Serpent Rose

by Kari Sperring

Camelot: there are four sons of Lot at court and Sir Gaheris knows himself to be the least of them. Yet the charismatic and headstrong young knight Sir Lamorak looks up to him in particular, despite more obvious choices. When Lamorak catches his mother’s eye, Gaheris knows there’s trouble brewing. Soon he finds himself at the centre of family tensions, deceit and tragedy. Can he prevent the bloodshed that seems inevitable?

Kari, Sperring, the award-winning author of Living With Ghosts and The Grass King’s Concubine, delivers a powerful tale of passion and intrigue featuring some of the lesser known members of King Arthur’s court.

Genres: Fantasy, Novella, Historical Fiction

106 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 23, 2019

About the author

Dr Kari Maund lectures and writes on the medieval history of the Celtic countries. As Kari Sperring, she also writes fiction.

Reviews

[Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly enjoyable Arthurian retelling, centered on the knights Gaheris and Lamorak. I hadn't already been familiar with the particular episode retold in this novella, but context clues and a general knowledge of Arthurian myths were sufficient to give me a good idea of what the original story looked like and how Sperring's version departed from it.

Unsurprisingly for an Arthurian retelling, there's quite a bit of violence and tragedy in this story. However, it also made me laugh out loud during several scenes. The interactions between Gaheris and his brothers Gawain, Agravaine, Gareth, and Medraut in particular are frequently hilarious...when they aren't tense, ominous, and/or breathtakingly sweet.

I also really liked how historically grounded the story feels. I noticed two or three anachronisms (insofar as an Arthurian retelling can be said to contain anachronisms), but the overall impact is of a society appreciably different from modern Britain. The characters are very believable, but their concerns and manners and moral codes and belief systems are distinctly of another era.

[Jacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an Arthurian story which hardly mentions Arthur himself, but concentrates on the four-and-a-half sons of King Lot of Orkney and his queen, Morgause. The sons are Gawain (Gavin), Agravain (Agrin), Gaheris (Heris), Gareth (Gari), and their half-brother Medraut. The teller and lynchpin of the tale is Gaheris, who believes himself to be the least of his father's sons. So he finds it strange (though maybe a little flattering) when the young knight-in-training, Lamorak, seems to hero worship him. He thinks things might cool off when Lamorak is knighted and goes off for a year to be a knight errant, but trouble is on its way when Lamorak catches the eye of Morgause. Gaheris knows what his hot tempered brothers will do if they find out what's going on, and desperately tries to avert tragedy. What we have here is the story within the story. The Arthurian legend tells it one way, but we see a different story leading to the same ending. Kari Sperring's prose is elegant, her storytelling impeccable, Gaheris is a sympathetic character. I would have been happy to spend more time with him.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The candle-light is merciless. There’s blood staining the rushes and the hangings of the bed. The coverlet is torn, and hangs mostly onto the floor. The air is heavy with blood and scent. Nothing looks quite real. [loc. 1065]

This novella explores the story, told in Malory's Morte d'Arthur, of Gaheris, who beheaded his mother Morgause after finding her in bed with Sir Lamorak. I didn't recall the original story while reading The Serpent Rose, which let me experience the events with a fresh mind.

Gaheris is an accomplished knight, but his humility and pleasant nature -- and the shadows cast by his illustrious brothers, especially Gawain -- mean he's often overlooked. Except by his protege Lamorak, whose father may have been responsible for the death of Gaheris' father Lot. Gaheris's brothers don't much care for Lamorak, but Gaheris is fond of him, if frequently exasperated by his emotional outbursts. Lamorak looks up to Gaheris, who seems to him to illustrate the knightly virtues: honour, loyalty, civility, kindness.

But then Gaheris' mother takes an interest in Lamorak, and Gaheris is forced to choose between his own honour and Lamorak's life. Loyalty or honour: which will take precedence?

This is beautifully written, full of subtlety (it rewards a second reading, not only for the interactions between Gaheris and Lamorak but for the relationships between Gaheris and his brothers) and sympathy for both first-person narrator Gaheris, not always the most perceptive of men, and Lamorak, who may be a knight but is also a teenager.

I also admired the lightly-sketched world in which these characters live. There are few place-names, and no attempt to anchor this Arthurian tale in historical fact: it's a secondary-world fantasia of chivalry, etiquette, blood-feuds, pavilions by the roadside, knights-errant and powerful queens. The Serpent Rose reminded me that there is beauty and virtue in the Arthurian mythos, though these aspects have been downplayed by many modern retellings. Kari Sperring's Arthuriana is a delight, and I'd like to read more.

[Jamie Five · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went through a BIG Arthurian phase as a teenager but haven't picked up anything of the sort for a good decade. Told myself I'd outgrown that stuff. Then someone pointed me to Kari Sperring and I got over myself. This novella is fire - a work of absolute, terrifying precision. It shows what happens when courtly values, royal obligations and familial allegiances all come crashing together and it will break you.

[Peggi Warner-Lalonde · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first I have read of any of the lesser known individuals from the Arthur stories, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I am now off in search of other books by Kari Sperring. I highly recommend this book!

[Covadonga · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I would like to thank LibraryThing and the editor and publisher NewCon Press for giving me the opportunity to read this nice little (in length) novel in exchange for a honest review.

I’ve always liked Arthurian-themed/based stories, specifically Mallory’s “la morte d’Arthur”, where Lamorak and all the other appear, and this one doesn’t disappoint.

And, at the end, this is really a LOVE story, only NOT the typical love you’d expect to find on Arthurian lore (I won’t say anymore, because I don’t want to do any spoilers), it’s not the OFFICIAL story, but it’s logical and OK.

If Idetract one star it’s because I’ve had often to go back and re-read because of the two sets of names: Gawain-Gavin, Gareth-Gary and the main character Gaheris-Heris among others, for the Orkney clan, and Aglovale-Loval, etc., for the De Gallis., and so on; and because the story could have been told in a richer way, but it’s understandable because it’s from the point of view of Gaheris, the most often forgotten member of the Orkney clan. Of course there is also traitorous Medraut/Mordaunt/Mordred, supposedly brother or half brother of the other Orkney knights, and possibly son of his uncle Arthur (in other versions Mordred’s mother is Morgan).

Yes, there is the blood feud between the families, yes, there is the dishonor and death of the Orkney’s Mother Morgawse, King Arthur’s other half-sister apart from Morgan, but there the similarity ends, and the merit of this version is that it is so very plausible despite all.

It’s the first thing I read from this author, and she surely knows her way around Arthurian Legends and Myths.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of family feuds and personality clashes in a nicely gritty-feeling version of Arthurian Britain, with no fantastical elements as such (except for being a non-existence history, of course). The plot rather depends on the main character being clueless, which was frustrating at times, and it didn’t quite stick the landing, but I enjoyed it all the same.

[Hélène · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an Arthurian story centered on the fiery Orkneys brothers at Arthur's court. It gives us a behind story of their mother's death, of Gaheris' troubles with the young knight Lamorak.
It flows from beginning to end without a bump or a slowdown. The storytelling is perfect and carry us smoothly to the moving ending.
I'd like to read her take on the story of Galehaut and Lancelot !

[Catie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect jewel of a story

I overdosed on Arthur when I was young and it takes something very special to bring me back to his stories. This story was that special.