What do you think?
Rate this book
Blackheart Knights #1
Blackheart Knights
Power always wins.
Imagine Camelot but in Gotham: a city where knights are the celebrities of the day, riding on motorbikes instead of horses and competing in televised fights for fame and money.
Imagine a city where a young, magic-touched bastard astonishes everyone by becoming king - albeit with extreme reluctance - and a girl with a secret past trains to become a knight for the sole purpose of vengeance.
Imagine a city where magic is illegal but everywhere, in its underground bars, its back-alley soothsayers - and in the people who have to hide what they are for fear of being tattooed and persecuted.
Imagine a city where electricity is money, power the only game worth playing, and violence the most fervently worshipped religion.
Welcome to a dark, chaotic, alluring place with a tumultuous history, where dreams come true if you want them hard enough - and are prepared to do some very, very bad things to get them . . .
"A riveting tragedy of blood and desire - and the coolest thing you'll read this year"
― Samantha Shannon, author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree
"The boldest, smartest, most adventurous fantasy I've read in ages - and it's really f**ing fun"
― Krystal Sutherland, author of Our Chemical Hearts
"Arthurian legend meets urban fantasy in a brilliant, bloody wild ride"
― Jay Kristoff, No.1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author
Imagine Camelot but in Gotham: a city where knights are the celebrities of the day, riding on motorbikes instead of horses and competing in televised fights for fame and money.
Imagine a city where a young, magic-touched bastard astonishes everyone by becoming king - albeit with extreme reluctance - and a girl with a secret past trains to become a knight for the sole purpose of vengeance.
Imagine a city where magic is illegal but everywhere, in its underground bars, its back-alley soothsayers - and in the people who have to hide what they are for fear of being tattooed and persecuted.
Imagine a city where electricity is money, power the only game worth playing, and violence the most fervently worshipped religion.
Welcome to a dark, chaotic, alluring place with a tumultuous history, where dreams come true if you want them hard enough - and are prepared to do some very, very bad things to get them . . .
"A riveting tragedy of blood and desire - and the coolest thing you'll read this year"
― Samantha Shannon, author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree
"The boldest, smartest, most adventurous fantasy I've read in ages - and it's really f**ing fun"
― Krystal Sutherland, author of Our Chemical Hearts
"Arthurian legend meets urban fantasy in a brilliant, bloody wild ride"
― Jay Kristoff, No.1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author
488 pages, Hardcover
First published May 27, 2021
37 people are currently reading
3649 people want to read
About the author
Laure Eve
7 books510 followersLaure Eve is the author of critically acclaimed duologies The Graces and The Curses,
Fearsome Dreamer and The Illusionists,
and the forthcoming duology Blackheart Knights (spring 2021).
She has been published in 10 languages and has regularly appeared at festivals, conventions and conferences in countries around the world.
She speaks English and French, and can hold a vague conversation, usually about food, in Greek.
The name is pronounced lore eev. (in English. In French there's a whole back of the throat deal).
Fearsome Dreamer and The Illusionists,
and the forthcoming duology Blackheart Knights (spring 2021).
She has been published in 10 languages and has regularly appeared at festivals, conventions and conferences in countries around the world.
She speaks English and French, and can hold a vague conversation, usually about food, in Greek.
The name is pronounced lore eev. (in English. In French there's a whole back of the throat deal).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
Want to read
August 13, 2020 reasons to read this book:
- it's QUEER
- it's an Arthurian retelling
- it's an Arthurian retelling with a TWIST (see: gritty modern retelling, motorbike gangs ft. sword-wielding, leather-clad badasses, etc)
- did I say it's QUEER
- it's by British author Laure Eve, writer of beautiful prose
- it's QUEER
- it's an Arthurian retelling
- it's an Arthurian retelling with a TWIST (see: gritty modern retelling, motorbike gangs ft. sword-wielding, leather-clad badasses, etc)
- did I say it's QUEER
- it's by British author Laure Eve, writer of beautiful prose
April 6, 2022
My blurb:
‘King Arthur as you've never seen him before. Laure Eve doesn't just capture lightning, but commands it, in a riveting tragedy of blood and desire. A masterwork of urban fantasy – and the coolest thing you'll read this year.’
I loved this, and I hope more readers will discover it over the next few years, as I think it deserved a much louder roar when it launched in 2021. Blackheart Knights is a dark gem of the genre. It reimagines King Arthur as Artorias Dracones – the flawed, idealistic, and reluctant king of a London where knights ride motorbikes, magic is illegal but rife, and electricity is currency.
This neon-drenched backdrop is a significant departure from the historical approach we often see to Arthurian storytelling, but a refreshing one. Eve still pays homage to the legendarium all the way through, both in her character design and her rich, layered worldbuilding. The world has a distantly medieval feel, in spite of its futuristic appearance. As an etymology fan, I enjoyed her approach to naming, and the influences from various languages.
Knights is both a ferocious joyride, following a young woman named Red as she trains to become a knight, and a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, which sees Art trying not to lose himself in the intricate legal and sexual politics of his kingship. It's also thoroughly, splendidly queernorm.
‘King Arthur as you've never seen him before. Laure Eve doesn't just capture lightning, but commands it, in a riveting tragedy of blood and desire. A masterwork of urban fantasy – and the coolest thing you'll read this year.’
I loved this, and I hope more readers will discover it over the next few years, as I think it deserved a much louder roar when it launched in 2021. Blackheart Knights is a dark gem of the genre. It reimagines King Arthur as Artorias Dracones – the flawed, idealistic, and reluctant king of a London where knights ride motorbikes, magic is illegal but rife, and electricity is currency.
This neon-drenched backdrop is a significant departure from the historical approach we often see to Arthurian storytelling, but a refreshing one. Eve still pays homage to the legendarium all the way through, both in her character design and her rich, layered worldbuilding. The world has a distantly medieval feel, in spite of its futuristic appearance. As an etymology fan, I enjoyed her approach to naming, and the influences from various languages.
Knights is both a ferocious joyride, following a young woman named Red as she trains to become a knight, and a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, which sees Art trying not to lose himself in the intricate legal and sexual politics of his kingship. It's also thoroughly, splendidly queernorm.
May 12, 2021
On my blog.
Rep: sapphic mc, bi, gay & nonbinary side characters
CWs: violence
Galley provided by publisher
Blackheart Knights is a book that I’ve been highly anticipating ever since I heard about it. You know those books where the concept alone is just immaculate, but then you open them and everything else about them is immaculate too? This was one of those for me.
The book follows two different timelines: Art, years in the past, who is about to be named king, and Red, just a few months before the present day. Both of which are steadily converging on a single point, although for a long time it’s not clear just what that is. It’s the kind of book you just have to immerse yourself in and let it carry you to its conclusion.
Because that’s probably the best thing about this book, the way it draws you in and keeps you hooked. You don’t know — and you won’t know for a long while — how the two stories link together (although you may have guesses, given who the characters are supposed to be), but the story does an excellent job of keeping you engaged, by giving you a world that you can all but feel.
It’s also helped by the fact that the characters are all great. You can’t help but love them from the start, even as you know they’re heading towards tragedy. Actually, a great strength of this book is that it makes you believe that maybe things will work out. Maybe this won’t be the normal Arthurian tale. Or that could just be me and my vain hopes.
As such, the ending took me completely by surprise (yeah, okay, it shouldn’t have really). It’s the kind you read with slowly growing horror (in a good way), as everything falls down around you, and tears start streaming down your face, because you know what’s coming, finally. But, like I said, that’s probably one of the best parts of the book: I knew where it was going, really, if I thought about it, but I still maintained the hopes it wouldn’t go that way.
And, honestly, I think my original review summed up this book quite well. Basically just ………..fuck.
Rep: sapphic mc, bi, gay & nonbinary side characters
CWs: violence
Galley provided by publisher
Blackheart Knights is a book that I’ve been highly anticipating ever since I heard about it. You know those books where the concept alone is just immaculate, but then you open them and everything else about them is immaculate too? This was one of those for me.
The book follows two different timelines: Art, years in the past, who is about to be named king, and Red, just a few months before the present day. Both of which are steadily converging on a single point, although for a long time it’s not clear just what that is. It’s the kind of book you just have to immerse yourself in and let it carry you to its conclusion.
Because that’s probably the best thing about this book, the way it draws you in and keeps you hooked. You don’t know — and you won’t know for a long while — how the two stories link together (although you may have guesses, given who the characters are supposed to be), but the story does an excellent job of keeping you engaged, by giving you a world that you can all but feel.
It’s also helped by the fact that the characters are all great. You can’t help but love them from the start, even as you know they’re heading towards tragedy. Actually, a great strength of this book is that it makes you believe that maybe things will work out. Maybe this won’t be the normal Arthurian tale. Or that could just be me and my vain hopes.
As such, the ending took me completely by surprise (yeah, okay, it shouldn’t have really). It’s the kind you read with slowly growing horror (in a good way), as everything falls down around you, and tears start streaming down your face, because you know what’s coming, finally. But, like I said, that’s probably one of the best parts of the book: I knew where it was going, really, if I thought about it, but I still maintained the hopes it wouldn’t go that way.
And, honestly, I think my original review summed up this book quite well. Basically just ………..fuck.
May 10, 2021
I had really high hopes for this book – I love a good retelling that’s set in a completely different setting to its original one, and when I found out it has a sapphic lead and queer side characters, I was even more excited! The book follows two perspectives – Red who is hiding her illegal magic and is desperate to become a knight so that she can get vengeance for something that happened in her past, and Art whose father is killed and so, reluctantly, he has to enter a champion into a caballeria fight that will determine who will become the next ruler of the city.
At first I really enjoyed my time reading the book – despite it being a tad infodumpy at times, I love a good training montage bit in a book, so I loved seeing Red slowly but surely making her way through her knight training, as well as seeing Art reluctantly letting his best friend, Garad, fight for him in the caballeria (a sort of fight between knights) to determine who will become the next king, though Art wants anything but that. I found both of their characters to be so interesting, and Art’s quietness really contrasted with Red’s strength well. I also enjoyed the friendships and relationships that they were beginning to cultivate at the start of the book, but despite Laure Eve’s intriguing writing (I loved the unique language used throughout that was woven with snippets of French, Spanish and German), I really felt let down by what the book promised.
I think by going through the synopsis above I might be able to give you the best idea of what disappointed me the most. As for the knights in this world being celebrities – I guess I can see where that is coming from. The caballeria fights are broadcast on the glow networks to the whole kingdom, and people do enjoy watching the bouts, but to say that they are fighting for fame and money is completely wrong. I was looking forward to seeing preening knights who were the centre of attention, but these fights are more similar to the forms of justice seen in Medieval Europe where, when a claim arises (for a crime or something of the like), the defendant and the opposing party each have a knight fighting on their behalf, but the knight knows nothing of the issue at hand and must fight their best regardless, and so whichever knight wins, that person wins the disagreement. And despite this being a really interesting bit of worldbuilding, I just felt like it wasn’t really what was advertised at all. In fact, none of the knights that we came across in the book acted like pompous celebrities at all, and I think there was maybe only one or two motorbikes used in the whole book!
As for the ‘young magic-touched bastard’ you may think that he is the one with the magic, but no. His father, the king-in-the-ground Uther, slept with godschild under shady circumstances, but Art has no magical abilities of his own at all – in fact it seems he kind of hates all godschildren in general. And again, because of this synopsis, I felt like there was going to be some sort of reveal where, actually, he does have magic, but that never happened. As a wee bit of a digression, there was so much hinting to Art being either gay or on the asexual or aromantic spectrum throughout the book, but it was never developed upon and felt like a huge cop-out.
The next paragraph, again, is misleading – yes the magic is illegal but it is still very much present throughout the whole world. It was so easy for Red and her friends to find a soothsayer, and two of the most well known caballeria knights were godschildren who faced practically no persecution for their magic.
The penultimate paragraph all about electricity being a currency really just links to my feeling that the world in general was underdeveloped. It’s clear that Laure Eve has put a lot of work into creating this sprawling parallel-universe London, but everything about it felt like I was missing so much information. Electricity as money sounds so interesting but we never got any information on how it worked at all. We did get some information about how London was split into different areas each ‘ruled over’ by a different person, but apart from small mentions of the mysterious ‘north’ we never got any information about the rest of England never mind the rest of the world.
But what was the most frustrating was the plot. It went absolutely nowhere. We don’t get to find out what Red is trying to get revenge for until the very end of the book, though this is definitely understandable and I didn’t expect to get it until right at the end. But when it is revealed to us, you’re told outright what it is and there aren’t any good enough clues throughout for it to all click and make you go “ahhh why didn’t I see this coming!!” when you finally figure it out. It just fell so, so flat. There were also countless interesting side characters that I thought would play a much bigger part in the story but they were just dropped and forgotten about *cough* Red’s fellow knights that she went through training with *cough*. And the second half of the book was just so boring plot-wise compared to the first that I really lost interest and kept reading only to find out what would happen at the end. I really think this book could have been split into two books to fully develop on everything, because I really feel like it could’ve been a new favourite if that were the case.
Despite this book being a wee bit of a letdown, there definitely is some merit to it – the angle of the retelling is really interesting and I think it will really intrigue other readers who love a good Arthuriana retelling, and the queer rep throughout was really wonderful, but I can’t help but feel underwhelmed at what we did get aside from those.
Thanks to Netgalley and Jo Fletcher Books for the eARC in return for an honest review!
Want more sapphic books? You can find me here: Book Blog | Twitter | Instagram
At first I really enjoyed my time reading the book – despite it being a tad infodumpy at times, I love a good training montage bit in a book, so I loved seeing Red slowly but surely making her way through her knight training, as well as seeing Art reluctantly letting his best friend, Garad, fight for him in the caballeria (a sort of fight between knights) to determine who will become the next king, though Art wants anything but that. I found both of their characters to be so interesting, and Art’s quietness really contrasted with Red’s strength well. I also enjoyed the friendships and relationships that they were beginning to cultivate at the start of the book, but despite Laure Eve’s intriguing writing (I loved the unique language used throughout that was woven with snippets of French, Spanish and German), I really felt let down by what the book promised.
I think by going through the synopsis above I might be able to give you the best idea of what disappointed me the most. As for the knights in this world being celebrities – I guess I can see where that is coming from. The caballeria fights are broadcast on the glow networks to the whole kingdom, and people do enjoy watching the bouts, but to say that they are fighting for fame and money is completely wrong. I was looking forward to seeing preening knights who were the centre of attention, but these fights are more similar to the forms of justice seen in Medieval Europe where, when a claim arises (for a crime or something of the like), the defendant and the opposing party each have a knight fighting on their behalf, but the knight knows nothing of the issue at hand and must fight their best regardless, and so whichever knight wins, that person wins the disagreement. And despite this being a really interesting bit of worldbuilding, I just felt like it wasn’t really what was advertised at all. In fact, none of the knights that we came across in the book acted like pompous celebrities at all, and I think there was maybe only one or two motorbikes used in the whole book!
As for the ‘young magic-touched bastard’ you may think that he is the one with the magic, but no. His father, the king-in-the-ground Uther, slept with godschild under shady circumstances, but Art has no magical abilities of his own at all – in fact it seems he kind of hates all godschildren in general. And again, because of this synopsis, I felt like there was going to be some sort of reveal where, actually, he does have magic, but that never happened. As a wee bit of a digression, there was so much hinting to Art being either gay or on the asexual or aromantic spectrum throughout the book, but it was never developed upon and felt like a huge cop-out.
The next paragraph, again, is misleading – yes the magic is illegal but it is still very much present throughout the whole world. It was so easy for Red and her friends to find a soothsayer, and two of the most well known caballeria knights were godschildren who faced practically no persecution for their magic.
The penultimate paragraph all about electricity being a currency really just links to my feeling that the world in general was underdeveloped. It’s clear that Laure Eve has put a lot of work into creating this sprawling parallel-universe London, but everything about it felt like I was missing so much information. Electricity as money sounds so interesting but we never got any information on how it worked at all. We did get some information about how London was split into different areas each ‘ruled over’ by a different person, but apart from small mentions of the mysterious ‘north’ we never got any information about the rest of England never mind the rest of the world.
But what was the most frustrating was the plot. It went absolutely nowhere. We don’t get to find out what Red is trying to get revenge for until the very end of the book, though this is definitely understandable and I didn’t expect to get it until right at the end. But when it is revealed to us, you’re told outright what it is and there aren’t any good enough clues throughout for it to all click and make you go “ahhh why didn’t I see this coming!!” when you finally figure it out. It just fell so, so flat. There were also countless interesting side characters that I thought would play a much bigger part in the story but they were just dropped and forgotten about *cough* Red’s fellow knights that she went through training with *cough*. And the second half of the book was just so boring plot-wise compared to the first that I really lost interest and kept reading only to find out what would happen at the end. I really think this book could have been split into two books to fully develop on everything, because I really feel like it could’ve been a new favourite if that were the case.
Despite this book being a wee bit of a letdown, there definitely is some merit to it – the angle of the retelling is really interesting and I think it will really intrigue other readers who love a good Arthuriana retelling, and the queer rep throughout was really wonderful, but I can’t help but feel underwhelmed at what we did get aside from those.
Thanks to Netgalley and Jo Fletcher Books for the eARC in return for an honest review!
Want more sapphic books? You can find me here: Book Blog | Twitter | Instagram
April 7, 2022
I loved it. I blurbed it. Here's what I said:
"The screaming neon of Blade Runner meets the mediaeval steel of Arthurian legend in a world that's dizzying in scope and imagination. The boldest, smartest, most adventurous fantasy I've read in ages."
Do yourself a favour and pick up this book!
"The screaming neon of Blade Runner meets the mediaeval steel of Arthurian legend in a world that's dizzying in scope and imagination. The boldest, smartest, most adventurous fantasy I've read in ages."
Do yourself a favour and pick up this book!
July 13, 2022
Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit. THIS BOOK. It is incredible. One of my favourite SFF books of the year, I am calling it now. Think queer Arthurian retelling, but make it cyberpunk (and yes I did read this at the perfect time because my current video game and fanfic obsession is Cyberpunk 2077 and this satisfied that itch *exquisitely*).
Blackheart Knights follows 2 POVs, Art, a reluctant king, the representative of King Arthur in this book, who is just coming into his power. And Red, a sapphic knight in training with a secret. The pacing in this book has to be some of the most brilliant I’ve seen in a long time. The way these two POVs slowly converge, the tension ramping up more and more, making it impossible to put the book down, is just amazing. It is masterfully done. The setting and world are also fantastic and totally satisfied my need to inhale cyberpunk content right now, but with a medieval edge that allowed you to see where the inspiration came from. You definitely don’t need to know Arthurian legend to read this (my knowledge comes from the TV show Merlin), but you can see how the legend inspired certain characters. It is twisty and turny and had me guessing till the last page.
And the QUEERNESS!! There are two fairly major nonbinary side characters and the main character is sapphic (bisexual/pansexual though the exact terminology isn’t used) and there are plenty other instances of casual queerness. And oh my god, it is sexy?! I am so here for SFF but make it just a little bit horny?! There is a sapphic shower sex scene! And a knives at throat sex scene! This book was made for me, I swear.
I have NO FAULTS, I am IN LOVE. Please I beg of you, the sequel.
Content warnings: violence, gun violence, death of parent, death of loved one, grief, rape, sex, sex work, drowning, drug and alcohol use, murder
Blackheart Knights follows 2 POVs, Art, a reluctant king, the representative of King Arthur in this book, who is just coming into his power. And Red, a sapphic knight in training with a secret. The pacing in this book has to be some of the most brilliant I’ve seen in a long time. The way these two POVs slowly converge, the tension ramping up more and more, making it impossible to put the book down, is just amazing. It is masterfully done. The setting and world are also fantastic and totally satisfied my need to inhale cyberpunk content right now, but with a medieval edge that allowed you to see where the inspiration came from. You definitely don’t need to know Arthurian legend to read this (my knowledge comes from the TV show Merlin), but you can see how the legend inspired certain characters. It is twisty and turny and had me guessing till the last page.
And the QUEERNESS!! There are two fairly major nonbinary side characters and the main character is sapphic (bisexual/pansexual though the exact terminology isn’t used) and there are plenty other instances of casual queerness. And oh my god, it is sexy?! I am so here for SFF but make it just a little bit horny?! There is a sapphic shower sex scene! And a knives at throat sex scene! This book was made for me, I swear.
I have NO FAULTS, I am IN LOVE. Please I beg of you, the sequel.
Content warnings: violence, gun violence, death of parent, death of loved one, grief, rape, sex, sex work, drowning, drug and alcohol use, murder
Want to read
June 25, 2020knights with swords in a city RIDING MOTORCYCLES???
April 1, 2023
I loved this book so much. It's definitely a slow-paced, character-focused, information-heavy fantasy but if you like those you should pick this up. I loved the casual queerness of the world, and the dark, gritty atmosphere the Laure Eve built up. I loved the two protagonists, and even though I figured out a lot of what was going on with Red's vengeance mission in advance it still hurt me. I do wish some of the side characters had been developed more strongly, it's very much a look into the protagonists rather than the wider world. I'm especially interested to see where this series will go from here and how the dynamic will drastically shift between two of my faves.
CW: graphic violence, death, rape mention, drug use
(Thanks to Jo Fletcher Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review)
If you enjoy diverse sci-fi and fantasy you should check out my Blog! You could also follow me on Twitter or Instagram.
CW: graphic violence, death, rape mention, drug use
(Thanks to Jo Fletcher Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review)
If you enjoy diverse sci-fi and fantasy you should check out my Blog! You could also follow me on Twitter or Instagram.
April 27, 2021
2.5/5
I'm not saying it's a bad book, especially if you're into leather-clad. angsty characters with a dark past. It just wasn't the right fit for me.
ARC through NetGalley
I'm not saying it's a bad book, especially if you're into leather-clad. angsty characters with a dark past. It just wasn't the right fit for me.
ARC through NetGalley
April 15, 2022
I guess 2.5 stars?
This is, sadly, the type of book I will forget entirely in the span of two days. The leathery queernorm Arthurian premise was VERY intriguing, but plot and characters fell FLAT FLAT FLAT (I also may be slightly over the whole gifted-girl-wants-revenge plot line, but that's on me).
As much as I loved Priory, I fear I may have to stop listening to Samantha Shannon's book advice. Every time I pick up something she recommends it ends up being painfully unimpressive.
This is, sadly, the type of book I will forget entirely in the span of two days. The leathery queernorm Arthurian premise was VERY intriguing, but plot and characters fell FLAT FLAT FLAT (I also may be slightly over the whole gifted-girl-wants-revenge plot line, but that's on me).
As much as I loved Priory, I fear I may have to stop listening to Samantha Shannon's book advice. Every time I pick up something she recommends it ends up being painfully unimpressive.
October 5, 2021
Det största problemet med denna bok är att inte EN ENDA karaktär har en personlighet. Nada! zero. Vilka är dem? why u doing this? Varför e alla så jävla tråkiga? Tänkte skriva längre recension men jag är faktiskt nöjd med den här. 2/5.
February 1, 2023
*Review to come*
Pre-review comments below
gritty non-medieval knights are pretty much the fastest way to my heart, honestly
Pre-review comments below
gritty non-medieval knights are pretty much the fastest way to my heart, honestly
May 5, 2023
3,5/5
Voici une lecture qui sort de l’ordinaire avec de la représentation queer.
Je dois dire que l’emploi du neutre dans le texte m’a quelque peu perturbé au départ car je n’en ai pas l’habitude.
Même si j’ai eu du mal à m’y faire je ne peux que féliciter la représentation présente dans ce roman car cela fait du bien de ne pas rester dans l’hétéro normé.
Passés les premiers moments d’adaptation, j’ai suivi avec intérêt les aventures de nos personnages.
L’intrigue est répartie sur deux temporalités qui se rejoignent. On découvre ainsi présent et passé, ce qui nous permet de mieux d’appréhender les enjeux de cette histoire.
Le texte est fluide et dynamique, ce qui nous évite des moments de plat, même si certains moments du passé auraient mérité plus de peps.
Les personnages sont bien vivants mais cependant je n’ai pas pu ressentir d’empathie envers eux car le tournant de l’histoire différait de mes attentes.
En résumé, un roman qui a le mérite de sortir de la norme mais qui possède des défauts mineurs au niveau des relations entre les personnages, ce qui nous fait parfois décrocher de l’histoire. Cela reste une histoire divertissante qui appelle à lire la suite.
Voici une lecture qui sort de l’ordinaire avec de la représentation queer.
Je dois dire que l’emploi du neutre dans le texte m’a quelque peu perturbé au départ car je n’en ai pas l’habitude.
Même si j’ai eu du mal à m’y faire je ne peux que féliciter la représentation présente dans ce roman car cela fait du bien de ne pas rester dans l’hétéro normé.
Passés les premiers moments d’adaptation, j’ai suivi avec intérêt les aventures de nos personnages.
L’intrigue est répartie sur deux temporalités qui se rejoignent. On découvre ainsi présent et passé, ce qui nous permet de mieux d’appréhender les enjeux de cette histoire.
Le texte est fluide et dynamique, ce qui nous évite des moments de plat, même si certains moments du passé auraient mérité plus de peps.
Les personnages sont bien vivants mais cependant je n’ai pas pu ressentir d’empathie envers eux car le tournant de l’histoire différait de mes attentes.
En résumé, un roman qui a le mérite de sortir de la norme mais qui possède des défauts mineurs au niveau des relations entre les personnages, ce qui nous fait parfois décrocher de l’histoire. Cela reste une histoire divertissante qui appelle à lire la suite.
March 3, 2024
Blackheart Knights (Blackheart Knights #1) by Laure Eve was sitting on my shelf for way too long. I didn't know quite how much I needed this because it was pretty dang cool. It's an urban fantasy almost cyberpunk-esque King Arthur retelling where the story's Camelot has a little more in common with Gotham City than anything. It really had me hooked and I'm really looking forward to the sequel, Blackheart Ghosts. This book should have made a bigger splash when it was originally released.
June 18, 2021
Thank you Jo Fletcher Books and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.
I just finished reading Blackheart Knight. I am not a King Arthur fan but the description of this book sounded really good so I decided to give it a try and see if I would like it.
The world building was something I found interesting and well build. The writer took her time to describe it well. The characters were unfortunately flat in my opinion, I couldn’t connect with them fully. Even though this book was written from both point of views, I didn't get to know Art and Red really well.
The story didn’t make sense for most part; many things were not explained through to the story but just told at the end. Beside that I found it for the most part boring to be honest and long winded and it’s not because of the writing style, because I liked that.
This book however was not somehing I enjoyed reading.
I just finished reading Blackheart Knight. I am not a King Arthur fan but the description of this book sounded really good so I decided to give it a try and see if I would like it.
The world building was something I found interesting and well build. The writer took her time to describe it well. The characters were unfortunately flat in my opinion, I couldn’t connect with them fully. Even though this book was written from both point of views, I didn't get to know Art and Red really well.
The story didn’t make sense for most part; many things were not explained through to the story but just told at the end. Beside that I found it for the most part boring to be honest and long winded and it’s not because of the writing style, because I liked that.
This book however was not somehing I enjoyed reading.
May 17, 2023
J'aime beaucoup la légende arthurienne, donc une réécriture "moderne", dans un monde qui pourrait être à notre époque m'intriguait énormément. De plus, un roman en un seul tome pouvant être une rareté c'était doublement tentant.
Le premier point qui m'a marqué c'est l'écart entre la description du monde sur la quatrième de couverture et l'histoire - écart valable aussi bien sur la VF que sur la VO !
En effet, on nous dit que l'électricité c'est de la monnaie, sauf qu'on s'en fiche totalement de l'électricité ! Jamais il n'y ait réellement fait allusion. Oui on nous dit qu'il y a des pauvres etc, mais l'électricité ? Bof. On nous dit que la monnaie s'appelle la combine (ce qui m'a fait drôle tout le long) mais c'est tout !
Ensuite, la magie est omniprésente ? Oui et non. Disons plutôt courante.
Dans cette histoire nous avons deux timeline : d'un côté l'arrivée du "Roi Combinard", Art, au pouvoir et de l'autre l'histoire de Red, pauvre orpheline qui veut devenir Chevalier de la Caballaria.
Art est un enfant bâtard qui n'a jamais voulu être roi mais que les circonstances vont propulser sur le trône. Déchiré alors entre ses idéaux et la charge et les contraintes de la fonction, il va avancer tant bien que mal en essayant d'améliorer le pays. Il découvrira au passage que l'amour est dangereux et pourrait bien le tuer.
Red est une orpheline sorciere avec une goût très (trop) prononcé pour la violence.
On comprend rapidement, lors de ses passages, qu'elle a un agenda caché : elle veut s'approcher du "héros" de la Caballaria, le chevalier Sorcier et le tuer. Pourquoi ? Mystère.
Tandis que ces deux êtres luttent pour atteindre leurs objectifs, le monde ne leur fait pas de cadeau et les façonnent, parfois insidieusement.
Le début est très très lent. Il est compliqué de comprendre ce que désire l'autrice. On ne sait pas quel sont les objectifs de chacun ou le but global du roman. C'est déstabilisant et pour ma part un peu gênant. Ce n'était pas juste un voyage et j'aurai aimé avoir une idée des agenda de chacun pour plus facilement m'attacher à eux peut être.
De plus, le monde est dans l'ensemble peu décrit et on a du mal à s'y projeter, s'y représenter et ainsi compatir ou suivre avec plaisir les personnage dans leurs déambulations.
Dans le dernier tiers de l'histoire, les événements se précipitent et on comprend davantage de choses. On devine grâce aux dates que les histoires de Red et d'Art vont se croiser et avoir une incidence l'une sur l'autre. On comprend également rapidement (enfin j'ai compris rapidement) le secret de Red et son but. Toutefois, ça manque clairement d'explications. Quant à la fin, elle reste sur une question en suspens.
Cela aurait pu être un coup de maitre, cette fin abrupte où le lecteur ne peut que s'interroger, mais ça n'a pas marché autant que prévu (mais un peu quand même) sur moi. Car même si on suit Red depuis longtemps, l'autrice ne nous a pas assez parlé de ses secrets et de ses objectifs cachés. Cela manque vraiment à l'histoire pour comprendre son geste, apporté un nouvel éclairage sur l'ensemble du roman, voir même donner envie de le relire à l'éclairage de ses révélations.
Si maintenant on reprend l'idée que l'autrice voulait s'inspirer du mythe arthurien, nombre de choses paraissent davantage évidentes, mais pour quelqu'un n'y connaissant pas grand chose, ce lien lui échappera complètement.
Au final on a de bonnes idées, de l'ambition, mais une réalisation plutôt maladroite. Ce sera un bof pour ma part même si je ne regrette pas ma lecture.
2/5 "it was ok"
Le premier point qui m'a marqué c'est l'écart entre la description du monde sur la quatrième de couverture et l'histoire - écart valable aussi bien sur la VF que sur la VO !
En effet, on nous dit que l'électricité c'est de la monnaie, sauf qu'on s'en fiche totalement de l'électricité ! Jamais il n'y ait réellement fait allusion. Oui on nous dit qu'il y a des pauvres etc, mais l'électricité ? Bof. On nous dit que la monnaie s'appelle la combine (ce qui m'a fait drôle tout le long) mais c'est tout !
Ensuite, la magie est omniprésente ? Oui et non. Disons plutôt courante.
Dans cette histoire nous avons deux timeline : d'un côté l'arrivée du "Roi Combinard", Art, au pouvoir et de l'autre l'histoire de Red, pauvre orpheline qui veut devenir Chevalier de la Caballaria.
Art est un enfant bâtard qui n'a jamais voulu être roi mais que les circonstances vont propulser sur le trône. Déchiré alors entre ses idéaux et la charge et les contraintes de la fonction, il va avancer tant bien que mal en essayant d'améliorer le pays. Il découvrira au passage que l'amour est dangereux et pourrait bien le tuer.
Red est une orpheline sorciere avec une goût très (trop) prononcé pour la violence.
On comprend rapidement, lors de ses passages, qu'elle a un agenda caché : elle veut s'approcher du "héros" de la Caballaria, le chevalier Sorcier et le tuer. Pourquoi ? Mystère.
Tandis que ces deux êtres luttent pour atteindre leurs objectifs, le monde ne leur fait pas de cadeau et les façonnent, parfois insidieusement.
Le début est très très lent. Il est compliqué de comprendre ce que désire l'autrice. On ne sait pas quel sont les objectifs de chacun ou le but global du roman. C'est déstabilisant et pour ma part un peu gênant. Ce n'était pas juste un voyage et j'aurai aimé avoir une idée des agenda de chacun pour plus facilement m'attacher à eux peut être.
De plus, le monde est dans l'ensemble peu décrit et on a du mal à s'y projeter, s'y représenter et ainsi compatir ou suivre avec plaisir les personnage dans leurs déambulations.
Dans le dernier tiers de l'histoire, les événements se précipitent et on comprend davantage de choses. On devine grâce aux dates que les histoires de Red et d'Art vont se croiser et avoir une incidence l'une sur l'autre. On comprend également rapidement (enfin j'ai compris rapidement) le secret de Red et son but. Toutefois, ça manque clairement d'explications. Quant à la fin, elle reste sur une question en suspens.
Cela aurait pu être un coup de maitre, cette fin abrupte où le lecteur ne peut que s'interroger, mais ça n'a pas marché autant que prévu (mais un peu quand même) sur moi. Car même si on suit Red depuis longtemps, l'autrice ne nous a pas assez parlé de ses secrets et de ses objectifs cachés. Cela manque vraiment à l'histoire pour comprendre son geste, apporté un nouvel éclairage sur l'ensemble du roman, voir même donner envie de le relire à l'éclairage de ses révélations.
Si maintenant on reprend l'idée que l'autrice voulait s'inspirer du mythe arthurien, nombre de choses paraissent davantage évidentes, mais pour quelqu'un n'y connaissant pas grand chose, ce lien lui échappera complètement.
Au final on a de bonnes idées, de l'ambition, mais une réalisation plutôt maladroite. Ce sera un bof pour ma part même si je ne regrette pas ma lecture.
2/5 "it was ok"
May 14, 2023
Oh la vache, je m'attendais pas à une fin comme ça !
Bon, il y a fallu attendre les 10 derniers chapitres pour être pleinement dans l'action. Ça m'a donc fait enlever une grosse étoile pour ça.
On est sur un livre chorale où on suit deux personnes sur deux timelines différentes. J'ai mis du temps à me mettre dans le livre, mais ça vient probablement du fait que j'étais légèrement en panne de lecture.
J'ai deviné le plot de l'histoire très rapidement et je ne sais pas si c'est parce que c'était trop évident ou si parce que je suis un génie, mais pour mon ego, on va dire que c'est la deuxième option !
Un point que j'ai particulièrement apprécié, c'est la traduction. Je m'explique : le traducteur à pour une fois respecté le passage du "they/them" en français. Vous retrouvez donc une écriture non binaire (ça se dit comme ça ? Ou on dit non genré ?) et même si je n'ai pas l'habitude de lire ça, j'ai été très satisfaite.
Pour finir, la fin de ce premier tome m'a particulièrement perturbé. C'est bien plus sombre que ce que je pensais et bien plus réaliste en conséquence. Je suis juste très mitigée. Je ne sais pas si mon petit cœur sera capable de lire la suite !
Bonne lecture 📖
Bon, il y a fallu attendre les 10 derniers chapitres pour être pleinement dans l'action. Ça m'a donc fait enlever une grosse étoile pour ça.
On est sur un livre chorale où on suit deux personnes sur deux timelines différentes. J'ai mis du temps à me mettre dans le livre, mais ça vient probablement du fait que j'étais légèrement en panne de lecture.
J'ai deviné le plot de l'histoire très rapidement et je ne sais pas si c'est parce que c'était trop évident ou si parce que je suis un génie, mais pour mon ego, on va dire que c'est la deuxième option !
Un point que j'ai particulièrement apprécié, c'est la traduction. Je m'explique : le traducteur à pour une fois respecté le passage du "they/them" en français. Vous retrouvez donc une écriture non binaire (ça se dit comme ça ? Ou on dit non genré ?) et même si je n'ai pas l'habitude de lire ça, j'ai été très satisfaite.
Pour finir, la fin de ce premier tome m'a particulièrement perturbé. C'est bien plus sombre que ce que je pensais et bien plus réaliste en conséquence. Je suis juste très mitigée. Je ne sais pas si mon petit cœur sera capable de lire la suite !
Bonne lecture 📖
May 18, 2024
3,75/5 Sterne
May 26, 2021
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Jo Fletcher Books*
It’s London, but not as we know it.
This is a London that has knights that ride on motorbikes and fight in arenas to end disputes.
This London has citizens with illegal magic and a reluctant young king.
This is a London with a young woman willing to do anything to become a knight in order to get revenge.
Welcome to the London of the Blackheart Knights.
Going into this novel, I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy it as I had mixed feelings about another book I’ve read by the same author. However, I liked the premise and so decided to give it a chance.
Art and Red were both interesting protagonists who were similar in some ways but also very different. I liked finding out more about them, but I’m left feeling that I still don’t know Art very well, despite half the book being about him. I also don’t feel that I fully connected with either of them.
The setting was interesting but there could have been more focus on world-building as I’m left with a lot of questions about the world of Blackheart Knights. For example, I would have liked a bit more detail about how Art ruled day-to-day and how the bikes worked.
I liked the idea of knights on motorbikes going around fighting as representatives for other people, and I thought the magic was interesting.
The theme of power was interesting, as was seeing how far Red was willing to go to get her revenge.
The plot was mixed for me. I did enjoy it, but I also got a bit bored once or twice towards the end of the book. There were some things I saw coming, but also some that I didn’t.
It took a while for me to get into the book, which I think was mostly to do with the writing style, which was not one of my favourites.
I really liked the premise for the novel, but for me, it didn’t quite live up to its potential. However, I can see a lot of other people loving this.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read.
It’s London, but not as we know it.
This is a London that has knights that ride on motorbikes and fight in arenas to end disputes.
This London has citizens with illegal magic and a reluctant young king.
This is a London with a young woman willing to do anything to become a knight in order to get revenge.
Welcome to the London of the Blackheart Knights.
Going into this novel, I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy it as I had mixed feelings about another book I’ve read by the same author. However, I liked the premise and so decided to give it a chance.
Art and Red were both interesting protagonists who were similar in some ways but also very different. I liked finding out more about them, but I’m left feeling that I still don’t know Art very well, despite half the book being about him. I also don’t feel that I fully connected with either of them.
The setting was interesting but there could have been more focus on world-building as I’m left with a lot of questions about the world of Blackheart Knights. For example, I would have liked a bit more detail about how Art ruled day-to-day and how the bikes worked.
I liked the idea of knights on motorbikes going around fighting as representatives for other people, and I thought the magic was interesting.
The theme of power was interesting, as was seeing how far Red was willing to go to get her revenge.
The plot was mixed for me. I did enjoy it, but I also got a bit bored once or twice towards the end of the book. There were some things I saw coming, but also some that I didn’t.
It took a while for me to get into the book, which I think was mostly to do with the writing style, which was not one of my favourites.
I really liked the premise for the novel, but for me, it didn’t quite live up to its potential. However, I can see a lot of other people loving this.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read.
May 26, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley and Jo Fletcher Publishers for an advanced copy of this book.
I really enjoyed Blackheart Knights. Its my first Laure Eve novel and I really enjoyed her prose. The world building was great,
I do expect a Londoner to have a cool take on London, but nethertheless Eve delivers.
In this alternate London, the city is divided into seven sectors and each district's ruling family has the right to have a champion fight for the throne whenever the old monarch passes. Enter our Arthur, known as Art, who has grown up isolated away from Palace life, but now finds himself his family's heir. We also follow a second timeline, set years later, seeing Red take on knight's training.
This world has some technology, including motorbikes and guns, but access to technology is restricted and expensive. It feels almost modern but gritty and run down. However, there is also magic but it's a crime to use it. Only a few are born with it and those without it are scared of the potential of that power.
Both Red and Art are interesting and complex characters. I enjoyed following their plots and seeing how the interweaving tinelines linked together. The casual bisexuality of basically all main and side characters was very refreshing too. However the big twists were a bit too heavily breadcrumbed in so didn't take me by surprise, and the ending was good until the very end which left me looking for the next page expecting something a bit more dramatic and final. Maybe this is the start of a series and I just didn't realise.
Overall, an enjoyable and fun read!
I really enjoyed Blackheart Knights. Its my first Laure Eve novel and I really enjoyed her prose. The world building was great,
I do expect a Londoner to have a cool take on London, but nethertheless Eve delivers.
In this alternate London, the city is divided into seven sectors and each district's ruling family has the right to have a champion fight for the throne whenever the old monarch passes. Enter our Arthur, known as Art, who has grown up isolated away from Palace life, but now finds himself his family's heir. We also follow a second timeline, set years later, seeing Red take on knight's training.
This world has some technology, including motorbikes and guns, but access to technology is restricted and expensive. It feels almost modern but gritty and run down. However, there is also magic but it's a crime to use it. Only a few are born with it and those without it are scared of the potential of that power.
Both Red and Art are interesting and complex characters. I enjoyed following their plots and seeing how the interweaving tinelines linked together. The casual bisexuality of basically all main and side characters was very refreshing too. However the big twists were a bit too heavily breadcrumbed in so didn't take me by surprise, and the ending was good until the very end which left me looking for the next page expecting something a bit more dramatic and final. Maybe this is the start of a series and I just didn't realise.
Overall, an enjoyable and fun read!
April 25, 2021
Let me start this by saying that I am obsessed with Arthurian legend.
I will read, watch, and listen to pretty much anything with even a vague connection. So when I saw this pop up on my feed, I wanted it immediately.
Blackheart Knights is an urban fantasy retelling/reimagining of Arthurian legend, where knights ride motorcycles and Arthur's political sparring partners are tech magnates. The book is split between two timelines - the first timeline follows Artorias Dracones, 'nineteen years ago', as he becomes the new king of London, and the second follows Red, 'one year ago', as she fights and trains to become a knight. The two timelines converge at the climax of the book, where Art and Red's stories finally meet.
The concept of this book is so cool. It is flooded with queer characters. It's a sexy, fresh, bloody, magical reimagining of the King Arthur story. I was expecting to fully froth it, and to not shut up about it for weeks and weeks, but when I finished it, I was just... whelmed. I can't even point to a particular reason! The setting is rich, the characters are interesting and their motivations deep, but it just didn't quite gel with me. Perhaps it was the dual timelines - both Art's and Red's stories were so interesting that I feel like the book could be written from either perspective only and be gripping and exciting, and maybe some of that was lost by switching between the two.
This feels like a cop-out of a review, because I can't actually point to any one thing, so I'm going to chalk this one up to personal preference. This is not my new favourite book, but it could be yours! It's a queer urban fantasy retelling of the Arthurian legend - like, come on. If that sparks your interest, definitely add this one to your TBR.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Quercus/Jo Fletcher Books for providing me with this ARC.
I will read, watch, and listen to pretty much anything with even a vague connection. So when I saw this pop up on my feed, I wanted it immediately.
Blackheart Knights is an urban fantasy retelling/reimagining of Arthurian legend, where knights ride motorcycles and Arthur's political sparring partners are tech magnates. The book is split between two timelines - the first timeline follows Artorias Dracones, 'nineteen years ago', as he becomes the new king of London, and the second follows Red, 'one year ago', as she fights and trains to become a knight. The two timelines converge at the climax of the book, where Art and Red's stories finally meet.
The concept of this book is so cool. It is flooded with queer characters. It's a sexy, fresh, bloody, magical reimagining of the King Arthur story. I was expecting to fully froth it, and to not shut up about it for weeks and weeks, but when I finished it, I was just... whelmed. I can't even point to a particular reason! The setting is rich, the characters are interesting and their motivations deep, but it just didn't quite gel with me. Perhaps it was the dual timelines - both Art's and Red's stories were so interesting that I feel like the book could be written from either perspective only and be gripping and exciting, and maybe some of that was lost by switching between the two.
This feels like a cop-out of a review, because I can't actually point to any one thing, so I'm going to chalk this one up to personal preference. This is not my new favourite book, but it could be yours! It's a queer urban fantasy retelling of the Arthurian legend - like, come on. If that sparks your interest, definitely add this one to your TBR.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Quercus/Jo Fletcher Books for providing me with this ARC.
July 25, 2021
I’m really not that big on all these retellings, but holy crap, this one looks so amazing 😵💫😵💫
Review:
This is a super-original book, presenting a high-tech spin on Arthurian legends. While it takes quite a long time for the plot to get going, there’s some good character development here. It did take too long for Red’s motivations to make sense to me, but nevertheless, the ending redeemed a lot of the flaws. Apparently, this is going to be a duology, so I’ll be on the lookout for book 2.
Review:
This is a super-original book, presenting a high-tech spin on Arthurian legends. While it takes quite a long time for the plot to get going, there’s some good character development here. It did take too long for Red’s motivations to make sense to me, but nevertheless, the ending redeemed a lot of the flaws. Apparently, this is going to be a duology, so I’ll be on the lookout for book 2.
October 13, 2021
It's Arthurian legend, and it's queer, so yeah I knew from the beginning that I would like this book. I need more queer knights in my life (I would even like to be one myself, but haven't found a master degree in that unfortunately).
This book kept me on my toes. Despite being inspired by Arthurian legend, it took me some time to start guessing where this book would go.
At first I was a bit disturbed by the timeline, but it makes sense to write this book in this way.
This book kept me on my toes. Despite being inspired by Arthurian legend, it took me some time to start guessing where this book would go.
At first I was a bit disturbed by the timeline, but it makes sense to write this book in this way.
July 5, 2021
I wasn’t always totally on board with her writing style and the beginning was a little rocky but FCK ME UP KNIGHTS ON BIKES!!!!!! Eve had me by the throat, this was a phenomenal story, an exhilarating ride, and now I’ve been kicked back into the fantasy genre. Holy hell I loved this book.
January 26, 2023
‘But some knights, they have a hunger inside them. It is its own creature, and like all living things, it’s driven by survival. Because if you’re not hungry anymore, the hunger dies, neh? It’ll deny you comfort just so it can go on living. So maybe you get your comfort and it’ll be fine – for a while. But as soon as you think that’s it, you’re sated, it’ll come a-creeping back.’
Rep: sapphic MC, enby aroace-coded side character, Black female side character, enby Asian-coded side character, aromantic-coded pan side character, BIPOC-coded side characters, sapphic & achilliean side characters, queernormative world
Actual rating is 3.5/4.0 stars but I took away half a star because my aromantic ass is tired of the narrative 'romantic love is all you need to be happy'. And overall because I was annoyed at the unnecessary attraction Art and Red was feeling towards certain people - the purpose of it was nothing but to make it more angsty. I really would have enjoyed the book more without this, as I couldn't care less about their random romances.
Some plot twists shocked me, I'll give it that. Other I saw from mile away (like that ). The writing itself was excellent. There were some extraordinary prose, I loved these bits. Now, this books is very interesting combination of story and characters. It's very much an urban fantasy but also slow paced and atmospheric as hell. The plot is a little, weird, a bit sloppy creater. All of the chapters are mostly conversations and fragment of occurrences that let us know what has been happening outside of these conversationsor give us glimpses of the narrators' inner world. It's focused mostly on our main characters (Art and Red) and their inner conflics - but at the same time it felt like a plot-driven book. They are barely left with space to spend with the other characters and to let us feel their relationships properly. The exceptions are maybe one or two characters for each Red and Art. I wanted so bad to get to know Art's friend group - Garad, Lucan and Lillath. We get more of Garad in the first quarter or so of the book and then they're almost dissappear, appearing only a few more times. Not to mention Lillath and Lucan who barely were there, especially Lucan.
I also think it's missed opportunity not to make Art queer and Red a lesbian. Art is ever only explicitly interested in women. Red could easily be a lesbian if one particular character () was a woman and not a man. Seriously, if Red isn't getting pregnant or something in the next book, he easily could have been a woman or enby.
Now, considering I have almost 200 highlights & notes on the book, I will stop here and finish off with this:
You see, I'm studying political science at university - first year. This books makes me want to drop out and to go live somewhere far away so I can get away from the disgusting, repulsive and dirty thing the politic is.
May 28, 2023
''Anybody who believes in pure moral integrity has never had to live in the real world.'' - Lillath (p.191)
Es sind oft Indie-Autoren, die tolle Fantasy-Geschichten zutage bringen können, besonders weil die Konzepte darin oft nicht oft erforscht werden aufgrund einer ,mangelnden Markttauglichkeit'. Und Laure Eve klingt mit Blackheart Knights nach genau dieser Art von Geschichte, denn sie möchte hierin von einer mit Fantasy gesprenkelten Zukunft erzählen, in der London in mehrere kleine ,,Königreiche'' mit einem großen Kapitol in der Mitte unterteilt ist und in dem Ritterkämpfe, genannt Caballaria, stattfinden. Ähnlich wie im alten Rom sind diese Ritterkämpfe ein riesiges Spektakel, die allerdings statt nur im Kolosseum auch auf Tablets und riesigen Bildschirmen begutachtet werden können und in der statt Reitpferden Motorräder die fahrbaren Untersetzer der Ritter sind. Ein total cooles Konzept, in dem zwei Geschichten, die circa 20 Jahre auseinanderliegen, erzählt werden:
Zum einen die gegenwärtige Geschichte von Red, einem Straßenkind und einer Ritterin in Ausbildung mit magischen Fähigkeiten, die durch ihren ersten Kampf im Caballaria die Aufmerksamkeit des berühmtesten und geheimnisvollsten Ritters, dem Black Knight, dieser Meisterschaften bekommt. Dieser möchte sie finanziell in ihrer Ausbildung unterstützen und ihr auch von Angesicht zu Angesicht einige Tricks beibringen. Und darauf scheint die junge Red ganz besonders wild zu sein, denn sie hat eine Rechnung mit ihm offen - obwohl sie sich noch nie zuvor getroffen haben.
Zum anderen verfolgt man Art Dracones, der 20 Jahre zuvor ein ganz normales Leben als verstoßener Bastard-Sohn des Königs lebte, nach dem plötzlichen Versterben seines Vaters nun aber seinen Platz auf dem Thron einnehmen muss. Dabei wird er mit den üblichen Intrigen am Hof und außerhalb konfrontiert, mit Einsamkeit und mit der traurigen Erkenntnis, dass Idealismus nur schwer aufrechtzuerhalten ist.
Diese Konzepte klingen alle so unglaublich gut! Besonders beim Aufbau dieser Welt merkt man, dass die Autorin möglichst versucht, durch viele kleine Details viel Plastizität zu erschaffen und dem Leser so ein glaubwürdiges Steampunk-London zu servieren. Auch der Vergleich mit Gotham City im Klappentext ist recht treffend, denn neben dem ganzen technologischen Fortschritt, der sogar das Aussehen von Personen verändern kann, spielen Kriminaltitä und Korruption keine kleine Rolle in der Stadt. Auch die Regelungen zum Caballaria sowie eine gewisse Philosophie, die von den Rittern erwartet wird, bindet sie mühelos ins World-Building ein und sorgt einfach dafür, dass man relativ klare Bilder der verschiedenen Stadtteile Londons bekommt.
Durch die Perspektive von Art bekommt man auch die politischen Veränderungen im Laufe seiner Regentenjahre mit und inwiefern sie Reds Leben beeinflussen. Dabei spielt besonders die Diskriminierung von Menschen mit magischen Fähigkeiten eine Rolle und wie die Caballaria aufgebaut ist. Zwar fehlt es an manchen Stellen zwar nicht an Details, sondern eher an größeren Rahmenbedingungen, allerdings kann es da natürlich auch sein, dass die Autorin diese im zweiten Band noch einbaut.
Aber leider ist es so, dass die beiden Erzählstränge sich qualitativ ziemlich voneinander unterscheiden. Während man als Leser mit Art mitfühlt und sich wirklich freut, mit ihm gemeinsam in die Rolle als König hineinzuwachsen, und es zugleich mit ihm bedauert, als er merkt, dass seine idealistischen Ansätze weder in Politik noch Wirtschaft gerne gesehen sind, löst Red im Leser nicht sonderlich viel aus. Und das liegt hauptsächlich daran, dass sie meistens nur auf Aktionen reagiert statt selbstständig zu handeln, und auch daran, dass die Autorin nicht sonderlich viel auf ihre Vergangenheit eingeht und man so Red nur oberflächlich kennenlernt. Art kann man durchaus als einfühlsamen, etwas verzweifelten Mann charakterisieren, der sich ganz tragisch an seinen moralischen Kompass klammert, nur um zu erkennen, dass er diesen manchmal ausklammern muss um voranzukommen. Art tut sich schwer damit, weniger Zeit mit seinen Freunden zu verbringen, und seine Rolle als Freund und König ihnen gegenüber auszuüben. Auch seine Abneigung gegenüber Prostituierten muss irgendwann weichen, einfach aufgrund seiner steten Einsamkeit. Das sind alles sehr interessante Charakterzüge, mit denen man eine Figur wiedererkennt - Red hingegen ist einfach nur eine typische, grummelige ,,starke'' Frau, die Leuten auf die Fresse haut und sich emotional zurückzieht.
Und das tut die Autorin hauptsächlich deswegen, weil sie um Reds Vergangenheit und ihre Gründe für Rache gegenüber dem Black Knight ein großes Geheimnis macht. Ein großes Geheimnis, das man leider nach spätestens der Hälfte der Geschichte selbst entschlüsselt, was aber erst am Ende des Buches aufgelöst und wie der größte Twist überhaupt behandelt wird. Das hat dem Buch leider ziemlich die Spannung genommen und ein Ende geschaffen, bei dem es fragwürdig ist, ob daraus ein guter zweiter Teil entstehen kann.
Und so gerne man die Welt auch haben kann, so gut die Autorin Kampfszenen beschreiben kann und so gut auch einige Charaktere von ihr geschrieben sind, so sehr stören mich diese fast schon willkürlichen Sexszenen in diesem Buch. Sie dienen meistens als Katalysator dafür, Konflikte zwischen Figuren zu erschaffen, die sonst nicht da wären, und wären in der Form nicht mal unbedingt nötig. Zwar schreibt die Autorin diese Szenen, in denen es heiß hergeht, durchaus gut, und wählt dabei nicht unbedingt konventionellen Sex, allerdings wäre bei manchen der Charaktere auch ein Konflikt auf platonischer oder einfach neutraler Ebene möglich gewesen. Es fühlte sich einfach so an, als hätte die Autorin unbedingt Sexszenen einbauen wollen und diese weitläufig verstreut - was schade ist, denn hätte es weniger Szenen davon gegeben, dann hätte sich die Handlung vielleicht weniger gestrafft angefühlt.
Doch so sehr mich dies gestört hat, muss erwähnt werden, dass die Autorin allgemein ein Händchen für Zwischenmenschliches besitzt. Besonders die Freundschaft zwischen Art und seinen Freunden, die ihm trotz vieler Pflichten im Palast treu bleiben, ist sehr rührend und authentisch geschrieben, sowohl von tiefgründigen Gesprächen wie auch Insidern, die eine Clique irgendwann aufbaut. Auch die Handlungsmotive vieler Charaktere sind gut erklärt, und nur die wenigsten von ihnen wirken rein gut oder rein böse. Es ist die moralische Ambiguität, über die viele Figuren sprechen, die ihre Handlungen leitet und dabei für unwahrscheinliche, aber funktionierende Allianzen oder einfach zwischenmenschliche Intimität sorgt. Hätte es mehr auf dieser Ebene gegeben statt plötzlichem Übereinander-herfallen, dann hätte ich mich den Charakteren sicherlich verbundener gefühlt.
Insgesamt ein Buch mit fantastischer Grundidee und auch vielen positiven Ansätzen, die aber nicht zur Gänze erfüllt werden konnten. Mit einem recht eleganten Schreibstil, der weder möchtegern-poetisch noch zu derb ist, geleitet einen die Autorin durch eine plastische Welt, in der man ein gotham-artiges London mit Ritterspielen verfolgt. Auch bei vielen ihrer Charaktere spürt man Liebe zum Detail und auch das Ergründen der menschlichen Natur ist ein dauerhaftes Thema in Blackheart Knights. Nichtsdestotrotz schießt sich die Autorin mit dem Versuch des Aufbaus einer großen Wendung ins eigene Knie bei ihrem Gegenwarts-Handlungsstrang, und manövriert sich damit vielleicht in ein Ende, das einen qualitativ hochwertigeren zweiten Teil etwas schwer macht. Und es gibt einfach bessere Arten Konflikte einzuführen als durch dauergeile Menschen, die mit den falschen Partnern schlafen, prove me otherwise. Insgesamt also kein schlechtes Fantasybuch, aber leider nicht gänzlich im Potential ausgeschöpft.
Gesamtwertung: 3-3.5/5 Punkten
Es sind oft Indie-Autoren, die tolle Fantasy-Geschichten zutage bringen können, besonders weil die Konzepte darin oft nicht oft erforscht werden aufgrund einer ,mangelnden Markttauglichkeit'. Und Laure Eve klingt mit Blackheart Knights nach genau dieser Art von Geschichte, denn sie möchte hierin von einer mit Fantasy gesprenkelten Zukunft erzählen, in der London in mehrere kleine ,,Königreiche'' mit einem großen Kapitol in der Mitte unterteilt ist und in dem Ritterkämpfe, genannt Caballaria, stattfinden. Ähnlich wie im alten Rom sind diese Ritterkämpfe ein riesiges Spektakel, die allerdings statt nur im Kolosseum auch auf Tablets und riesigen Bildschirmen begutachtet werden können und in der statt Reitpferden Motorräder die fahrbaren Untersetzer der Ritter sind. Ein total cooles Konzept, in dem zwei Geschichten, die circa 20 Jahre auseinanderliegen, erzählt werden:
Zum einen die gegenwärtige Geschichte von Red, einem Straßenkind und einer Ritterin in Ausbildung mit magischen Fähigkeiten, die durch ihren ersten Kampf im Caballaria die Aufmerksamkeit des berühmtesten und geheimnisvollsten Ritters, dem Black Knight, dieser Meisterschaften bekommt. Dieser möchte sie finanziell in ihrer Ausbildung unterstützen und ihr auch von Angesicht zu Angesicht einige Tricks beibringen. Und darauf scheint die junge Red ganz besonders wild zu sein, denn sie hat eine Rechnung mit ihm offen - obwohl sie sich noch nie zuvor getroffen haben.
Zum anderen verfolgt man Art Dracones, der 20 Jahre zuvor ein ganz normales Leben als verstoßener Bastard-Sohn des Königs lebte, nach dem plötzlichen Versterben seines Vaters nun aber seinen Platz auf dem Thron einnehmen muss. Dabei wird er mit den üblichen Intrigen am Hof und außerhalb konfrontiert, mit Einsamkeit und mit der traurigen Erkenntnis, dass Idealismus nur schwer aufrechtzuerhalten ist.
Diese Konzepte klingen alle so unglaublich gut! Besonders beim Aufbau dieser Welt merkt man, dass die Autorin möglichst versucht, durch viele kleine Details viel Plastizität zu erschaffen und dem Leser so ein glaubwürdiges Steampunk-London zu servieren. Auch der Vergleich mit Gotham City im Klappentext ist recht treffend, denn neben dem ganzen technologischen Fortschritt, der sogar das Aussehen von Personen verändern kann, spielen Kriminaltitä und Korruption keine kleine Rolle in der Stadt. Auch die Regelungen zum Caballaria sowie eine gewisse Philosophie, die von den Rittern erwartet wird, bindet sie mühelos ins World-Building ein und sorgt einfach dafür, dass man relativ klare Bilder der verschiedenen Stadtteile Londons bekommt.
Durch die Perspektive von Art bekommt man auch die politischen Veränderungen im Laufe seiner Regentenjahre mit und inwiefern sie Reds Leben beeinflussen. Dabei spielt besonders die Diskriminierung von Menschen mit magischen Fähigkeiten eine Rolle und wie die Caballaria aufgebaut ist. Zwar fehlt es an manchen Stellen zwar nicht an Details, sondern eher an größeren Rahmenbedingungen, allerdings kann es da natürlich auch sein, dass die Autorin diese im zweiten Band noch einbaut.
Aber leider ist es so, dass die beiden Erzählstränge sich qualitativ ziemlich voneinander unterscheiden. Während man als Leser mit Art mitfühlt und sich wirklich freut, mit ihm gemeinsam in die Rolle als König hineinzuwachsen, und es zugleich mit ihm bedauert, als er merkt, dass seine idealistischen Ansätze weder in Politik noch Wirtschaft gerne gesehen sind, löst Red im Leser nicht sonderlich viel aus. Und das liegt hauptsächlich daran, dass sie meistens nur auf Aktionen reagiert statt selbstständig zu handeln, und auch daran, dass die Autorin nicht sonderlich viel auf ihre Vergangenheit eingeht und man so Red nur oberflächlich kennenlernt. Art kann man durchaus als einfühlsamen, etwas verzweifelten Mann charakterisieren, der sich ganz tragisch an seinen moralischen Kompass klammert, nur um zu erkennen, dass er diesen manchmal ausklammern muss um voranzukommen. Art tut sich schwer damit, weniger Zeit mit seinen Freunden zu verbringen, und seine Rolle als Freund und König ihnen gegenüber auszuüben. Auch seine Abneigung gegenüber Prostituierten muss irgendwann weichen, einfach aufgrund seiner steten Einsamkeit. Das sind alles sehr interessante Charakterzüge, mit denen man eine Figur wiedererkennt - Red hingegen ist einfach nur eine typische, grummelige ,,starke'' Frau, die Leuten auf die Fresse haut und sich emotional zurückzieht.
Und das tut die Autorin hauptsächlich deswegen, weil sie um Reds Vergangenheit und ihre Gründe für Rache gegenüber dem Black Knight ein großes Geheimnis macht. Ein großes Geheimnis, das man leider nach spätestens der Hälfte der Geschichte selbst entschlüsselt, was aber erst am Ende des Buches aufgelöst und wie der größte Twist überhaupt behandelt wird. Das hat dem Buch leider ziemlich die Spannung genommen und ein Ende geschaffen, bei dem es fragwürdig ist, ob daraus ein guter zweiter Teil entstehen kann.
Und so gerne man die Welt auch haben kann, so gut die Autorin Kampfszenen beschreiben kann und so gut auch einige Charaktere von ihr geschrieben sind, so sehr stören mich diese fast schon willkürlichen Sexszenen in diesem Buch. Sie dienen meistens als Katalysator dafür, Konflikte zwischen Figuren zu erschaffen, die sonst nicht da wären, und wären in der Form nicht mal unbedingt nötig. Zwar schreibt die Autorin diese Szenen, in denen es heiß hergeht, durchaus gut, und wählt dabei nicht unbedingt konventionellen Sex, allerdings wäre bei manchen der Charaktere auch ein Konflikt auf platonischer oder einfach neutraler Ebene möglich gewesen. Es fühlte sich einfach so an, als hätte die Autorin unbedingt Sexszenen einbauen wollen und diese weitläufig verstreut - was schade ist, denn hätte es weniger Szenen davon gegeben, dann hätte sich die Handlung vielleicht weniger gestrafft angefühlt.
Doch so sehr mich dies gestört hat, muss erwähnt werden, dass die Autorin allgemein ein Händchen für Zwischenmenschliches besitzt. Besonders die Freundschaft zwischen Art und seinen Freunden, die ihm trotz vieler Pflichten im Palast treu bleiben, ist sehr rührend und authentisch geschrieben, sowohl von tiefgründigen Gesprächen wie auch Insidern, die eine Clique irgendwann aufbaut. Auch die Handlungsmotive vieler Charaktere sind gut erklärt, und nur die wenigsten von ihnen wirken rein gut oder rein böse. Es ist die moralische Ambiguität, über die viele Figuren sprechen, die ihre Handlungen leitet und dabei für unwahrscheinliche, aber funktionierende Allianzen oder einfach zwischenmenschliche Intimität sorgt. Hätte es mehr auf dieser Ebene gegeben statt plötzlichem Übereinander-herfallen, dann hätte ich mich den Charakteren sicherlich verbundener gefühlt.
Insgesamt ein Buch mit fantastischer Grundidee und auch vielen positiven Ansätzen, die aber nicht zur Gänze erfüllt werden konnten. Mit einem recht eleganten Schreibstil, der weder möchtegern-poetisch noch zu derb ist, geleitet einen die Autorin durch eine plastische Welt, in der man ein gotham-artiges London mit Ritterspielen verfolgt. Auch bei vielen ihrer Charaktere spürt man Liebe zum Detail und auch das Ergründen der menschlichen Natur ist ein dauerhaftes Thema in Blackheart Knights. Nichtsdestotrotz schießt sich die Autorin mit dem Versuch des Aufbaus einer großen Wendung ins eigene Knie bei ihrem Gegenwarts-Handlungsstrang, und manövriert sich damit vielleicht in ein Ende, das einen qualitativ hochwertigeren zweiten Teil etwas schwer macht. Und es gibt einfach bessere Arten Konflikte einzuführen als durch dauergeile Menschen, die mit den falschen Partnern schlafen, prove me otherwise. Insgesamt also kein schlechtes Fantasybuch, aber leider nicht gänzlich im Potential ausgeschöpft.
Gesamtwertung: 3-3.5/5 Punkten
October 8, 2024
Od pewnego momentu wiedziałam w którą stronę to idzie, ale tak, niby człowiek wiedzioł ale sie łudził i ja też myślałam, że może nie, że może jednak, a na koniec się popłakałam przy biurku w pracy, robiąc bezmyślne klikanie, które odkładałam od kilku dni.
Luźno jest to oparte na legendzie o Królu Arturze, ale w samym wydźwięku, w klimacie jednak bardzo, i finał też jest bardzo arturiański i bardzo szekspirowski. Szalenie mi się podobał świat, mroczny i brutalny, bardzo zręcznie napisany - autorka nie musiała nawet za bardzo rozlewać krwi, żeby pokazać, że lekko nie będzie. No i każde fantasy pisane w świecie, gdzie panuje queernorma ma moje serce (chociaż reread Zakonu Drzewa Pomarańczy ciut je złamał, bo było dramatycznie nudno. Ale świat wspaniały).
Bardzo dobrze skonstruowani bohaterowie, chciałabym, żeby niektórzy dostali ciut więcej czasu w książce, jak na przykład Finn, ale i tak, wszystko było napisane tak dobrze, że na koniec mi złamało serce. I w momencie, w którym zrozumiałam, do czego dążymy, wiedziałam, czego chcę dla jednej z głównych postaci, a jak to się stało mój ból jest tak samo nieutulony jak jej .
Niby mam parę ale, na przykład trochę więcej świata bym chętnie zobaczyła i pewne jego mechanizmy mogłyby być lepiej pokazane, zdażyło się kilka info dumpów i, jak wspominałam, niektórzy bohaterowie mogliby dostać ciut więcej czasu antenowego, ale nie czepiam się.
Wspaniała jest to powieść, ma jedną z najzajebistszych okładek z mojej kolekcji, z serca polecam - audiobook też jest świetny, jeśli ktoś lubi słuchać.
Luźno jest to oparte na legendzie o Królu Arturze, ale w samym wydźwięku, w klimacie jednak bardzo, i finał też jest bardzo arturiański i bardzo szekspirowski. Szalenie mi się podobał świat, mroczny i brutalny, bardzo zręcznie napisany - autorka nie musiała nawet za bardzo rozlewać krwi, żeby pokazać, że lekko nie będzie. No i każde fantasy pisane w świecie, gdzie panuje queernorma ma moje serce (chociaż reread Zakonu Drzewa Pomarańczy ciut je złamał, bo było dramatycznie nudno. Ale świat wspaniały).
Bardzo dobrze skonstruowani bohaterowie, chciałabym, żeby niektórzy dostali ciut więcej czasu w książce, jak na przykład Finn, ale i tak, wszystko było napisane tak dobrze, że na koniec mi złamało serce. I w momencie, w którym zrozumiałam, do czego dążymy, wiedziałam, czego chcę dla jednej z głównych postaci, a jak to się stało mój ból jest tak samo nieutulony jak jej .
Niby mam parę ale, na przykład trochę więcej świata bym chętnie zobaczyła i pewne jego mechanizmy mogłyby być lepiej pokazane, zdażyło się kilka info dumpów i, jak wspominałam, niektórzy bohaterowie mogliby dostać ciut więcej czasu antenowego, ale nie czepiam się.
Wspaniała jest to powieść, ma jedną z najzajebistszych okładek z mojej kolekcji, z serca polecam - audiobook też jest świetny, jeśli ktoś lubi słuchać.
June 13, 2023
2,5/5
Ça me fait mal au cœur de mettre une note si basse à un livre dont l’univers possède tant de potentiel, mais Les chevaliers de Sombrecoeur est pour le moment ma lecture la plus frustrante de 2023. Le début et la fin sont prenants, mais le milieu a été une véritable épreuve à lire tant il est inégal aussi bien sur son rythme que sur son contenu. Malgré de bons moments, j’ai l’impression d’avoir perdu du temps, et je ne pense pas prendre la suite de cette duologie. (Honnêtement je ne vois pas ce qu’il y a de plus à raconter après la fin qu’on a eu)
Pour la review plus détaillée, commençons par les points positifs :
-Le style : la plume de l’autrice est agréable à lire. Elle a du caractère, le vocabulaire et le champ lexical utilisés forgent un univers froid, métallique et sombre dans lequel il est facile de s’immerger. On peut presque sentir l’odeur de la pluie, du goudron et de la terre battue en tournant les pages. L’autrice a su donner une identité propre à son histoire de ce côté-là.
-La représentation : c’est le premier livre que je lis en français qui utilise des pronoms et adjectifs neutres pour genrer des personnages non-binaires ou inconnu.es, et c’est sincèrement réjouissant. Ce n’est pas utilisé une seule fois au détour d’un chapitre pour un quota de bonne conscience, l’utilisation du neutre est régulière et fait partie intégrante de la société dans lesquels les personnages vivent. Si on ajoute à ça la présence de romances/relations queer et de nombreux personnages de couleurs, ce livre fait du bien en termes de représentation.
-Wyll et Garad sont les meilleurs personnages du livre, iels méritent leur point à eux seul.es. Leur loyauté et leur calme m’ont séduit ♥
Bon, le négatif maintenant :
-Trop de personnages secondaires/tertiaires : il y en a tellement, et la plupart sont unidimensionnels ou oubliés au cours de l’intrigue. On essaie de nous vendre des figures maternelles à partir de personnages qu’on n’a pas vu depuis 150 pages, des groupes d’amis qui disparaissent pendant des chapitres entiers, des retournements avec des individus dont on a oublié l’identité depuis un bail… S’il y avait moitié moins de personnages et qu’on prenait le temps de les développer un peu plus, je pense que les scènes clés du dernier tiers du livre auraient bien plus de poids.
-Un synopsis trompeur : Où sont les motos ??? J’en ai compté 6 à tout casser dans le livre, 7 si on prend celle de la couverture ? Les personnages se déplacent plus en SUV au cours de l’histoire, c’en est devenu un running gag dans mes notes de lecture personnelle. L’électricité, une monnaie ? Elle est vaguement mentionnée de temps à autre au détour d’un paragraphe mais n’a pas une place centrale dans le récit.
Un jeune bâtard doué de magie ? Raté, c’est l’autre personnage qui possède des pouvoirs – est-ce que les gens qui ont écrit le synopsis se sont trompés dans leur rédaction ??? Est-ce que quelqu’un a lu ce livre avant de rédiger la 4e de couverture ?
-Ellipses, quand tu nous tiens : certaines scènes importantes ou qu’on attend depuis un moment sont passées sous ellipses, et ça me rendait folle. Art - le premier protagoniste – a une intrigue plus politique, et Red – la seconde – plus basée sur l’action. Mais certains moments clés de leur arc sont passés sous silence, comme si l’autrice avait peur de les écrire ? C’est un choix sincèrement étrange et ça a retiré beaucoup d’entrain à ma lecture.
(Exemple le plus flagrant SPOIL :
Autre SPOIL :
-Qu’est-ce qui justifie la catégorie adulte du livre ? Le sexe, la drogue, la violence ? Hormis cela, je retrouve le même manque de subtilité et de développement de personnages que dans un YA classique.
-Et enfin le point le plus important pour moi et qui va majoritairement être sous spoil : le personnage de Red est ennuyeux au possible et le livre n’aurait pas dû se concentrer sur son point de vue.
SPOIL :
En conclusion ; je ne recommande malheureusement pas ce livre malgré le potentiel de l’univers. Peut-être tenterais-je d’autres livres de l’autrice car j’apprécie sa plume, mais je ne terminerai pas cette duologie.
Ça me fait mal au cœur de mettre une note si basse à un livre dont l’univers possède tant de potentiel, mais Les chevaliers de Sombrecoeur est pour le moment ma lecture la plus frustrante de 2023. Le début et la fin sont prenants, mais le milieu a été une véritable épreuve à lire tant il est inégal aussi bien sur son rythme que sur son contenu. Malgré de bons moments, j’ai l’impression d’avoir perdu du temps, et je ne pense pas prendre la suite de cette duologie. (Honnêtement je ne vois pas ce qu’il y a de plus à raconter après la fin qu’on a eu)
Pour la review plus détaillée, commençons par les points positifs :
-Le style : la plume de l’autrice est agréable à lire. Elle a du caractère, le vocabulaire et le champ lexical utilisés forgent un univers froid, métallique et sombre dans lequel il est facile de s’immerger. On peut presque sentir l’odeur de la pluie, du goudron et de la terre battue en tournant les pages. L’autrice a su donner une identité propre à son histoire de ce côté-là.
-La représentation : c’est le premier livre que je lis en français qui utilise des pronoms et adjectifs neutres pour genrer des personnages non-binaires ou inconnu.es, et c’est sincèrement réjouissant. Ce n’est pas utilisé une seule fois au détour d’un chapitre pour un quota de bonne conscience, l’utilisation du neutre est régulière et fait partie intégrante de la société dans lesquels les personnages vivent. Si on ajoute à ça la présence de romances/relations queer et de nombreux personnages de couleurs, ce livre fait du bien en termes de représentation.
-Wyll et Garad sont les meilleurs personnages du livre, iels méritent leur point à eux seul.es. Leur loyauté et leur calme m’ont séduit ♥
Bon, le négatif maintenant :
-Trop de personnages secondaires/tertiaires : il y en a tellement, et la plupart sont unidimensionnels ou oubliés au cours de l’intrigue. On essaie de nous vendre des figures maternelles à partir de personnages qu’on n’a pas vu depuis 150 pages, des groupes d’amis qui disparaissent pendant des chapitres entiers, des retournements avec des individus dont on a oublié l’identité depuis un bail… S’il y avait moitié moins de personnages et qu’on prenait le temps de les développer un peu plus, je pense que les scènes clés du dernier tiers du livre auraient bien plus de poids.
-Un synopsis trompeur : Où sont les motos ??? J’en ai compté 6 à tout casser dans le livre, 7 si on prend celle de la couverture ? Les personnages se déplacent plus en SUV au cours de l’histoire, c’en est devenu un running gag dans mes notes de lecture personnelle. L’électricité, une monnaie ? Elle est vaguement mentionnée de temps à autre au détour d’un paragraphe mais n’a pas une place centrale dans le récit.
Un jeune bâtard doué de magie ? Raté, c’est l’autre personnage qui possède des pouvoirs – est-ce que les gens qui ont écrit le synopsis se sont trompés dans leur rédaction ??? Est-ce que quelqu’un a lu ce livre avant de rédiger la 4e de couverture ?
-Ellipses, quand tu nous tiens : certaines scènes importantes ou qu’on attend depuis un moment sont passées sous ellipses, et ça me rendait folle. Art - le premier protagoniste – a une intrigue plus politique, et Red – la seconde – plus basée sur l’action. Mais certains moments clés de leur arc sont passés sous silence, comme si l’autrice avait peur de les écrire ? C’est un choix sincèrement étrange et ça a retiré beaucoup d’entrain à ma lecture.
(Exemple le plus flagrant SPOIL :
Autre SPOIL :
-Qu’est-ce qui justifie la catégorie adulte du livre ? Le sexe, la drogue, la violence ? Hormis cela, je retrouve le même manque de subtilité et de développement de personnages que dans un YA classique.
-Et enfin le point le plus important pour moi et qui va majoritairement être sous spoil : le personnage de Red est ennuyeux au possible et le livre n’aurait pas dû se concentrer sur son point de vue.
SPOIL :
En conclusion ; je ne recommande malheureusement pas ce livre malgré le potentiel de l’univers. Peut-être tenterais-je d’autres livres de l’autrice car j’apprécie sa plume, mais je ne terminerai pas cette duologie.
March 22, 2022
Excellent!! The great writing, pacing, and world-building allow the reader to feel fully immersed in the world. I LOVED the premise of this book. Arthurian medieval knights on motorcycles?? Yes please? The characters felt three-dimensional and human. Of course, they each had their roles but people are never that straightforward forward and I felt this novel portrayed that well. Very casually queer which is always a huge bonus for me. This is set in a world without homophobia/transphobia and several characters are bi/gay/non-binary.
I don't know why I pick up a King Arthur retellings and cling onto the hope that maybe this time it won't follow the myth, but I have no doubt I will do it again the next time. All you can do is look on in horror and still doubt that it's actually happening. Clearly watching BBC Merlin's finale in 2012 (and many times since then) has taught me nothing.
The one thing I would change is that things only come into full clarity right at the very end. I wish the ending had been more drawn out and dramatic. I would have loved to see more of the immediate events following.
I don't know why I pick up a King Arthur retellings and cling onto the hope that maybe this time it won't follow the myth, but I have no doubt I will do it again the next time. All you can do is look on in horror and still doubt that it's actually happening. Clearly watching BBC Merlin's finale in 2012 (and many times since then) has taught me nothing.
The one thing I would change is that things only come into full clarity right at the very end. I wish the ending had been more drawn out and dramatic. I would have loved to see more of the immediate events following.
Read
May 29, 2021I hadn’t heard of this book before getting the E-ARC from the publisher, but after reading the synopsis in the e-mail it piqued my interest greatly.
This book has a very strong premise. It’s a mash-up of Arthurian legend with a high concept cyberpunk/metalpunk world in which Art, reluctant royal, has to fight in a tournament in order not to win the crown and Red, novice knight and godschild with a hidden agenda. The oscillating narrative that spans two different timelines took me some work to follow, Laure Eve treats each scene as its own magic trick which makes for overall an entertaining read.
Many thanks to Quercus Books for providing an E-ARC of Blackheart Knight for review.
This book has a very strong premise. It’s a mash-up of Arthurian legend with a high concept cyberpunk/metalpunk world in which Art, reluctant royal, has to fight in a tournament in order not to win the crown and Red, novice knight and godschild with a hidden agenda. The oscillating narrative that spans two different timelines took me some work to follow, Laure Eve treats each scene as its own magic trick which makes for overall an entertaining read.
Many thanks to Quercus Books for providing an E-ARC of Blackheart Knight for review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews