of those).

I love the legend of Excalibur, and retellings can be so, so incredible in adding to the original source material. This....is not an example of that potential. It was truly difficult to get through this book, and I would have stopped reading after a few chapters if I hadn't agreed to write an honest review of the entire book.

[Jessica Julien]

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review...

I did not finish this novel and will not give it a star rating. I could not understand the setting or what it was supposed to "be" as there were too many eras and time periods jammed into one single time. Dinosaurs, corsets, ball gowns, pants and boots, airships, holograms, and pretty much anything you could possibly think of throughout history has been written into this story and it was not a good combination. It made no sense. There was no reason for any of it.

There were so many characters introduces with no explanation of who they were or what their purpose was then they disappeared. Am I supposed to remember them? Forget them? And the scenes were so unbelievable I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

Do not recommend. Even as a debut novel this was a hot mess of confusion. The cover is gorgeous and I was really excited about an Arthurian type novel but this was NOT that. And really...dinosaurs and space crafts...? Why?

[Meaghan Lopes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The variation on the hunt to find Excalibur was a fun idea but the execution made it difficult to become attached to the story. I wanted more character development and left not really knowing the characters beyond their sexual tensions. The book has a few typos and is both overly descriptive and lacking in the details needed to create depth.

[Amani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received this from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. "My future and the future of Avalon is forward." ThIs is a King Arthur retelling and I think anyone who enjoys retellings will love this one!

[Laya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rise of Knight and Sword is a retelling of the classic legend of Excalibur set in a modern world with very slight inspiration taken from steampunk aesthetics. There are dinosaurs, somewhat futuristic technology and 19th century inspired fashion that all play a very small functional role in the novel while yet somehow taking up a great deal of descriptive detail. These are elements that do make it a rather unique version of a well-known tale but neither the dinosaurs or semi-futuristic technology was used in an interesting way despite being a potential strength.

The novel drowns in very minute background detail while leaving character development and interesting dialogue in the dust. Dialogue between characters was very stiff, flat and honestly just really odd and awkward. Every single character was devoid of any real personality or depth while engaging in rather irrational behavior that just did not flow. I believe a really good novel can be measured in how relatable the main characters are or how much a reader can (or wants to) envision themselves as the main character, but sadly none of these characters did that. Because of this the novel felt both too long and too short at the same time, like it was missing huge chunks of plot that were replaced by boringly detailed descriptions of the way a person was sitting or how a certain setting looked.

There was real potential for this to be a unique take, but just ended up being bland and overly long to the point where I struggled to finish reading it.

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kaveri BibliophileRants · Rating 3 out of 5]

My ratings: 2.5/5 stars (rounded to three)

NOTE: This is a review written against an uncorrected ARC provided. All thoughts are my own.

'Rise of Knight and Sword" is the debut novel of Miriam Wade touted as 'a steampunk re-imagination of the legend of King Arthur'. The blurb promised a good adventure and the book only lived up to it somewhat. Too much time was spent in the first few pages detailing on the mundane aspects of the lead's life. The initial meet of the bounty hunters and Guinivere spiced things and the book seemed to spark an interest in me. Sadly, as the story progressed, the pace seemed too slow. The pace of the book was extremely skewed, with too much happening in the last few pages. The ending and all the events immediately leading to it seemed way too rushed. The novel left a few issues unanswered and there were some inconsistencies as well. I spotted quite a few typos; I hope this was resolved before publication. I'm not someone too familiar with the actual myth but this did make me want to learn more about it.
Despite all this, this did offer an okay read, with the leads slowly growing on me. The author did a fair job of fleshing out the leads too an extent and I liked that. I really hope these issues are made note of and implemented when writing the next book in this saga.

Many thanks to NetGalley, GenZ Publishing and the author Miriam Wade for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Melanie | pagesandtealeavess · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this retelling of King Arthur, Guinevere works at the Avalon Library. It is there she discovers a map that leads to Excalibur. She realizes in the hands of the Avalon's current leader the map could be dangerous. She sets out on a quest to find the sword and rid Avalon of it's oppressive ruler. Before she can set out on her quest, she temporarily hides on an airship owned by Mordred and Arthur only for the airship to take off with her onboard. The novel alternates between Guinevere and Arthur's POV and yet the book's description makes no mention of him.

I thought about DNFing this book at 12% but held out hope it would get better... it didn't. This book was trying to be many things and as a result it just didn't work.

Guinevere's quest began immediately in the first chapter of this novel leaving the reader little time to understand why the quest was important or setting the stakes for the quest.

The character of Arthur was shallow an unworthy of any crown. He first meets Guinevere as a stowaway on his ship. She was asleep at the time yet he becomes instantly smitten. Throughout the chapters told from Arthur's perspective the reader is constantly, and I mean constantly, reminded of Guinevere's beauty.

At one point in the book, Arthur and Mordred knowingly put Guinevere in a situation where she could have been sexually assaulted. Afterwards, Guinevere is angry about it but constantly tells herself now is not the time to bring it up.

The book lacked the important details to the point where I would go back and re-read pages thinking I must have missed something.

TW: Frequent discussions of alcohol use and sexual assault