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Bedivere Book One: The King's Right Hand
"The tales of King Arthur and the knights of his Round Table, though barely a generation past, have already gained the status of legend. He united the land and defeated the foreign invaders and eventually brought peace to a war-torn Britain. Every historian in the land wishes to know the details of his the battles fought, the laws he made. The names of Lancelot and Guinevere, Tristan and Isolde, Gawain, Perceval and many others are on the lips of every bard and storyteller from Scotland and Britain, south across the continent, and on into lands unheard of."I am neither historian nor bard. I am simply a man who was blessed to live at the time of King Arthur. You may have heard my name, though there are precious few stories told of my exploits. I need no tales, for I lived the greatest of them all."I am Bedivere, the King’s best friend, his right hand man. I was his horse lord and the first Knight of the Round Table. I was the first man to know him and the last man to see him alive. I followed his orders and carried his secrets. Where others saw only his crown I was privileged to know the man. This is my story."But my story is his story."
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 27, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 23, 2015
There's a reason why some stories maintain their staying power: although we may have heard them often, there is something in them that keeps us coming back again and again. Contemporary authors are always finding new ways of approaching classic themes because there's just so much to work with. No one author, or even one generation, could mine it all.
Which brings us to Bedivere, an offering from local author Wayne Wise, whose writing is at its best when he is exploring this territory (see also King of Summer, which explores Arthurian themes in a contemporary context, and is also Quite Good). While there's canon lore on Bedivere, and Wise has clearly done his homework, there's a lot of wiggle room there, too, for imaginative storytelling. And that is precisely what we get here.
Bedivere, is mainly remembered for returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at Arthur's death. Wise depicts him as an ordinary person who gets swept up into extraordinary things, by virtue of his friendship to Arthur. He's the kind of guy you want hanging around if you're High King: sensible, modest, gifted with horses, loyal, and not afraid of hard work. This is a neat perspective from which to explore people and personalities that have, over time, become larger than life.
It works REALLY well. As the novel begins, Bedivere, Arthur, and co. are just kids. The kind of world they live in demands certain things of them, and Merlin has done his best to prepare them. I really loved meeting each character, knowing who they would grow up to be, and what they would do, wondering how Wise would get us there (I'm a teensy bit impatient for the sequel, mostly because I liked being in this world Very Much).
The pacing is slow and measured, a nice long walk through the forest on a summer afternoon, and the tension between major plot points builds gradually. By the time you get to the end, you have a good sense of all the players, personalities, and plot threads, without ever feeling like you were whacked over the head with loads of exposition. This is no mean feat, as there was a LOT to set up. Wise's choice of where to end, and the way he wrote it, is just beautiful, and will touch any reader who has the slightest inkling of the sacred and/or ceremonial.
As much as it pains me, I have to ding one star for grammar errors. To be fair, they are common errors, and most people won't even spot them as such, but they are a little bit distracting in an otherwise excellent story. My red pencil and I cheerfully volunteer as tribute for Book 2.
But. If you need to leave the 21st century for a while and revisit classic themes and legends, this is a Very Good Choice, and it works on multiple levels. There's a good Arthurian fantasy here for people who enjoy that sort of thing, and there's an added layer of meaning for a certain type of reader (there's a lot of overlap between those two audiences, to be sure). In fact, Wise has cleverly done here what Merlin speaks of late in the novel: created a world that exists in two realities, which the reader is free to marry, or not, as s/he chooses. That's no mean feat. Try it on for size and see if you see what I see.
Which brings us to Bedivere, an offering from local author Wayne Wise, whose writing is at its best when he is exploring this territory (see also King of Summer, which explores Arthurian themes in a contemporary context, and is also Quite Good). While there's canon lore on Bedivere, and Wise has clearly done his homework, there's a lot of wiggle room there, too, for imaginative storytelling. And that is precisely what we get here.
Bedivere, is mainly remembered for returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at Arthur's death. Wise depicts him as an ordinary person who gets swept up into extraordinary things, by virtue of his friendship to Arthur. He's the kind of guy you want hanging around if you're High King: sensible, modest, gifted with horses, loyal, and not afraid of hard work. This is a neat perspective from which to explore people and personalities that have, over time, become larger than life.
It works REALLY well. As the novel begins, Bedivere, Arthur, and co. are just kids. The kind of world they live in demands certain things of them, and Merlin has done his best to prepare them. I really loved meeting each character, knowing who they would grow up to be, and what they would do, wondering how Wise would get us there (I'm a teensy bit impatient for the sequel, mostly because I liked being in this world Very Much).
The pacing is slow and measured, a nice long walk through the forest on a summer afternoon, and the tension between major plot points builds gradually. By the time you get to the end, you have a good sense of all the players, personalities, and plot threads, without ever feeling like you were whacked over the head with loads of exposition. This is no mean feat, as there was a LOT to set up. Wise's choice of where to end, and the way he wrote it, is just beautiful, and will touch any reader who has the slightest inkling of the sacred and/or ceremonial.
As much as it pains me, I have to ding one star for grammar errors. To be fair, they are common errors, and most people won't even spot them as such, but they are a little bit distracting in an otherwise excellent story. My red pencil and I cheerfully volunteer as tribute for Book 2.
But. If you need to leave the 21st century for a while and revisit classic themes and legends, this is a Very Good Choice, and it works on multiple levels. There's a good Arthurian fantasy here for people who enjoy that sort of thing, and there's an added layer of meaning for a certain type of reader (there's a lot of overlap between those two audiences, to be sure). In fact, Wise has cleverly done here what Merlin speaks of late in the novel: created a world that exists in two realities, which the reader is free to marry, or not, as s/he chooses. That's no mean feat. Try it on for size and see if you see what I see.
August 14, 2016
An excellent treatment of the legend of King Arthur. Wayne Wise remains true to Arthurian legend and adds a new twist to the story of Sir Bedivere. I'm excited this is Book one indicating other stories about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are to follow. Wise brought these characters to life. He brings a fresh approach to the telling of a treasured legendary tale. It's the Arthur we know and love from the legend, but amazingly human and all the more heroic.
September 23, 2014
A wonderful take on the legend of King Arthur, as seen by Bedivere. This is the story of the beginning of things, as told by an older Bedivere. And with that framework comes a real strength of the storytelling – it manages to blend the hope of youth with the cynicism of old age. This is the story of dream long past, and the hope to still believe in it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews