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Twilight of the Celts #1
The Last Dragon
The first part in an epic sequel to M.K. Hume's King Arthur trilogy
The legend of King Arthur lives on...
King Artor lies slain and Ector, a mere boy, is acknowledged as the legitimate heir to the kingdom. But the land of the Celts is weakened and Ector grows up torn between a sense of doom and duty.
Meanwhile, in the Forest of Arden, it is revealed to young Arthur that he is the Bastard Prince, son of King Artor and Lady Elayne. Trained in the skills of a warrior, Arthur cannot challenge the position of his ruler and childhood friend, but nor can he stand back and watch Briton crumble under the threat of invasion. As the Last Dragon, he must ensure that his father's legacy lives on...
The legend of King Arthur lives on...
King Artor lies slain and Ector, a mere boy, is acknowledged as the legitimate heir to the kingdom. But the land of the Celts is weakened and Ector grows up torn between a sense of doom and duty.
Meanwhile, in the Forest of Arden, it is revealed to young Arthur that he is the Bastard Prince, son of King Artor and Lady Elayne. Trained in the skills of a warrior, Arthur cannot challenge the position of his ruler and childhood friend, but nor can he stand back and watch Briton crumble under the threat of invasion. As the Last Dragon, he must ensure that his father's legacy lives on...
592 pages, Hardcover
Published January 2, 2014
14 people are currently reading
268 people want to read
About the author
M.K. Hume
24 books159 followersMarilyn K. Hume is an Australian author, born in 1948, and based in Brisbane, Australia.
Hume graduated as a teacher in 1967, specializing in Art and Ancient History before commencing teaching high school students. While teaching, she studied university courses as an external student in English and Ancient History. Along the way, Hume obtained a BA, an MA, a Master of Literary Studies degree and a Phd in Arthurian Literature.
In 1996, Hume was encouraged to enter an historical romance writing competition conducted by the Random House Publishing Group under the sponsorship of a popular women’s magazine. Hume had no interest in romance writing, but she dashed off a novel based on her family history. The novel won second prize from a massive field of recognised authors - and she won $5,000 for her efforts.
In 2007, Hume retired from the Queensland Education Department, and immediately commenced to write a trilogy based on the life and times of King Arthur of Britain.
Hume’s agent, the Dorie Simmonds Agency in London, brokered a contract with Headline Review to publish the three books in the trilogy. This agreement soon became six books, for Hume soon produced a further trilogy on the life and times of Merlin, which is now a prequel to the Arthurian trilogy.
Her works are now published at six-monthly intervals, and the author maintains a punishing schedule involving eight hours of research and/or writing every day. She doesn’t believe that there is any such thing as ‘writer’s block’, and loves the whole creative process.
Hume intends to write at least 30 novels before ‘she drops off the perch’. She reads voraciously and adores meeting friends, attending rummage sales, making porcelain dolls and painting portraits.
Hume graduated as a teacher in 1967, specializing in Art and Ancient History before commencing teaching high school students. While teaching, she studied university courses as an external student in English and Ancient History. Along the way, Hume obtained a BA, an MA, a Master of Literary Studies degree and a Phd in Arthurian Literature.
In 1996, Hume was encouraged to enter an historical romance writing competition conducted by the Random House Publishing Group under the sponsorship of a popular women’s magazine. Hume had no interest in romance writing, but she dashed off a novel based on her family history. The novel won second prize from a massive field of recognised authors - and she won $5,000 for her efforts.
In 2007, Hume retired from the Queensland Education Department, and immediately commenced to write a trilogy based on the life and times of King Arthur of Britain.
Hume’s agent, the Dorie Simmonds Agency in London, brokered a contract with Headline Review to publish the three books in the trilogy. This agreement soon became six books, for Hume soon produced a further trilogy on the life and times of Merlin, which is now a prequel to the Arthurian trilogy.
Her works are now published at six-monthly intervals, and the author maintains a punishing schedule involving eight hours of research and/or writing every day. She doesn’t believe that there is any such thing as ‘writer’s block’, and loves the whole creative process.
Hume intends to write at least 30 novels before ‘she drops off the perch’. She reads voraciously and adores meeting friends, attending rummage sales, making porcelain dolls and painting portraits.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 29, 2018
This 1st volume of the "Twilight of the Celts" trilogy is more or less a follow-up of the final part of the "King Arthur (Artor)" trilogy which was titled "The Bloody Cup".
It's another excellent book which is full with real characters who come vividly to life in this tale of brutal warfare, from within and without, within this hard but also wonderful world of the Celts.
Wonderful storytelling makes this book a joy to read and the historical background of the world of the Celts is also exceptionally pictured within this book as well as the historical facts and events which are taking place within this great tale.
The story itself is about Prince Ector, who after the death of King Artor is acknowledged as the legitimate heir of the Kingdom of the Celts, but for the moment the Kingdom is ruled by his father King Bran of the Ordovice tribe as the Dux Bellorum, but even more so it's about Arthur, the Bastard Prince and the illegitimate son of King Artor and Lady Elayne, who's making a name for himself in the Forest of Arden as a warrior.
This Arthur is trained in the skills of the warrior and although he cannot challenge this young Ector, he can't stand back and watch Britain crumble under the threat of invasion by the Saxons.
And so Arthur, as "The Last Dragon", must do all that he can to save his father's legacy and at the same time protect young Prince Ector and his father King Bran from all kinds of enemies, before he himself is betrayed by his worst enemy Mareddyd.
Fully recommended for this is a very compelling book which in my opinion is "A splendid 1st Celts volume"!
It's another excellent book which is full with real characters who come vividly to life in this tale of brutal warfare, from within and without, within this hard but also wonderful world of the Celts.
Wonderful storytelling makes this book a joy to read and the historical background of the world of the Celts is also exceptionally pictured within this book as well as the historical facts and events which are taking place within this great tale.
The story itself is about Prince Ector, who after the death of King Artor is acknowledged as the legitimate heir of the Kingdom of the Celts, but for the moment the Kingdom is ruled by his father King Bran of the Ordovice tribe as the Dux Bellorum, but even more so it's about Arthur, the Bastard Prince and the illegitimate son of King Artor and Lady Elayne, who's making a name for himself in the Forest of Arden as a warrior.
This Arthur is trained in the skills of the warrior and although he cannot challenge this young Ector, he can't stand back and watch Britain crumble under the threat of invasion by the Saxons.
And so Arthur, as "The Last Dragon", must do all that he can to save his father's legacy and at the same time protect young Prince Ector and his father King Bran from all kinds of enemies, before he himself is betrayed by his worst enemy Mareddyd.
Fully recommended for this is a very compelling book which in my opinion is "A splendid 1st Celts volume"!
November 24, 2014
King Arthur. How many ways can his story be retold and the myths surrounding him be re-invented? Apparently endlessly, as The Last Dragon is yet another Arthur retelling with a twist. Admittedly, M.K. Hume’s version of the story is an Interesting one, with the myth retold in a novel way. In fact, the Arthur who becomes known as the Last Dragon is the mythical Arthur’s illegitimate son and the series Twilight of the Celts, of which this novel is the first instalment, is set after King Arthur’s demise. The series is a continuation of two prior trilogies covering the lives of Merlin and King Arthur. I’ve not read these previous series and while I don’t know how the Matter of Britain has been covered there, familiarity with the original stories and their themes allowed me to find my way in this somewhat uncannily familiar-yet-different version of Arthur’s world.
What becomes clear from reading The Last Dragon is the affection in which Hume holds the Arthurian mythos and how well she knows it. She structures her version of Arthur’s story in a triad of Arthurs, echoing a traditional Welsh telling of the tale which features three Gweneveres. Here we have three Arthurs: Artor or Artorex, Ector, and Arthur. The regular mythos has been broken up among them. Artorex is the version of Arthur that has the most traditional elements attached, but is also based on the more ‘historical’ view of Arthur as a Romano-Briton Dux Bellorum against the Anglo-Saxons, while Ector is the more politically savvy, yet kind-hearted version, and Arthur, our current hero, is the one raised in obscurity and ignorant of his heritage, yet he has inherited this sword. I thought this structuring a nice shift and it was interesting to see how Hume moulded the Matter to her tale. My biggest problem with The Last Dragon was its rather slow start, as the first two chapters are mostly build up to set up the story and very different in tone to the rest of the book. If found these chapters tough going and it was only when we finally switch to Arthur that the narrative smooths out.
Hume’s Arthur is interesting, though he does suffer a bit from being too good to be true and being The Chosen One. He is swept along in events and tries to hold to the morals he was raised with, using them as a guide to choose his path. But it only feels as if he’s making his own choices in the second half of the novel. I did very much enjoy the younger generation of new companions, such as Eamonn, Gareth, Lorcan, Germanus, and the three – again three – sons of Merlin, Taliesin, Glynn, and Rhys. They feel familiar yet new and I liked the way they interacted. There are also some captivating female characters with those I found most interesting being Anna, Elayne, Maeve, and Blaise. Anna was just such a powerful player in the story and I thought Elayne’s dignity and utter peace with what her life had been was fascinating. Here is a woman who bore a king’s bastard while married to his greatest captain and she has no regrets and isn’t shamed over it in anyway by her husband. And the two teenagers Maeve and Blaise were quite promising and seem to play a larger part in the next novel, which raises expectations.
In addition to great heroes, we are also presented with some cool adversaries, whose motivations are muddied and thus quite compelling. My favourite of these was Bran, as he’s so terribly complicated and I rather felt for his predicament, knowing he’s a lesser ruler than his predecessor and a less gifted leader of men than both his son and Arthur. He is however a ruthless and great strategist and I just really liked his story. The one villain I just really disliked and whose motivations felt a little cliché was Mareddyd. I understood why he was there, I just really didn’t like his character or his plot arc.
The Last Dragon is very much the narrative of the hero in training and we leave the story on a cliffhanger, though at a natural break in the story. After I got past the first two chapters and settled into Arthur’s narrative, I really enjoyed myself with this original take on the Arthur legend. If you like Arthurian tales, but would like to see them do something new, then The Last Dragon offers the first part of a trilogy that seems to promise to do just that.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
What becomes clear from reading The Last Dragon is the affection in which Hume holds the Arthurian mythos and how well she knows it. She structures her version of Arthur’s story in a triad of Arthurs, echoing a traditional Welsh telling of the tale which features three Gweneveres. Here we have three Arthurs: Artor or Artorex, Ector, and Arthur. The regular mythos has been broken up among them. Artorex is the version of Arthur that has the most traditional elements attached, but is also based on the more ‘historical’ view of Arthur as a Romano-Briton Dux Bellorum against the Anglo-Saxons, while Ector is the more politically savvy, yet kind-hearted version, and Arthur, our current hero, is the one raised in obscurity and ignorant of his heritage, yet he has inherited this sword. I thought this structuring a nice shift and it was interesting to see how Hume moulded the Matter to her tale. My biggest problem with The Last Dragon was its rather slow start, as the first two chapters are mostly build up to set up the story and very different in tone to the rest of the book. If found these chapters tough going and it was only when we finally switch to Arthur that the narrative smooths out.
Hume’s Arthur is interesting, though he does suffer a bit from being too good to be true and being The Chosen One. He is swept along in events and tries to hold to the morals he was raised with, using them as a guide to choose his path. But it only feels as if he’s making his own choices in the second half of the novel. I did very much enjoy the younger generation of new companions, such as Eamonn, Gareth, Lorcan, Germanus, and the three – again three – sons of Merlin, Taliesin, Glynn, and Rhys. They feel familiar yet new and I liked the way they interacted. There are also some captivating female characters with those I found most interesting being Anna, Elayne, Maeve, and Blaise. Anna was just such a powerful player in the story and I thought Elayne’s dignity and utter peace with what her life had been was fascinating. Here is a woman who bore a king’s bastard while married to his greatest captain and she has no regrets and isn’t shamed over it in anyway by her husband. And the two teenagers Maeve and Blaise were quite promising and seem to play a larger part in the next novel, which raises expectations.
In addition to great heroes, we are also presented with some cool adversaries, whose motivations are muddied and thus quite compelling. My favourite of these was Bran, as he’s so terribly complicated and I rather felt for his predicament, knowing he’s a lesser ruler than his predecessor and a less gifted leader of men than both his son and Arthur. He is however a ruthless and great strategist and I just really liked his story. The one villain I just really disliked and whose motivations felt a little cliché was Mareddyd. I understood why he was there, I just really didn’t like his character or his plot arc.
The Last Dragon is very much the narrative of the hero in training and we leave the story on a cliffhanger, though at a natural break in the story. After I got past the first two chapters and settled into Arthur’s narrative, I really enjoyed myself with this original take on the Arthur legend. If you like Arthurian tales, but would like to see them do something new, then The Last Dragon offers the first part of a trilogy that seems to promise to do just that.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
March 29, 2014
historical fiction based in the times of legend celts vs Saxons in the battle for Britain
September 8, 2022
I must admit I’m obsessed with Arthurian novels. This was quite a mighty read, but I have to say it’s not my favourite of the Arthurian books read.
I liked the style of writing , the quotes at the start of each chapter also worked well.
I found the characters at time hard to keep up with , with the continual changing names or versions used .
The historical content was good , that’s what kept my interest whilst reading this book.
I liked the style of writing , the quotes at the start of each chapter also worked well.
I found the characters at time hard to keep up with , with the continual changing names or versions used .
The historical content was good , that’s what kept my interest whilst reading this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2018
A must read book
Very good reading. Good sense of history can't wait to read the next book hope it's a good a read also
Very good reading. Good sense of history can't wait to read the next book hope it's a good a read also
May 3, 2020
3.5 stars
Good story but it could have used more action.
Good story but it could have used more action.
January 20, 2021
After a couple of hundred pages I had to move on. Painful.
July 19, 2021
Good follow on to the previous series but I don’t like cliff hanger endings so minus 1 star
June 13, 2025
I read the king Arthur series and absolutely loved all three books...rated 5 🌟....
This was written in a totally different style...couldn't believe it was the same author....dnf.
This was written in a totally different style...couldn't believe it was the same author....dnf.
April 29, 2016
20% is really great and shows Hume's talent for spinning a grand tale. However, the other 80% is bland and sleep inducing. Arthur was a precocious child and youngster, but you never feel connected to him as a character.
I do think I will try some of her other work, but the rest of the trilogy will not appear on my bookshelves.
I do think I will try some of her other work, but the rest of the trilogy will not appear on my bookshelves.
October 19, 2014
Dr Hume's latest is up to her usual very high standard. Slightly wobbly at the start and she seems a little too fond of her main character (a flaw in her Merlin trilogy as well) but the story is exciting, the background and research very well-done. Thoroughly enjoyable.
January 11, 2016
It's a very interesting book. Following the start of Arthur's journey in life, I would recommend this story to anyone who has a keen interest in the Celtic backgrounds as well as the history of Britain in those times.
February 16, 2014
Another great read by M.K. Hume. Perhaps a slight feeling of deja vu, but I still loved it and am looking forward to the next instalment.
September 11, 2014
Gave it up a quarter of the way through. Just did not send me. No character development, stodgy pace.
February 8, 2015
Good story, spoilt a bit by the frequent swear words, which added nothing to the story.
October 6, 2015
Loving all the MK Hume books.
November 29, 2015
I love M K Hume's books and I love anything to do with King Arthur so this extension of the legends is wonderful. Can't wait to read the next book :)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews