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The Knight Watch
A thousand years ago, the Knights of the Round Table made an oath to protect the realm forevermore.
It's safe to say they didn't think it all the way through.
Now Britain is embroiled in the Second World War, and the knights are still fighting the enemies of the realm. They're also fighting each other - Kay and Lancelot haven't spoken since Agincourt, and everyone wishes Agravain would stop speaking entirely.
Isolde - known in myth and legend for her tragic romance with the knight Tristan - is fed up with her tragic reputation. In a time when women have more freedom than ever before, she's determined to strike out on her own. But when she discovers old enemies working alongside the Nazis, she realises she can't fight all of them by herself. It might be time to get the old band back together . . .
From the Sunday Times bestselling Thomas D. Lee comes this sharp and witty caper, asking what happens when knights in armour return to fix the problems of a more modern world . . .
It's safe to say they didn't think it all the way through.
Now Britain is embroiled in the Second World War, and the knights are still fighting the enemies of the realm. They're also fighting each other - Kay and Lancelot haven't spoken since Agincourt, and everyone wishes Agravain would stop speaking entirely.
Isolde - known in myth and legend for her tragic romance with the knight Tristan - is fed up with her tragic reputation. In a time when women have more freedom than ever before, she's determined to strike out on her own. But when she discovers old enemies working alongside the Nazis, she realises she can't fight all of them by herself. It might be time to get the old band back together . . .
From the Sunday Times bestselling Thomas D. Lee comes this sharp and witty caper, asking what happens when knights in armour return to fix the problems of a more modern world . . .
571 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2026
About the author
Thomas D. Lee
3 books170 followersThomas D. Lee is a Sunday Times bestselling author and Visiting Lecturer of Creative Writing at City St. George's University of London. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester, where he is currently studying for a PhD specializing in queer interpretations of the Arthurian mythos. He frequently considers emulating Merlin and becoming a hermit in the woods who speaks only in riddles. Perilous Times is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 5, 2026
Review originally on JamReads
The Knight Watch is an excellent historical fantasy novel written by Thomas D. Lee, published by Orbit Books. A fun romp fantasy that continues drawing from the myths around the Knights of the Round Table coming back to "save" the country from threats (and let me tell you, punching Nazis? Always delightful), with the author taking the opportunity not only to subvert the old chivalrous tropes and legends, but also weighing how the perspective of that semi-immortality has affected them, reflecting the superb character work made by the author.
Britain is deep into the Second World War, and the Knights of the Round Table are still fighting the enemies of the realm; but after so many resurrections, without the possibility of choosing anything different from returning again when the realm needs them is also taking its toll in the old band. The relationship among them is not exactly the best, but when Isolde discovers an old enemy of the band collaborating with the Nazis, it's time to put together the old band for another dangerous dance; a sharp and witty adventure with a great deal of heart at its core.
Part of what makes this adventure so special can be pointed in the character work and how it breaks the mold of the classic legends and myths, humanizing them in the process. Not only we have this Isolde, a strong and independent woman who is fed up with the whole Tristan bullshit, a complex character hurt by her past, but ready to fight for what she thinks it's fair; but also the whole range of Knight of the Round Table, from the own Tristan, who slowly grows into you, specially as he starts to overcome his obsession with Isolde, to Lance and his bravery with a soft spot, Agravain and the rest. I found particularly enjoyable how Lee takes this as an opportunity to explore themes such as queerness and gender (May is simply chef kiss), while putting the toll of immortality as a central element on how the Knights have changed. Each one has coped in their own way, and that has fractured the original warband, still having to work under Marlowe's thumb.
The rest of the cast doesn't shine as much as the knights, but Lee still finds the way to make some of those secondaries leave an everlasting impression (SPOILER AHEAD: And f*ck Merlin, all my homies hate Merlin).
Lee's writing hit a really sweet point between a more serious historical inspired fantasy that has the guts to touch big themes as gender, being part of a collective, fighting fascism (and how far you will go), and a funnier, wittier proposal that manages to get a smile out of you in the more tense parts. Arthuriana is effortlessly woven with the rest of the elements, keeping the recognisable characters, but with a new flavour that goes so well with the rest of the book.
The Knight Watch is all I could have asked and more from this kind of novel; if you are looking for a brilliant novel that will make you laugh like Discworld with the same ability to examine big themes, and you are fascinated by the Arthurian myth, Thomas D. Lee should be an autobuy author for you!
The Knight Watch is an excellent historical fantasy novel written by Thomas D. Lee, published by Orbit Books. A fun romp fantasy that continues drawing from the myths around the Knights of the Round Table coming back to "save" the country from threats (and let me tell you, punching Nazis? Always delightful), with the author taking the opportunity not only to subvert the old chivalrous tropes and legends, but also weighing how the perspective of that semi-immortality has affected them, reflecting the superb character work made by the author.
Britain is deep into the Second World War, and the Knights of the Round Table are still fighting the enemies of the realm; but after so many resurrections, without the possibility of choosing anything different from returning again when the realm needs them is also taking its toll in the old band. The relationship among them is not exactly the best, but when Isolde discovers an old enemy of the band collaborating with the Nazis, it's time to put together the old band for another dangerous dance; a sharp and witty adventure with a great deal of heart at its core.
Part of what makes this adventure so special can be pointed in the character work and how it breaks the mold of the classic legends and myths, humanizing them in the process. Not only we have this Isolde, a strong and independent woman who is fed up with the whole Tristan bullshit, a complex character hurt by her past, but ready to fight for what she thinks it's fair; but also the whole range of Knight of the Round Table, from the own Tristan, who slowly grows into you, specially as he starts to overcome his obsession with Isolde, to Lance and his bravery with a soft spot, Agravain and the rest. I found particularly enjoyable how Lee takes this as an opportunity to explore themes such as queerness and gender (May is simply chef kiss), while putting the toll of immortality as a central element on how the Knights have changed. Each one has coped in their own way, and that has fractured the original warband, still having to work under Marlowe's thumb.
The rest of the cast doesn't shine as much as the knights, but Lee still finds the way to make some of those secondaries leave an everlasting impression (SPOILER AHEAD: And f*ck Merlin, all my homies hate Merlin).
Lee's writing hit a really sweet point between a more serious historical inspired fantasy that has the guts to touch big themes as gender, being part of a collective, fighting fascism (and how far you will go), and a funnier, wittier proposal that manages to get a smile out of you in the more tense parts. Arthuriana is effortlessly woven with the rest of the elements, keeping the recognisable characters, but with a new flavour that goes so well with the rest of the book.
The Knight Watch is all I could have asked and more from this kind of novel; if you are looking for a brilliant novel that will make you laugh like Discworld with the same ability to examine big themes, and you are fascinated by the Arthurian myth, Thomas D. Lee should be an autobuy author for you!
June 29, 2026
I'm very proud of this book
June 26, 2026
I'm grateful to Orbit for sending me a copy of The Knight Watch to consider for review.
SO grateful! Two years ago I loved, loved, loved Lee’s debut novel Perilous Times, which brought King Arthur and the Knighrs of the Round Table into a near-future, dystopian Britain. The book was a breath of fresh air, exploring the idea of an ancient hero and his war band sleeping, returning to "save" the country and what that might mean in a present where both "save" and "country" are deeply contested, and evolving, notions. It also poked gentle fun at a childhood classic I love, and is written in vivid, fresh language away from the conventions of fantasy (and indeed urban fantasy)
So I was keen to read Lee's next book, not exactly a prequel, but set earlier than Perilous Times, during the Second World War and also featuring the Knights. (As you will know if you have paid attention to the Matter of Britain, Merlin lives life backwards, so in a sense we’re emulating him).
The short version: The Knight Watch is just as good, perhaps even slightly better, and now I need to go back and reread Perilous Times so thanks Thomas, this is doing my TBR state no good at all.
Like its predecessor, The Knight Watch riffs off the tropes and concerns of the classic legends. For example, there are echoes of the common theme where a questing knight is beguiled by a monster, posing as a fair damsel. While in the original stories this, naturally, posed dangers mainly to our chaste hero’s honour, in The Knight Watch it’s a bit more the threat to their sense of purpose, their desire to keep on keeping on.
That in itself is a big theme for a book whose heroes (and heroine) have been resurrected countless times. When they die, they return to sleep under their own tree, until called to clamber out of the mud because Britain has need of them. This can become wearying, and each deals with that in their own way. Some drink. Some just abandon the questing life. To varying degrees, they have rumbled the way in which they are being used by their boss, Marlowe (yes, Christopher) to further imperialism or colonialism. All, if pushed, will admit that their whole setup - the original warband gathering tribute for a petty chieftain in sub-Roman Britain - isn’t actually the shining example of virtue that later tales painted. (Evan if Tristan, for one, feels affinity for the high Midde Ages ideal).
So it’s a somewhat disenchanted band who are called together to play their part in the Second World War. Lee has fun here exploring the different roles. Lancelot flyies a Spit, a dead ringer for Biggles with his fighter-pilot bravado (and also in recalling the Great War, flying Camels and the Red Baron - a pointed comparison since James Bigglesworth was of course another hero continually resurrected and reinvented to take on the nation's enemies. Galehaut is a conscientious objector, driving ambulances, Agravaine something of a spiv. Kay has joined Special Forces. And Isolde - yes, Isolde, do keep up, she's part of this too, do keep up, only don't mention Tristan, her ex, Tristan and Isolde are so over (a fine romance, yes, but as we see things told from her point of view, it soured quickly, a few centuries ago, though unfortunately, he's not moved on and to her annoyance, keeps trying to 'win' her back (that's men for you) - and Isolde is working for the Resistance in France where she may just have found herself a girlfriend.
Now, though, the venerable war band be about to shout their last hurrah. There are ways to kill even the unkillable, magics stronger than Merlin's, and with their constant quest for ancient knowledge to pervert, the Nazis - aided by a sorceror-for-hire whom Marlowe, perhaps unwisely, refused to deal with - plus some old enemies of Caer Moelydd, may be about to turn the war band into a weapon of their own.
Almost everyone’s fallen out. Agravaine is just annoying. Isolde and Tristan aren't speaking (well, she's not). The events which led to the fall of the Round Table aren't given in detail but sketched in against a background of Late Antique Britain, and it's clear that deep scars remain - the Knights haven't for centuries worked as a group, they simply tend to run across each other (though there are some intense relationships). So they seem ill-prepared to meet the Nazi occult threat. (Characteristically, as they prepare to do that, Lee again echoes the medieval stories here, having the Knights gather at a requisitioned manor to feast on bully beef and drink bottled beer before they set out on their quest, being are parachuted (with splitting hangovers) into occupied France).
There are resources to draw on. Even the dreams used to ensnare our heroes, lulling them into passive fantasies of what is lost, can be a source of strength. May, a Knight who found her true identity in 1920s Berlin, uses them to reach her comrades when they are lost. Perhaps her experience of life helps her to see straight when they don't, to resist beguilement (and, her lost paradise, the permissive world of Weimar Germany, is possibly so antithetical that the enchanters find it hard to sustain). There is magic. There are Sten guns and grenades. And, in an action filled climax channelling so many classic war films, there is a castle filled with Nazis to be raided. Who could resist? (Lee again takes the chance to affectionately parody the classics here - for example as an exasperated German officer notes before he's despatched, the Enlganders didn't need to hijack the cable car, they could more easily have approached up the track used for supplies).
It's an explosive climax that marries the gory realities of a post-Roman warband with the WWII films and books I grew up on, so is a win for me.
This is a book that does a very clever thing - it leans in to, and embodies, classic stories, myths and simplifications about our history, while being very aware of the realities. Of the War itself: 'You must be glad, to have an enemy like Hitler... he makes you look so much more noble in comparison'. This is a Britain that still doesn't accept gap people, still less trans people, an Empite that is busily looting its subjects. And even the verve with which numerous Nazis are despatched in the finale should be compared with the opening sequence in which Arthur and his Knights sack Caer Lloyw, massacring the citizens.
The Knight Watch is entertaining to the end (I loved the epilogue, where it seems that one of the band may have gone on to inspire James Bond - another English fictional archetype who has lived more than once) but also has both heart and bite, it's an intelligent fantasy with an urgent message.
I'd strongly recommend this book.
SO grateful! Two years ago I loved, loved, loved Lee’s debut novel Perilous Times, which brought King Arthur and the Knighrs of the Round Table into a near-future, dystopian Britain. The book was a breath of fresh air, exploring the idea of an ancient hero and his war band sleeping, returning to "save" the country and what that might mean in a present where both "save" and "country" are deeply contested, and evolving, notions. It also poked gentle fun at a childhood classic I love, and is written in vivid, fresh language away from the conventions of fantasy (and indeed urban fantasy)
So I was keen to read Lee's next book, not exactly a prequel, but set earlier than Perilous Times, during the Second World War and also featuring the Knights. (As you will know if you have paid attention to the Matter of Britain, Merlin lives life backwards, so in a sense we’re emulating him).
The short version: The Knight Watch is just as good, perhaps even slightly better, and now I need to go back and reread Perilous Times so thanks Thomas, this is doing my TBR state no good at all.
Like its predecessor, The Knight Watch riffs off the tropes and concerns of the classic legends. For example, there are echoes of the common theme where a questing knight is beguiled by a monster, posing as a fair damsel. While in the original stories this, naturally, posed dangers mainly to our chaste hero’s honour, in The Knight Watch it’s a bit more the threat to their sense of purpose, their desire to keep on keeping on.
That in itself is a big theme for a book whose heroes (and heroine) have been resurrected countless times. When they die, they return to sleep under their own tree, until called to clamber out of the mud because Britain has need of them. This can become wearying, and each deals with that in their own way. Some drink. Some just abandon the questing life. To varying degrees, they have rumbled the way in which they are being used by their boss, Marlowe (yes, Christopher) to further imperialism or colonialism. All, if pushed, will admit that their whole setup - the original warband gathering tribute for a petty chieftain in sub-Roman Britain - isn’t actually the shining example of virtue that later tales painted. (Evan if Tristan, for one, feels affinity for the high Midde Ages ideal).
So it’s a somewhat disenchanted band who are called together to play their part in the Second World War. Lee has fun here exploring the different roles. Lancelot flyies a Spit, a dead ringer for Biggles with his fighter-pilot bravado (and also in recalling the Great War, flying Camels and the Red Baron - a pointed comparison since James Bigglesworth was of course another hero continually resurrected and reinvented to take on the nation's enemies. Galehaut is a conscientious objector, driving ambulances, Agravaine something of a spiv. Kay has joined Special Forces. And Isolde - yes, Isolde, do keep up, she's part of this too, do keep up, only don't mention Tristan, her ex, Tristan and Isolde are so over (a fine romance, yes, but as we see things told from her point of view, it soured quickly, a few centuries ago, though unfortunately, he's not moved on and to her annoyance, keeps trying to 'win' her back (that's men for you) - and Isolde is working for the Resistance in France where she may just have found herself a girlfriend.
Now, though, the venerable war band be about to shout their last hurrah. There are ways to kill even the unkillable, magics stronger than Merlin's, and with their constant quest for ancient knowledge to pervert, the Nazis - aided by a sorceror-for-hire whom Marlowe, perhaps unwisely, refused to deal with - plus some old enemies of Caer Moelydd, may be about to turn the war band into a weapon of their own.
Almost everyone’s fallen out. Agravaine is just annoying. Isolde and Tristan aren't speaking (well, she's not). The events which led to the fall of the Round Table aren't given in detail but sketched in against a background of Late Antique Britain, and it's clear that deep scars remain - the Knights haven't for centuries worked as a group, they simply tend to run across each other (though there are some intense relationships). So they seem ill-prepared to meet the Nazi occult threat. (Characteristically, as they prepare to do that, Lee again echoes the medieval stories here, having the Knights gather at a requisitioned manor to feast on bully beef and drink bottled beer before they set out on their quest, being are parachuted (with splitting hangovers) into occupied France).
There are resources to draw on. Even the dreams used to ensnare our heroes, lulling them into passive fantasies of what is lost, can be a source of strength. May, a Knight who found her true identity in 1920s Berlin, uses them to reach her comrades when they are lost. Perhaps her experience of life helps her to see straight when they don't, to resist beguilement (and, her lost paradise, the permissive world of Weimar Germany, is possibly so antithetical that the enchanters find it hard to sustain). There is magic. There are Sten guns and grenades. And, in an action filled climax channelling so many classic war films, there is a castle filled with Nazis to be raided. Who could resist? (Lee again takes the chance to affectionately parody the classics here - for example as an exasperated German officer notes before he's despatched, the Enlganders didn't need to hijack the cable car, they could more easily have approached up the track used for supplies).
It's an explosive climax that marries the gory realities of a post-Roman warband with the WWII films and books I grew up on, so is a win for me.
This is a book that does a very clever thing - it leans in to, and embodies, classic stories, myths and simplifications about our history, while being very aware of the realities. Of the War itself: 'You must be glad, to have an enemy like Hitler... he makes you look so much more noble in comparison'. This is a Britain that still doesn't accept gap people, still less trans people, an Empite that is busily looting its subjects. And even the verve with which numerous Nazis are despatched in the finale should be compared with the opening sequence in which Arthur and his Knights sack Caer Lloyw, massacring the citizens.
The Knight Watch is entertaining to the end (I loved the epilogue, where it seems that one of the band may have gone on to inspire James Bond - another English fictional archetype who has lived more than once) but also has both heart and bite, it's an intelligent fantasy with an urgent message.
I'd strongly recommend this book.
June 25, 2026
Anyone familiar with Lee’s Perilous Times will have an idea of what they’re in for with The Knight Watch, but for those who haven’t (you absolutely should by the way) I’ll try my best to sum it up. It’s quirky, hilarious in parts, and heartbreaking in others, and while it can read as tongue in cheek in places, Lee manages to keep the tone serious thanks to featuring some pretty hefty themes.
The Knight Watch is set in an alternate timeline from Perilous Times (at least I think it is, Merlin confuses me about as much as he does the knights) and is obviously set prior to the events, so you can read this book without having read that first. It’s also focused on different characters than the first book, though Lancelot has pov chapters in this one too, we get to spend time with Isolde and Tristan. Star-crossed and doomed lovers, or at least that’s what they’re known for, and might have been the case centuries ago, but after Tristan doomed Isolde to the same fate as the rest of the knights, waking up whenever the country is in peril, she wants nothing to do with him. Instead, every time they rise, she does her best to stay as far away from him as possible, living her own life, doing what she can to help. Tristan was a bit of a wet lettuce, the man that just can’t take no for an answer and believes the constant chasing of Isolde to be noble – eurgh. But Isolde quickly became a favourite character of mine.
She’s not the damsel in distress the tales make her out to be, defined only for her love of a man. Instead, she’s someone who knows how to fight, someone fed up with a life of immortality, someone who longs for the life that was taken from her, one where she would grow old and die surrounded by those she loved. She’s complex, and I think Lee did a fantastic job of writing her as someone so desperate for these things, but also someone who feels trapped by a man who loves her and despite everything she cares for. Though these three were our main pov’s Lee brings in a whole host of other Knights to broaden the cast, Kay, who you may remember from Perilous Times, Galehurt, Bedwyr, Safir, Bors, Agravain, Percival, Caradoc, Palamedes & Gawain/May. I’ve always been a lover of anything Arthurian, but I would by no means say I’m an expert, so I enjoyed meeting some knights I hadn’t heard of before, as well as some that tend to be used more in Authurian tales.
One of the things I love about these books is how Lee never tries to make his knights beacons of good. Having them fight the Nazi’s might seem like a bad example of this because how could anyone who opposed them be bad? But for these knights it doesn’t matter who their enemy is, battle is battle, the safety of the country is paramount, and for the most part they enjoy the battle and bloodshed enough to not really care who is on the other side. But I don’t want you to think they’re all terrible people, I mean some of them are, but for the most part they’re complex. They are people who have literally been raised from the dead to protect their country, they get orders and follow them, this is all they know, time and time again. Though this book we get to see them start to question the ideas of their immortality, whether it’s such a good thing, whether they wouldn’t be happier staying dead, but this is constantly at war with the side of them that knows any battle they enter, any fight they undertake is one some mere mortal can now survive, and those two sides fight against each other for a good portion of the story.
It’s a dark story, one filled with themes of identity, choice, mental health issues and possession, but Lee’s writing style never lets it get too dark. Instead, it flows with an ease that has you flying through the pages without ever realising. Helped along by a few twists and turns, some pretty epic fight scenes and some well-placed but not always appropriate humour (I’m looking at you Agravain). The characters are compelling enough to carry the story alone, but Lee always manages to bring enough plot to balance it out (I mean Arthurian Knights killing Nazi’s and ancient witches with a grudge?!?), and I don’t think I could get bored of following these knights on more adventures.
The Knight Watch is set in an alternate timeline from Perilous Times (at least I think it is, Merlin confuses me about as much as he does the knights) and is obviously set prior to the events, so you can read this book without having read that first. It’s also focused on different characters than the first book, though Lancelot has pov chapters in this one too, we get to spend time with Isolde and Tristan. Star-crossed and doomed lovers, or at least that’s what they’re known for, and might have been the case centuries ago, but after Tristan doomed Isolde to the same fate as the rest of the knights, waking up whenever the country is in peril, she wants nothing to do with him. Instead, every time they rise, she does her best to stay as far away from him as possible, living her own life, doing what she can to help. Tristan was a bit of a wet lettuce, the man that just can’t take no for an answer and believes the constant chasing of Isolde to be noble – eurgh. But Isolde quickly became a favourite character of mine.
She’s not the damsel in distress the tales make her out to be, defined only for her love of a man. Instead, she’s someone who knows how to fight, someone fed up with a life of immortality, someone who longs for the life that was taken from her, one where she would grow old and die surrounded by those she loved. She’s complex, and I think Lee did a fantastic job of writing her as someone so desperate for these things, but also someone who feels trapped by a man who loves her and despite everything she cares for. Though these three were our main pov’s Lee brings in a whole host of other Knights to broaden the cast, Kay, who you may remember from Perilous Times, Galehurt, Bedwyr, Safir, Bors, Agravain, Percival, Caradoc, Palamedes & Gawain/May. I’ve always been a lover of anything Arthurian, but I would by no means say I’m an expert, so I enjoyed meeting some knights I hadn’t heard of before, as well as some that tend to be used more in Authurian tales.
One of the things I love about these books is how Lee never tries to make his knights beacons of good. Having them fight the Nazi’s might seem like a bad example of this because how could anyone who opposed them be bad? But for these knights it doesn’t matter who their enemy is, battle is battle, the safety of the country is paramount, and for the most part they enjoy the battle and bloodshed enough to not really care who is on the other side. But I don’t want you to think they’re all terrible people, I mean some of them are, but for the most part they’re complex. They are people who have literally been raised from the dead to protect their country, they get orders and follow them, this is all they know, time and time again. Though this book we get to see them start to question the ideas of their immortality, whether it’s such a good thing, whether they wouldn’t be happier staying dead, but this is constantly at war with the side of them that knows any battle they enter, any fight they undertake is one some mere mortal can now survive, and those two sides fight against each other for a good portion of the story.
It’s a dark story, one filled with themes of identity, choice, mental health issues and possession, but Lee’s writing style never lets it get too dark. Instead, it flows with an ease that has you flying through the pages without ever realising. Helped along by a few twists and turns, some pretty epic fight scenes and some well-placed but not always appropriate humour (I’m looking at you Agravain). The characters are compelling enough to carry the story alone, but Lee always manages to bring enough plot to balance it out (I mean Arthurian Knights killing Nazi’s and ancient witches with a grudge?!?), and I don’t think I could get bored of following these knights on more adventures.
July 13, 2026
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I received a copy of the book from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, gore, injury, death, war, sexual content, toxic relationship, homophobia, ableism, sexism/misogyny, depression, suicide/suicidal ideation
--
I had a lot of fun reading Perilous Times but I think I loved The Knight Watch even more!
Our resurrected Knights of the Round Table are back to save the world from peril this time fighting Nazis during WW2 so timeline wise this is set before the first book but it is as unhinged as you’d expect. I loved being back with these idiots and Lee does a fantastic job at balancing all the humour with the more serious sentiments of characters who are near enough immortal and not always taking the pressure of it very well.
I laughed, I teared up and alongside the main plot which involved some old witchy adversaries coming back for revenge thus forcing the Knights to band together again, I loved the individual arcs of the main characters too. Lancelot takes the stage as a lead again but we also have Tristan and Isolde in the limelight too.
I wasn’t too familiar with the classic Tristan and Isolde legend before but this book gave me the gist of it and then some. Definitely the most unhealthy relationship here but I liked how their situation as well as the one between Lancelot and Galehaut allowed for the topic of breaking free of toxic cycles and habits to be addressed as well as the subversion of traditional gender roles.
Alongside this you can expect a fast paced and action packed plot with the dysfunctional found family at its heart making you facepalm and laugh out loud in equal measure. Plus the celebration of queerness and open discussion of dealing with mental health made the book all the more wonderful and enjoyable to read. If there are ever future stories with this rowdy lot then I’ll always be down to read them!
If you like books that put a clever, modern spin on classical myths/stories and still keep all the magical melodrama then I can't recommend Lee's books enough.
**I received a copy of the book from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, gore, injury, death, war, sexual content, toxic relationship, homophobia, ableism, sexism/misogyny, depression, suicide/suicidal ideation
--
I had a lot of fun reading Perilous Times but I think I loved The Knight Watch even more!
Our resurrected Knights of the Round Table are back to save the world from peril this time fighting Nazis during WW2 so timeline wise this is set before the first book but it is as unhinged as you’d expect. I loved being back with these idiots and Lee does a fantastic job at balancing all the humour with the more serious sentiments of characters who are near enough immortal and not always taking the pressure of it very well.
I laughed, I teared up and alongside the main plot which involved some old witchy adversaries coming back for revenge thus forcing the Knights to band together again, I loved the individual arcs of the main characters too. Lancelot takes the stage as a lead again but we also have Tristan and Isolde in the limelight too.
I wasn’t too familiar with the classic Tristan and Isolde legend before but this book gave me the gist of it and then some. Definitely the most unhealthy relationship here but I liked how their situation as well as the one between Lancelot and Galehaut allowed for the topic of breaking free of toxic cycles and habits to be addressed as well as the subversion of traditional gender roles.
Alongside this you can expect a fast paced and action packed plot with the dysfunctional found family at its heart making you facepalm and laugh out loud in equal measure. Plus the celebration of queerness and open discussion of dealing with mental health made the book all the more wonderful and enjoyable to read. If there are ever future stories with this rowdy lot then I’ll always be down to read them!
If you like books that put a clever, modern spin on classical myths/stories and still keep all the magical melodrama then I can't recommend Lee's books enough.
July 5, 2026
This is a ridiculous amount of fun, like a remake of Where Eagles Dare with the resurrected and immortal Knights Of The Round Table. It’s more than simple slapstick though - there are careful echoes of the Matter of Britain throughout, and there’s a constant theme of the importance of tolerance and diversity. In fact, the Right are going to hate this. Not only is it full of fascists getting punched, shot and eviscerated, it’s a bunch of largely queer characters doing the punching, shooting and eviscerating. And at least two of the ones who aren’t queer are immigrants. Can’t wait for the Daily Express review.
July 26, 2026
Some really good bits, but found myself a bit bored at times. It isn’t very subtle with queer tones in the story but I think that’s what the author was going for.
Decent enough book!
Decent enough book!
July 20, 2026
I. AM. SUCH. A. SLUT. FOR. ARTHURIAN. RETELLINGS. (In all seriousness I hope Thomas D. Lee writes 25 more of these going right back to the Druids)
June 30, 2026
Thomas D Lee delivered a strangely enjoyable debut with his book Perilous Times. That book was An environmental satire set in a not-too-distant future Britain and involving the resurrected Knights of the Round Table and a fairly obnoxious King Arthur. One of the premises of this book was that Merlin’s magic had allowed the knights to be resurrected at times when Britain was in need. They emerge from under the specially grown oak trees under which they had been originally buried, fully formed and ready to fight. When that book opened the knights had been doing this on and off for hundreds of years. With his new book The Knight Watch, Lee takes this premise back to World War 2, where, if anything, it works better.
A lengthy opening starts in the 15ht century and focusses on Isolde, who is an acolyte of a group of witches. Hoping to help her fellow acolytes, Isolde helps King Arthur and his men destroy the coven but three of witches escape, vowing revenge. Fast forward to World War 2 and the Knights (and Isolde who was buried with her lover Tristan and so also resurrects with him), have once again risen to help Britain in its fight with the Nazis. But the years have affected their relationships. Isolde wants nothing more to do with Tristan even though he still pines for her, Lancelot’s relationship with Galehaut is impacted by their different views on war, and the others still bicker with each other.
The knights are brought back together by their immortal handler and tasked with parachuting into France to recover a scientist called Nightingale. Nightingale is working with a special occult section of the German army to create a magic weapon. And, thanks to Tristan, Isolde is pulled in to this mission also. Before long they discover (unsurprising to the reader) that the surviving witches are behind everything and are finally ready to get their revenge.
If there is any quibble with The Knight Watch it is that Lee has too many point of view characters. While there are clearly main characters – Isolde, Tristan and Lancelot – many of the minor characters get chapters of their own. And while this gives those characters some depth it does make this book longer than it possibly needs to be. The dream sequences involving Tristan, Kay and Gawain while illuminating are particularly lengthy and ultimately make little difference to the overall plot.
Lee has drawn on plenty of influences for The Knight Watch. He obviously riffs on the tradition and stories of the Knights of the Round Table but he also draws on some of the classic World War 2 adventure stories like Where Eagles Dare or the Guns of Navarone. This enables him to deliver a rollicking adventure story with plenty of action and cliffhangers but also deeper questions about mortality. But this is also a book about acceptance and sexuality. Isolde finds herself falling into a relationship with a mortal woman, Lancelot and Galehaut’s relationship is well handled, and it turns out that one of the knights has transitioned. All of this is compassionately observed and underlined by Lee’s afterward which talks about the way that sexuality has been often whitewashed out of World War 2 narratives.
While this is a prequel (or sequel?) of sorts to Perilous Times, the books in this series can really be read in any order. And there even is a point where it is a suggested that this story may be on a completely different timeline (or branch of the world tree) from the later one. So that The Knight Watch can absolutely be read as the weird, enjoyable, standalone Nazi-punching romp that Lee intended it to be.
A lengthy opening starts in the 15ht century and focusses on Isolde, who is an acolyte of a group of witches. Hoping to help her fellow acolytes, Isolde helps King Arthur and his men destroy the coven but three of witches escape, vowing revenge. Fast forward to World War 2 and the Knights (and Isolde who was buried with her lover Tristan and so also resurrects with him), have once again risen to help Britain in its fight with the Nazis. But the years have affected their relationships. Isolde wants nothing more to do with Tristan even though he still pines for her, Lancelot’s relationship with Galehaut is impacted by their different views on war, and the others still bicker with each other.
The knights are brought back together by their immortal handler and tasked with parachuting into France to recover a scientist called Nightingale. Nightingale is working with a special occult section of the German army to create a magic weapon. And, thanks to Tristan, Isolde is pulled in to this mission also. Before long they discover (unsurprising to the reader) that the surviving witches are behind everything and are finally ready to get their revenge.
If there is any quibble with The Knight Watch it is that Lee has too many point of view characters. While there are clearly main characters – Isolde, Tristan and Lancelot – many of the minor characters get chapters of their own. And while this gives those characters some depth it does make this book longer than it possibly needs to be. The dream sequences involving Tristan, Kay and Gawain while illuminating are particularly lengthy and ultimately make little difference to the overall plot.
Lee has drawn on plenty of influences for The Knight Watch. He obviously riffs on the tradition and stories of the Knights of the Round Table but he also draws on some of the classic World War 2 adventure stories like Where Eagles Dare or the Guns of Navarone. This enables him to deliver a rollicking adventure story with plenty of action and cliffhangers but also deeper questions about mortality. But this is also a book about acceptance and sexuality. Isolde finds herself falling into a relationship with a mortal woman, Lancelot and Galehaut’s relationship is well handled, and it turns out that one of the knights has transitioned. All of this is compassionately observed and underlined by Lee’s afterward which talks about the way that sexuality has been often whitewashed out of World War 2 narratives.
While this is a prequel (or sequel?) of sorts to Perilous Times, the books in this series can really be read in any order. And there even is a point where it is a suggested that this story may be on a completely different timeline (or branch of the world tree) from the later one. So that The Knight Watch can absolutely be read as the weird, enjoyable, standalone Nazi-punching romp that Lee intended it to be.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The Knight Watch is a prequel/spin-off to Perilous Times in which the Knights of the Round Table unwittingly bound themselves to a spell cast by Merlin, forcing them to be resurrected whenever England needs them. It’s now World War II, and once again, they are called to action. The Knights, however, are no longer as united as they were under Arthur. Lovelorn Tristan is still pining for his beloved Isolde, who was somehow included in the spell. Meanwhile, Isolde has finally embraced her own agency and refuses to keep following Tristan after all this time. Lancelot has his own struggles, as his lover Galehaut is determined to take a pacifist path that clashes with everything Lancelot believes in. With the Nazis turning to the occult with the help of an ancient enemy, the Knights must learn to work together again if they hope to defeat them.
This book feels very different from Perilous Times. It drops the climate message, which honestly works in its favor for me, as I was never especially drawn to climate fiction in general. Instead, this story explores gender, particularly through the contrast between Arthurian gender roles and those of the 1940s, all viewed through a modern lens. It’s feminist, progressive, and inclusive. And while the book feels more like a side quest than a direct continuation, it stands well on its own and has a distinct story to tell.
The book itself is action-packed and, at times, delightfully unhinged. It feels like Inglourious Basterds with a touch of Henderson’s Boys (if you ever read that YA series by Robert Muchamore). It’s fun, wild, and fully committed to the kind of story it wants to be. The talking rabbit did throw me off for a moment, though thankfully that was about as surreal as it got. Beneath all the chaos, there are also genuinely sweet moments, and I loved seeing these characters grow into the found family they always had the potential to become. In that regard, having read Perilous Times beforehand adds extra emotional weight, though it isn’t strictly necessary.
The Knight Watch is a wildly entertaining Arthurian fantasy romp set in World War II.
*Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK for the eARC via NetGalley
This book feels very different from Perilous Times. It drops the climate message, which honestly works in its favor for me, as I was never especially drawn to climate fiction in general. Instead, this story explores gender, particularly through the contrast between Arthurian gender roles and those of the 1940s, all viewed through a modern lens. It’s feminist, progressive, and inclusive. And while the book feels more like a side quest than a direct continuation, it stands well on its own and has a distinct story to tell.
The book itself is action-packed and, at times, delightfully unhinged. It feels like Inglourious Basterds with a touch of Henderson’s Boys (if you ever read that YA series by Robert Muchamore). It’s fun, wild, and fully committed to the kind of story it wants to be. The talking rabbit did throw me off for a moment, though thankfully that was about as surreal as it got. Beneath all the chaos, there are also genuinely sweet moments, and I loved seeing these characters grow into the found family they always had the potential to become. In that regard, having read Perilous Times beforehand adds extra emotional weight, though it isn’t strictly necessary.
The Knight Watch is a wildly entertaining Arthurian fantasy romp set in World War II.
*Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK for the eARC via NetGalley
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I dithered over requesting an ARC of this, because my goodness, 571 pages is a big commitment if I don't actually like it. (I feel a bit weird about DNFing ARCs.) As it happens, I had a fantastic time with this WWII-set Round Table Knights vs. Nazis romp! The pages fly by :)
What I enjoyed most were the characters struggling with their immortality in different ways. Isolde (clearly not a Knight of the Round Table) has been dragged this story by Tristan who is now making getting-back-together-with-her his whole sorry personality. She has a different plan for life (which in a great testament to her patience is not 100% beating him with a clue-stick until he goes away) but it takes a lot of work to define yourself outside that kind of epic relationship, and a good chunk of this story is her doing that work. Tristan also has a LONG way to go in the story. Lancelot is not working on his relationship with Galehaut as much as he probably should be. And fae-shapeshifter Percival is hands-down the MVP!
Recommended to fantasy peeps who fancy something a bit different, war story readers who'd like something seriously frivolous, Arthurian-reimaginings fans, and anyone who likes their stories decidedly queer.
Rating: 16/20
This review is based upon a complimentary advance reading copy provided by the publisher.
What I enjoyed most were the characters struggling with their immortality in different ways. Isolde (clearly not a Knight of the Round Table) has been dragged this story by Tristan who is now making getting-back-together-with-her his whole sorry personality. She has a different plan for life (which in a great testament to her patience is not 100% beating him with a clue-stick until he goes away) but it takes a lot of work to define yourself outside that kind of epic relationship, and a good chunk of this story is her doing that work. Tristan also has a LONG way to go in the story. Lancelot is not working on his relationship with Galehaut as much as he probably should be. And fae-shapeshifter Percival is hands-down the MVP!
Recommended to fantasy peeps who fancy something a bit different, war story readers who'd like something seriously frivolous, Arthurian-reimaginings fans, and anyone who likes their stories decidedly queer.
Rating: 16/20
This review is based upon a complimentary advance reading copy provided by the publisher.
Review of advance copy received from Author
As with Perilous Times, Lee puts together a rip-roaring story that never loses sight of the important themes and questions it poses.
Amid the humour, the absurdism, and the cheering at getting to punch Nazis in the face, the heart of the story is acceptance, a striving for peace, and a refusal to tolerate bigotry.
Wonderfully written, with the perfect balance of funny and tender, wrapped up in a hijinks escapade that you won't want to put down.
Simply put, if an immortal straight white man from the dark ages, with all its prejudices, can accept trans people and feminism and know that fascism is bad, the rest of us really don't have an excuse. Do we?
Amid the humour, the absurdism, and the cheering at getting to punch Nazis in the face, the heart of the story is acceptance, a striving for peace, and a refusal to tolerate bigotry.
Wonderfully written, with the perfect balance of funny and tender, wrapped up in a hijinks escapade that you won't want to put down.
Simply put, if an immortal straight white man from the dark ages, with all its prejudices, can accept trans people and feminism and know that fascism is bad, the rest of us really don't have an excuse. Do we?
Review of advance copy received from Author
In the hands of an Arthurian expert like Lee, this gleefully revisionist take on Britain’s Round Table legends sings not just with authenticity but with the willingness to subvert the tropes that only an expert can get away with. It’s a rollicking tale of Knights giving the Third Reich a good bashing, sure, but it’s also a deeply poignant elegy on whether love can survive millennia and the moral dilemmas that come with eternal life. If only all fantasy was this pulse-racingly, heartbreakingly perfect.
(this is a blurb, full review to come!)
(this is a blurb, full review to come!)
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eArc of this book.
Anyone who goes into this expecting a Monty Pythonesque take on the Arthurian legend is going to be in for a surprise. The cover - quaint and charming as it is - is deceptive indeed! These knights are straight out of "SAS Rogue Heroes" (one scene in particular is very familiar - I'm looking at you, Kay), there are no good guys, and the humour is more on the darker side of Pratchett than Python. Oh and that dragon? Blink and you'll miss it.
The premise - Knights of the Round Table, woken to save England in her time of peril, taking on the Nazis, Isolde dropping behind enemy line to join the French Resistance etc - is great. The lame romances, not so great. I'm not sure how to rate this one: there were parts I nearly DNF'ed and parts I really enjoyed (mostly Agravain). It's all a bit chaotic and won't be to everyone's tastes, but overall it's good entertainment. Just don't be taken in by that cover.
Anyone who goes into this expecting a Monty Pythonesque take on the Arthurian legend is going to be in for a surprise. The cover - quaint and charming as it is - is deceptive indeed! These knights are straight out of "SAS Rogue Heroes" (one scene in particular is very familiar - I'm looking at you, Kay), there are no good guys, and the humour is more on the darker side of Pratchett than Python. Oh and that dragon? Blink and you'll miss it.
The premise - Knights of the Round Table, woken to save England in her time of peril, taking on the Nazis, Isolde dropping behind enemy line to join the French Resistance etc - is great. The lame romances, not so great. I'm not sure how to rate this one: there were parts I nearly DNF'ed and parts I really enjoyed (mostly Agravain). It's all a bit chaotic and won't be to everyone's tastes, but overall it's good entertainment. Just don't be taken in by that cover.
Review of advance copy received from Author
If Knights of the Round Table beating up Nazis doesn't do it for you, then I don't know what else will. Secret wartime missions? Immortal, bad break-ups? A big salmon? It's all in there - read it and find out.
June 29, 2026
This book is amazing!! Queer knights of the round table killing nazis, what more do you need? Okay, so it's also got Isolde absolutely fed up with Tristan's nonsense, a nod or two to the Sword in the Stone, Agravain being a whole other level of aggravating and again, queer knights killing nazis!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Magnificent
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