In the Shadow of the Oak King

Dragon's Heirs #1

by Courtway Jones

A recreation of the Arthurian legend. A first novel. Reprint. PW. K.

Genres: Fantasy, Arthurian, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Medieval, Science Fiction Fantasy, Retellings

340 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Laurel Bradshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting retelling of Malory, which is neither medieval nor quite 5th century. While the author is a cultural anthropologist, this "reconstruction" seem more like a fantasy world to me. The Druids definitely come across as the bad guys here, with their human child sacrifices. The love story between Pelleas and Nithe falls quite flat, in my opinion. Otherwise, it is an okay read.

From Publishers Weekly
The narrator, Pelleas, bastard son of High King Uther Pendragon, is saved by master smith Myrddin from sacrifice by druids to the Oak God. At Uther's behest, Myrddin, his young ward, the girl Nithe and Pelleas take another of Uther's sons, the just-born Arthur, to the Scillys to rear him in secret. In the political turmoil following Uther's death, Arthur is presented as the High King's heir. The young king must soothe tensions among his Briton, Gaelic and Pictish allies, settle religious disputes between Christians and druids, battle Saxons who would overrun his realm, and uphold his legitimacy as ruler before an often skeptical following. He is supported by his half-brother Pelleas, a leader among the Picts. But Pelleas, chafing under court politics and believing himself spurned by Nithe, cannot abide the court snobbery and jostling for precedence, and he is determined to make his place among his people in Arthur's new kingdom.

Series info:
Dragon's heirs trilogy
1. In the shadow of the Oak King - read
---------------------------
2. Witch of the north
3. Prince in Camelot

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

An off mix between the high fantasy of Malory, the sardonic tone of White, and the dirt and grit of Cornwell. It can’t really decide which type of King Arthur story it wants to tell.

My favorite parts were the real world explanations behind the later myths and legends – I would have loved more of that. This was definitely a version of Merlin I could root for, unlike some other tales where Merlin tends to vary between Dr. Who’s above-it-all and Rasputin’s creepiness.

But for the most part, it swung wildly back and forth between horrific violence and laughing frolics. Very off-putting.

[Lee Bartholomew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it's not horrid but the back of the books description has nothing to do with the book. He claims to be closer to Malory but I don't see it. Except women are treated better in the story here. The book is more about 3 people and Arthur is a side act Pelleas seems to be the main character and narrator in this book. Think of it like Jack Whyte's version. No magic here. Nithe and Pelleas seem to be lovers that they may or may not want to be. I gave it a 3 because of the poor description on the back and then he complains about Malorys wording using 13th century words from a 6th century wording or whatever yet he uses Jennifer to name Gwen. Jennifer is from the 18th century.. Also the Blue dye thing makes it here. Which was the general joke in the movie First Knight. Blue would not be invented for many years to come. But it's an interesting take. I got this one in 1998 and the third book (both at a closeout store selling books that didn't sell) in 1999. Yet the second book has remained elusive. I have the second book but it's in bad shape. Only reason I have kept it is because it's autographed. If you want an alternative version to Arthur this will do. But many of the characters with the exception of Tristam and Isolde , which is hard to find much about now . Many especially Nithe who don't seem to really exist. I'd assume Nimue here but maybe not Pelleas as an actual character is different from the one on wikipedia...

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! Written the year I was born, I am amazed I have not heard more about it, and I am really glad I found it. I will definitely be shelving it with my other most treasured Arthurain favorites.

The book flows well, and the authors writing is easy to follow and picture. Much like a movie script, you are immersed in the scenery and characters.

I loved her main character and his connections to well-known characters like Merlin Nimeh and Lacelot.

Another part I enjoyed was the authors many illusions to Malroy. Arthurian fans will recognize many Malory Antidotes like jousting, the sword, and the stone and knights quest on horseback whilst looking for glory. I also loved seeing Malorys gamous jamming of the sword between the elicit lovers.

All in all, the book has a Roman British vibe with a high medieval twist.

Loved the book, and I am thankful I was able to track down the following two novels in the series as sadly it looks like these works are out of print.

[Kathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10
A look at the Arthurian legend from a different point of view—Arthur’s half-brother Pelleas is the narrator in this, book 1 of a trilogy. The author says this version is based somewhat more on Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table by Thomas Malory than the usual version of Camelot that most of us are familiar with. The Arthurian legends are fascinating to me and I love reading every version, even those that are widely divergent from each other. I get new insights from each of them, and this book just adds to my understanding of the conflicts among the Picts, Britons, Saxons, and Gaels and the roles of kings, druids, priests, knights, and others.

[Christy J-Furem · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of Arthurian fiction, then you'll definitely enjoy this. The main character is a Pict, and the author delves into the conflict between the Britons, Picts, Gaels, Gauls, and Saxons after the departure of Rome. I also appreciate how Arthur's knights are painted in a more realistic, less romanticized, light.

[Sarah Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED this read and flew through it. It started in the introduction as Jones was talking about how much research he did, changing some of the facts from the original story to be more historically correct. Even going so far as to making up the 5th century romano-celtic calligraphy font the book is written in for a more authentic feel. It may not pass the muster of some, but to me it spike of how much Jones loved his story and his subject. The introduction I thought did a good job of explaining the tribes, but maybe that is because I took so many history classes in college about this era.
I have read a ton of Arthurian legends, I love the ones from other points of view. Although I admit I have started Mists of Avalon three times and never been able to finish it. In fact, a previous post discusses the Arthurian series by Irene Radcliff. There were some similarities to her series that I noticed when reading this section I think this book came first, but I'm not sure. I made some notes that in both series Merlin head a wolfhound familiar and could mind speak. Irene had more magic, while Jones uses cleverness.
All of the Arthurian books I have read always have Merlin as a mysterious figure, even when the book is from Merlin's point of view. This allows me to make my own assumptions and let my imagination fill in the back or side story, sometimes later on in a book I'm proved wrong but that is half the fun.
This book is told from the point of view of a companion that I had never heard of Pelleas. The story starts out with how Pelleas meets Myrddin (Merlin) and how they come to raise Arthur on Ector's Isle. Myrddin is a master smith and teaches Pelleas the trade. Myrddin is also raising Nithe, his neice who is the daughter of the Lady of Lake.
Some comments were made in my book club discussion that there were no strong women characters. I disagree. I think this has more strong women in it than just Nithe. In the beginning Jones talked about how Pelleas's mother owned the property. Thanks to my women history class I know this was the way because the only true parentage that could be confirmed at the time was the mother, can't deny a baby popping out as not yours. This all changed because then catholic church was so anti-women, but that is a whole nother lecture. Anyways back to my point, the women in the story are not helpless sops, they may not be picking up the swords themselves, but they are not spineless either. Pelleas's mother had a lot of power over her husband, not as much as we are used to being equals now-a-days, but she wasn't helpless.
I love wolves and I have since high school so the portion where Pelleas saved the wolf and they protected him later really grabbed me.
Pelleas is Uther's son and he is to be sacrificed to the Oak King so the Urther may continue his reign and Myrddin saves Pelleas. As usual, Urther is a weak willed selfish bastard. Sacrificing his own children though takes him to a new low in this series. Also as usual, Myrddin is always stuck cleaning up Urther's mess and caring for his children. Although I did think that the King needing to sacrifice himself to the Oak King was a way toput a term limit on a monarch's reign, and like all politicians Urther found the loop hole to stays in office longer.
The second section has a lot more action, the story really moves along at a nice pace too. This is the part where the characters return from Ector's Isle and Arthru becomes king by pulling the sword from the stone, which by the way is a very clever trick from Myrddin. It seem Pelleas and Nithe may have a chance to get together if they would both just stop being so difficult. It takes Pelleas forever to figure out that Nithe is an option. I swear when he realized it I could picture the lightbulb over his head switching on, but the idiot never said a word to her, he expects her to do everything. Typical! Then he buys her for a year and walks away, thank goodness she had more brains than him. Although, when he does make her an offer she is torn between him and Lancelot, and walks away like a foo.
I found it really interesting how popular Arthur is with the common people. The Bishop dismisses the common people, because they don't make kings. Yet when Arthur won the fight at the tournament, they are the ones that rushed in and insisted he become king. The Bishop was very wrong, then common people did elect him essentially.
Pelleas fights for the King with his Wolfhound companions then is betrayed by Saxon's and his relationship with Arthur breaks down. Pelleas leaves on his own revenge mission and suceeds by becoming a King in his own right. He finally gets Nithe in the final chapter and it was quite the sigh of relief on my part, for a while there I thought they were both going to be completely stupid and miss out on each other.
Now that I have read all three books in the series this is by far the best. And if you only read this one and skip the others, it's not really that much of a loss.
http://adventuresofabibliophile.blogs...

[Erin Germain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not technically a book about King Arthur, but more about some of the people who grew up and lived around him. I remember reading this (and the other two books in the trilogy) when it first came out, and was pleased because I shared a similar opinion of Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur that Jones does - Mallory's Arthur is spineless and whiny, Lancelot is much the same, women barely are treated as human, and the only character he seemed to like was Mordred. Jones took the basic framework of Mallory and turned it about so that the characters are actually human. Being a retired anthropologist, they also fit a bit better into 5th century Britain. The result is a pleasant afternoon read.

This book centered on Pelleas, older brother to Arthur (both sons of Uther, although Pelleas' mother is a Pict woman and Arthur's is Igraine, widow of Gorlois). He ends up helping Myrddin raise the young Arthur, but it then follows his path in freeing the Picts from the Saxons and Gaels. Nineve, who becomes the Lady of the Lake, also factors in, first as the ward of Myrddin, and later as a romantic interest for Pelleas.

If you know the characters already, and most of us do, this is a fun read. If you haven't met them yet, it still is enjoyable to see the unique spin Jones puts on this tale that "everyone knows".

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just started this book a couple of days ago. It is an account of the growing up of King Arthur, as told from Arthur's older half brother's perspective.

The first couple of chapters are definitely different than Disney's "Sword in the Stone". This telling of the story is set in post Roman Britton. There are no knights in armor, metal is scarce and there is no real central authority.

So far the author tells a good tale.

[Lizzy DeMarco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had found the third book in this series for like 50 cents and thought why not. Then realized I had not read the first two which I still own, since they were published in the 90's. To refresh myself I decided to start at the beginning and read the three few. I am glad I did. Now I remember how much I enjoyed this retelling of the Arthur legend. On to book 2!

[E Money The Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really fun take on the King Arthur tales through the point of view of some Pict kids coming of age. I rather liked the two main characters and some of the cultural references were neat.

The violent parts are pretty brutal and can be jarring juxtaposed segments that are moreso through the perspectives of kids being kids. But sometimes thats just the way life is.

[Phair]

Read when this first came out. Really enjoyed this more historical view of the Arthurian story. Will not place a rating until I can re-read but it has long stuck in my mind as a favorite.

[Michael D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story. Jones weaves an interesting story into Sir Thomas Malory's narrative.