What do you think?
Rate this book
Damosel: In Which the Lady of the Lake Renders a Frank and Often Startling Account of her Wondrous Life and Times
WATER SPIRIT DAMOSEL, the Lady of the Lake, glides through Arthurian legend like a glamorous wraith, shimmering and shifting between the worlds of fairies and humans. Her knowledge is vast (magic, metal, men’s hearts) and leads to her greatest honor—and worst mistake. Damosel makes a promise to the wizard Merlin to protect young King Arthur, and then dares to break it—with devastating results. All the while, 17-year-old Twixt—a dwarf in a world where difference can be deadly—finds himself freed from his cruel masters and moving closer to the one place he never expected to King Arthur’s court at Camelot.
Stephanie Spinner intertwines the two narratives of Damosel and Twixt to draw us straight into the rich Arthurian land of enchantment.
Stephanie Spinner intertwines the two narratives of Damosel and Twixt to draw us straight into the rich Arthurian land of enchantment.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
5 people are currently reading
282 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Spinner
54 books33 followersI was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York. I read straight through my childhood, with breaks for food, sleep, and the bathroom. I went to college in Bennington, Vermont, moved to New York City, and took a job in publishing so I could get paid for reading. I read so much bad fiction that I needed a break, so I moved to London, and from there I traveled to Morocco, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan India, Nepal, and Ceylon. I came back to America, wandered around some more -- to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize -- and on returning to New York decided to study Tibetan Buddhist painting (called thangka painting) in Boulder, Colorado.
I painted thangkas for many years. Each one took anywhere from several weeks to a few months to complete, and at long last I understood that this was not the ideal way for me to make a living. Only a few hundred Americans collected thangkas, and they wanted old ones, painted by Tibetan monks. It was time to make a change.
So I took another publishing job, this time in children’s books. I found that I liked children’s books a lot, and before long, I became an editor.
Years passed. I was encouraged to write. I scoffed at the idea that I had anything to write about. I edited some wonderfully talented authors -- Virginia Hamilton, Philip Isaacson, Clyde Robert Bulla, Gloria Whelan, Robin McKinley, Joan Vinge, Garth Nix, and Chris Lynch, among others -- with great enjoyment. Writing seemed like torture by comparison.
Then, to my amazement, I found myself writing a book and having a good time -- simultaneously! The book was ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and I enjoyed writing it because my co-author was Jonathan Etra. Jon (who died of heart disease in 1990) was a close friend with a wild sense of humor, and collaborating with him changed my opinion of writing forever. After ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and ALIENS FOR LUNCH, which we also co-wrote, I began to think that writing could be interesting fun.
And now that I’ve been doing it full-time for more than ten years, I can tell you why I like it better than a job. First, I can work in my bathrobe. (To the FedEx man and the UPS man, I am "the woman in the plaid flannel robe.") Second, I can eat when I’m hungry, choose when to take phone calls, and walk my dogs any time. Third, the only meetings I have -- and they’re short -- are with the dry cleaner and the post office ladies. Fourth, I can read whatever I please. I may tell people I’m doing research when I read about horse-trekking, or hunting in ancient Greece, or 16 ways to better compost, but the truth is, I’m not doing research, I’m having a good time. Which I think is still allowed.
I painted thangkas for many years. Each one took anywhere from several weeks to a few months to complete, and at long last I understood that this was not the ideal way for me to make a living. Only a few hundred Americans collected thangkas, and they wanted old ones, painted by Tibetan monks. It was time to make a change.
So I took another publishing job, this time in children’s books. I found that I liked children’s books a lot, and before long, I became an editor.
Years passed. I was encouraged to write. I scoffed at the idea that I had anything to write about. I edited some wonderfully talented authors -- Virginia Hamilton, Philip Isaacson, Clyde Robert Bulla, Gloria Whelan, Robin McKinley, Joan Vinge, Garth Nix, and Chris Lynch, among others -- with great enjoyment. Writing seemed like torture by comparison.
Then, to my amazement, I found myself writing a book and having a good time -- simultaneously! The book was ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and I enjoyed writing it because my co-author was Jonathan Etra. Jon (who died of heart disease in 1990) was a close friend with a wild sense of humor, and collaborating with him changed my opinion of writing forever. After ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and ALIENS FOR LUNCH, which we also co-wrote, I began to think that writing could be interesting fun.
And now that I’ve been doing it full-time for more than ten years, I can tell you why I like it better than a job. First, I can work in my bathrobe. (To the FedEx man and the UPS man, I am "the woman in the plaid flannel robe.") Second, I can eat when I’m hungry, choose when to take phone calls, and walk my dogs any time. Third, the only meetings I have -- and they’re short -- are with the dry cleaner and the post office ladies. Fourth, I can read whatever I please. I may tell people I’m doing research when I read about horse-trekking, or hunting in ancient Greece, or 16 ways to better compost, but the truth is, I’m not doing research, I’m having a good time. Which I think is still allowed.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
April 9, 2009
Honestly, if this book hadn't been so short, I would have stopped reading it after the first twenty pages or so. Though I didn't, it took me a lot longer than it should have to read it, possibly because it was simply uninteresting. It tells the story of King Arthur from the point of view of the Lady of the Lake and a dwarf. Seems like a fine premise to me. Unfortunately, it does this in an incredibly boring way.
The Lady of the Lake spends most of her time away from court, so she only learns about events later. The dwarf's parts are a bit better, but then only a bit. I think a major flaw is that there is nothing new that we learn about the story at all. Everything that occurs is exactly what happens in the general Arthur story, and at this point, if you're going to tell Arthur again, you need to do something different.
Besides this, the diction is sometimes very informal or strange, to the point that it feels almost like a gimmick. The Lady frequently refers to "rules" that ladies of lakes have to follow, which is fine. Magic can have rules. But the rules are so bizarre (such as the rule of two and a half, where she has to follow the request of two and a half people, no matter what it is) that they don't seem quirky, as I think the point of them was, and just seem stupid.
Finally, the villains were not fleshed out at all. In the Arthurian saga, this is one really easy thing to do to make the villains interesting. This didn't happen. We're told that Morgause and Morgan hate Arthur, but we're never told why. Then Mordred hates Arthur, too, simply because his mother told him to. All this might work, since the book is geared to a slightly younger YA audience (or at least felt that way), but it's all completely undermined at the end, when Morgan suddenly has a change of heart, becomes remorseful, and brings Arthur to Avalon. While in general I love Morgan's redemption, it was done so poorly here that even I didn't like it. There was no apparent reason for her sudden switch to the good side of things, and even the Lady says that it doesn't appear she's really changed at all.
Potentially good (if somewhat cliché) premise; horribly executed.
The Lady of the Lake spends most of her time away from court, so she only learns about events later. The dwarf's parts are a bit better, but then only a bit. I think a major flaw is that there is nothing new that we learn about the story at all. Everything that occurs is exactly what happens in the general Arthur story, and at this point, if you're going to tell Arthur again, you need to do something different.
Besides this, the diction is sometimes very informal or strange, to the point that it feels almost like a gimmick. The Lady frequently refers to "rules" that ladies of lakes have to follow, which is fine. Magic can have rules. But the rules are so bizarre (such as the rule of two and a half, where she has to follow the request of two and a half people, no matter what it is) that they don't seem quirky, as I think the point of them was, and just seem stupid.
Finally, the villains were not fleshed out at all. In the Arthurian saga, this is one really easy thing to do to make the villains interesting. This didn't happen. We're told that Morgause and Morgan hate Arthur, but we're never told why. Then Mordred hates Arthur, too, simply because his mother told him to. All this might work, since the book is geared to a slightly younger YA audience (or at least felt that way), but it's all completely undermined at the end, when Morgan suddenly has a change of heart, becomes remorseful, and brings Arthur to Avalon. While in general I love Morgan's redemption, it was done so poorly here that even I didn't like it. There was no apparent reason for her sudden switch to the good side of things, and even the Lady says that it doesn't appear she's really changed at all.
Potentially good (if somewhat cliché) premise; horribly executed.
April 17, 2009
This is the Arthurian legend from the fresh perspective of the Lady of the Lake and a 17 year old dwarf named Twixt. Chapters alternate between the first person narratives of the two. Damosel provides the magical perspective in a world that is rapidly losing its magic and Twixt provides 1st person perspective from Arthur's court where he resides as court jester. Set in 6th century Britain this retains the historical elements of the Arthurian legend as well as keeping it magical. I loved it and really appreciated it after having just read Here Lies Arthur by Phillip Reeve which explained away the magic all too thoroughly. My Arthurian soul feels once again restored as I wait for the return of the "Once and Future King" from the isle of Avalon.
Want to read
June 7, 2012Damned if I don't absolutely love this cover.
December 14, 2018
This book was a retelling of the King Arthur story, but focused on the Lady of the Lake, named Damosel in this book, and a dwarf named Twixt. The book in general was interesting, but it might not be a book that I would read again. The language of the book made sense for the most part, but it was also a bit informal, which made it kind of peculiar for the story. I think the switching off between Damosel's and Twixt's points of view made the book more interesting, and it reminded me of the book Wonder, however, even this was not done very smoothly and they did not work together very well. Damosel is a water spirit who has a magical perspective in a place where magic is running out quickly, and Twixt has a perspective from King Arthur's court. There was not much of a character journey because all of the events would happen in court, while Damosel would mostly be away from court and would have the messages relayed to her, or Twixt would say things that he say, but was not a part of. She makes the Excalibur for Arthur, and later gets invited to Arthur's wedding. She sends Nimue instead because she is not a very social person. Nimue ends up finding Merlin and wants his magic and power so she traps Merlin in a cave using magic that he taught her. Then, Damosel promises to Merlin to watch over Arthur, but she falls in love with a heartbroken knight and forgets about what she said before. What happens later is the plot of the book.
March 10, 2025
Definitely for a younger audience.
It wasn’t a very coherent storytelling experience- it felt almost like the author was trying for vignettes, but the stories were not complete enough on their own to do that very well. I don’t think the overarching plot would be clear if the reader was not already familiar with Arthurian legend.
I did like the hints toward an Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot polycule, which, even if not explicitly romantic, was sweet and showed more nuance than any other relationship.
The character of the dwarf was clearly intended to show nuance, but teetered back and forth between achieving that aim and failing. It isn’t helped that there isn’t a clear reason why these two characters split the narration.
It wasn’t a very coherent storytelling experience- it felt almost like the author was trying for vignettes, but the stories were not complete enough on their own to do that very well. I don’t think the overarching plot would be clear if the reader was not already familiar with Arthurian legend.
I did like the hints toward an Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot polycule, which, even if not explicitly romantic, was sweet and showed more nuance than any other relationship.
The character of the dwarf was clearly intended to show nuance, but teetered back and forth between achieving that aim and failing. It isn’t helped that there isn’t a clear reason why these two characters split the narration.
January 17, 2026
While the book's language is lovely and the retelling of the Arthurian legends engaging, the book fails to maintain what the very cover promises: to be the Lady of Lake's account. Of the 37 chapter plus epilogue, 14 of them are accounts from on Twixt, who barely interact with Damosel, The Lady of the Lake who made Excalibur. This should have been two novella, one Damosel's story and one Twixt's and I dislike being misled about whose story is told in the book.
Annoyance at the viewpoint aside, I did love the images and feelings created by the text and the retelling of the legends. I am not an expert in Arthurian tales, so these were enjoyable to me.
Annoyance at the viewpoint aside, I did love the images and feelings created by the text and the retelling of the legends. I am not an expert in Arthurian tales, so these were enjoyable to me.
September 28, 2018
In the times of King Arthur this story gives a different track of the Lady of the Lake Damosel. Damosel is asked by Merlin to make a sword to protect young King Arthur. Damosel agrees to do this and takes nine years to make the perfect sword - Excaliber. Damosel does make the sword a beautiful sword but does not keep her promise to Merlin to protect Arthur. Damosel meets a knight and falls in love and her mind and her spells concentrate on this young knight but he soon dies.
May 16, 2020
Started this earlier this month, but I had to put it down because it was boring and I was in the middle of another book, another series that I just couldn’t drag myself away from.
I wanted to like this but it just wasn’t capturing me. I liked the beginning when Damosel was making Excalibur and the end when she went to Arthur as he was ailing, but in between was not very interesting.
Won’t be holding onto this unfortunately.
I wanted to like this but it just wasn’t capturing me. I liked the beginning when Damosel was making Excalibur and the end when she went to Arthur as he was ailing, but in between was not very interesting.
Won’t be holding onto this unfortunately.
May 26, 2020
3.5 stars
I liked parts of this. The writing was very nice and I like Damosel's voice and character.
I didn't like Twixt. I mean: he was fine. But I still have no idea why he was a narrator in this story. He is not a Lady of the Lake....
Still, a unique version of King Arthur which actually stays true to the stories.
I liked parts of this. The writing was very nice and I like Damosel's voice and character.
I didn't like Twixt. I mean: he was fine. But I still have no idea why he was a narrator in this story. He is not a Lady of the Lake....
Still, a unique version of King Arthur which actually stays true to the stories.
April 15, 2024
Damosel would be a good recommendation to young teenagers interested in Arthurian tales. I thought it was an enjoyable light read, though sometimes boring. I only wish that the magic of the Ladies was explored more, or perhaps even just magic in general. What is Damosel’s background? Why do the Ladies have rules to follow, but wizards don’t? There were a lot of interesting points I feel could have been expanded. However, for what it was, it was enjoyable.
October 28, 2019
A fun, quick read.
July 18, 2020
I enjoyed this take on the King Arthur story from the perspective of the lady of the lake.
March 16, 2021
This is a great Arthurian tale from the perspective of the lady of the lake. Perfect for pairing with Mallory's le Morte d'Arthur. Or as a model text for writing focusing on a minor character.
June 10, 2022
Nah, just nah.
August 17, 2024
Really wanted more from this Arthurian retelling. Very bare bones- especially as the main character is away from Camelot for most of the key moments. Also didn’t enjoy the split narration on this one.
May 4, 2012
The Lady of the Lake played a crucial role in the tale of the Great King Arthur. But what did she do when she wasn't helping the king? She did what others do, bide their time. She talked with her cousin and found a fellow whom she cared deeply for. She used magic and tried to right some wrongs. In this novel, you will get to read about The Lady of the Lake's life before and after she helped Arthur.
I love retellings, and while this isn't strictly speaking a retelling, it did toy with a character that already existed in literature. I thought Stephanie Spinner did a fabulous job making this character, who played a huge role but received little face time, come to life. For being such an old soul, Damosel still had plenty of faults. She failed to accomplish things she wanted to, and broke some rules. It was very interesting learning about her down time between when she was helping king Arthur. It was great to have that timeline to work with mentally though. The handing over of the sword, the rescue of the King, Morgan Le Fay and so on. If you are an Arthurian legend fan, I highly suggest that you check this one out.
First Line:
"I am so well versed in The Rules Governing Ladies of the Lake that I could recite them backward on a dare, but the wisdom I treasure most was gleaned not from that vast, ancient compendium, but from my own earnest blundering.
Favorite Line:
"I wondered if forthright meant 'wails like a banshee.'"
Read more: http://www.areadingnook.com/#ixzz1tup...
I love retellings, and while this isn't strictly speaking a retelling, it did toy with a character that already existed in literature. I thought Stephanie Spinner did a fabulous job making this character, who played a huge role but received little face time, come to life. For being such an old soul, Damosel still had plenty of faults. She failed to accomplish things she wanted to, and broke some rules. It was very interesting learning about her down time between when she was helping king Arthur. It was great to have that timeline to work with mentally though. The handing over of the sword, the rescue of the King, Morgan Le Fay and so on. If you are an Arthurian legend fan, I highly suggest that you check this one out.
First Line:
"I am so well versed in The Rules Governing Ladies of the Lake that I could recite them backward on a dare, but the wisdom I treasure most was gleaned not from that vast, ancient compendium, but from my own earnest blundering.
Favorite Line:
"I wondered if forthright meant 'wails like a banshee.'"
Read more: http://www.areadingnook.com/#ixzz1tup...
January 27, 2009
It’s not often that I just don’t know what to make of a book, that I just don’t get it. But that is how I feel about Damosel. It is a story of Arthur, Guenivere, Lancelot, etc. told from the perspective of Damosel – the Lady of the Lake, and Twixt - a court dwarf and jester.
The writing is excellent. At two hundered pages, my original thought was that it is intended for a younger audience, but the word craft seemed geared toward adults.
The story of Arthur is told from a distance. Other people relay his doings back to Damosel, or Twixt telling of things he saw, but didn’t really participate in. Neither Damosel or Twixt themselves had a true story of their own. Things happened to them, but there was no sense of a character ARC or character journey.
The author’s notes at the end explains the author’s inspiration as: “A story about her (Damosel) began to form in my mind, one that gave interesting (if not plausible) reasons for her stranger behavior.” And this is possibly why I had such a hard time. The book is a bunch of vignette, loosely tied together, to give a background to Damosel’s behavior. However, as a novel, this just didn’t work for me. I end up without much ‘story.’
The writing is excellent. At two hundered pages, my original thought was that it is intended for a younger audience, but the word craft seemed geared toward adults.
The story of Arthur is told from a distance. Other people relay his doings back to Damosel, or Twixt telling of things he saw, but didn’t really participate in. Neither Damosel or Twixt themselves had a true story of their own. Things happened to them, but there was no sense of a character ARC or character journey.
The author’s notes at the end explains the author’s inspiration as: “A story about her (Damosel) began to form in my mind, one that gave interesting (if not plausible) reasons for her stranger behavior.” And this is possibly why I had such a hard time. The book is a bunch of vignette, loosely tied together, to give a background to Damosel’s behavior. However, as a novel, this just didn’t work for me. I end up without much ‘story.’
December 24, 2014
I really loved the first five chapters of this book - I would give them five stars for excellence in style, content, characterisation and setting. The first five chapters show Damosel, a water spirit, in her natural element, and I found this fascinating.
After that the story introduces a second protagonist, the dwarf Twixt. Both protagonists tell their stories in first person and I found the two perspectives didn't gel or complement each other at all well for me. Additionally, from this point Damosel's own story becomes swamped by Arthurian narratives. Her interesting character becomes sidelined within her own first person episodes by embedded narratives about Arthur's knights and her self-centred cousin, Nimue. There are indistinct passages of time and aspects of the Arthurian stories which are only hinted at and so from this point the story felt disjointed to me and I had difficulty following it in any depth. To cap it off, Damosel, who begins as a powerful and interesting female protagonist, ends as nothing but a passive handmaiden for a sleeping Arthur. Personally, this didn't suit my tastes in heroine. But the first five chapters were excellent as an extract and I think they would make a nice complete short story.
After that the story introduces a second protagonist, the dwarf Twixt. Both protagonists tell their stories in first person and I found the two perspectives didn't gel or complement each other at all well for me. Additionally, from this point Damosel's own story becomes swamped by Arthurian narratives. Her interesting character becomes sidelined within her own first person episodes by embedded narratives about Arthur's knights and her self-centred cousin, Nimue. There are indistinct passages of time and aspects of the Arthurian stories which are only hinted at and so from this point the story felt disjointed to me and I had difficulty following it in any depth. To cap it off, Damosel, who begins as a powerful and interesting female protagonist, ends as nothing but a passive handmaiden for a sleeping Arthur. Personally, this didn't suit my tastes in heroine. But the first five chapters were excellent as an extract and I think they would make a nice complete short story.
December 19, 2008
Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com
Damosel plays by the rules.
The Lady of the Lake creates the sword Excalibur for Merlin's new champion. Damosel doesn't like crowds, so when she receives an invitation to Camelot, she sends her cousin, Nimue, instead.
Nimue craves power and she finds herself drawn to Merlin. When Merlin teaches her a powerful spell, she traps him in a cave with magic.
With Merlin out of the picture, Camelot could be in serious danger. Damosel finds Merlin and promises him to watch over Arthur and guide his decisions. Unfortunately, she finds Pelleas, a heartbroken knight. When she heals him, she falls in love with him. All other thoughts, including her promise to Merlin, fly out of her head. She doesn't realize that while they become content in their lives together, Camelot's falling.
Can she stop the fall of a kingdom?
With DAMOSEL, Stephanie Spinner pens a unique tale of the Arthurian Legend from the Lady of the Lake's point of view.
Damosel plays by the rules.
The Lady of the Lake creates the sword Excalibur for Merlin's new champion. Damosel doesn't like crowds, so when she receives an invitation to Camelot, she sends her cousin, Nimue, instead.
Nimue craves power and she finds herself drawn to Merlin. When Merlin teaches her a powerful spell, she traps him in a cave with magic.
With Merlin out of the picture, Camelot could be in serious danger. Damosel finds Merlin and promises him to watch over Arthur and guide his decisions. Unfortunately, she finds Pelleas, a heartbroken knight. When she heals him, she falls in love with him. All other thoughts, including her promise to Merlin, fly out of her head. She doesn't realize that while they become content in their lives together, Camelot's falling.
Can she stop the fall of a kingdom?
With DAMOSEL, Stephanie Spinner pens a unique tale of the Arthurian Legend from the Lady of the Lake's point of view.
November 18, 2011
Avalon-lite, is what this book is. Somehow Spinner managed to keep everything in - possible incest (Arthur/Morgan), technical rape (Uther/Igraine), prolonged infidelity (Gwen/Lance, of course) without making it one jot less a young person's book. I mean to say, she just mentioned it in passing and went on. The whole story is here, really, starting with Arthur claiming Excalibur and going on all the way to his "death," but told in chunks, from two different outside viewpoints, so it all goes by very fast.
I thought it good. I'd let my kid read it, and then I'd steer them to Kevin Crossley's excellent books, and then Once and Future King, and possibly The Winter Prince. That last might be a bit more of an adult read, if I didn't want to answer any awkward questions.
But then, in this day and age, at what age DON'T kids know about good touch/bad touch.
At any rate, there's a lot of good retellings of the Arthurian legend out there. A lot of crap too. This one is different from the usual run, and an interesting enough read.
I thought it good. I'd let my kid read it, and then I'd steer them to Kevin Crossley's excellent books, and then Once and Future King, and possibly The Winter Prince. That last might be a bit more of an adult read, if I didn't want to answer any awkward questions.
But then, in this day and age, at what age DON'T kids know about good touch/bad touch.
At any rate, there's a lot of good retellings of the Arthurian legend out there. A lot of crap too. This one is different from the usual run, and an interesting enough read.
December 4, 2011
Eh. I am a fan of YA fiction, but I hold it to the same standards as any other kind of fiction, and this was possibly the most toothless, uninspiring rendition of the tale of King Arthur as I have ever encountered. The basic framework of the story has been told to death, but there are interesting re-envisionings of it... this wasn't one of them. I read it thinking that the choice of heroine (the ambiguous, un-elaborated-upon Lady of the Lake) would offer a unique perspective, but the framework of her fairy realm was dealt with vaguely and unsatisfyingly, she herself was wishy-washy and disinteresting as a character, and the narration was actually shared with a random dwarf juggler named Twixt who was equally disinteresting. Really, none of the characterizations were very good - just cardboard cutouts of the archetypical characters who have been imagined in more compelling fashions a hundred other times. I was disappointed.
December 28, 2015
This book takes a new spin on the King Arthur tellings and gives us a look into the world of Lady of the Lake.
This book was one of those 'It was nice. I read it. I don't regret it.' but I would recommend a word of caution should you stumble across this. I felt as though I was a teacher reading through an essay for class and constantly asked my self 'What's the point of this section? Why the perspective of this character verses another or even the chair in the room?' While there is a clear reason why we follow the Lady there are other actions within the story that left me confused and thus put me at a distance with the book in general. I personally would have loved the focus to be solely on the Lady of the Lake and maybe the other people she interacted with in her realm. The need for the other perspective I felt took away some of excitement and made the book rather boring towards the end.
This book was one of those 'It was nice. I read it. I don't regret it.' but I would recommend a word of caution should you stumble across this. I felt as though I was a teacher reading through an essay for class and constantly asked my self 'What's the point of this section? Why the perspective of this character verses another or even the chair in the room?' While there is a clear reason why we follow the Lady there are other actions within the story that left me confused and thus put me at a distance with the book in general. I personally would have loved the focus to be solely on the Lady of the Lake and maybe the other people she interacted with in her realm. The need for the other perspective I felt took away some of excitement and made the book rather boring towards the end.
December 11, 2008
So, this is hands down the most boring retelling of Arthurian legend I've ever read. It didn't even hit 200 pages, and it took me six weeks to read. I spent a lot of the book wondering why someone had even written it. It doesn't really bring anything new to the Arthurian legend except the first instance in which a court jester has played a part in the story (I think). Although the author's intent in writing this was to make sense of the Lady of the Lake's rather ambiguous role, it would have been more interesting to just read a summary of what she believed about the Lady of the Lake. The narrative lacks inspiration, tension, and beauty. The only parts I found really interesting was the fool-proof Lancelot-Arthur-Guenevere love triangle, and a depiction of Guenevere that probed the surface of making her three dimensional.
June 20, 2011
I am glad to have read this recent addition to the Arthurian literary collection. The strength of Spinner’s writing increases as the story progresses. There are characters of her own making and classic characters somewhat remolded for a fresh interpretation, although much of the story intersects with the common legends of Arthur. I enjoyed the brightness of the character of Damosel, Lady of the Lake. Spinner’s style of writing early in the book captures the young woman with a modern voice, and at the end of the story the style rings more ancient and poetic. This comparatively less dense retelling of the legends reminded me of the significant elements of the timeless Arthur story as he was surrounded by rivals for power, greed, and heartlessness.
October 8, 2012
I thoroughly enjoyed this rendition of the tale of the lady who crafted and delivered Excalibur to Arthur. Actually, this is more Arthur's story, told in the snippets that would be privy to this "Lady" and a second surprise narrator. I love that the narrator's voices have the FEEL of the times. This is a quick and entertaining read and very true to the legends. I was hoping the person who buys the young adult books for my library would purchase it, but it came via interlibrary loan instead, which was good because then it went to the top of my burgeoning "to read" list. It's all good. :)
P.S. My 15 year old daughter, who ONLY reads what engages her interest, is enjoying this book, too. She LOVES the Merlin t.v. series. Just saying.
P.S. My 15 year old daughter, who ONLY reads what engages her interest, is enjoying this book, too. She LOVES the Merlin t.v. series. Just saying.
November 29, 2016
This is a different spin on the King Arthur mythology, presenting the tale from the perspective of the Lady of the Lake, Damosel. She is asked by Merlin to create Excalibur and in the process of creating the sword and scabbard, we see how time is different for her people as they are so long lived and see the rules that she must live by to maintain her magic. Nimue is one of her kind, although much younger, and she covets magical power. This leads her to seduce Merlin and trap him for his powers. Merlin then asks Damosel to watch over Arthur and his court, a task that she struggles with, but one that leads her to love and also abandonment of this promise. Love and loss bring her back to the court, only to witness the demise of Camelot and the return of Excalibur to the lake.
March 10, 2009
Damosel is the Lady of the Lake. She accepts Merlin's challenge to forge Excaliber, and to watch over Arthur when he is imprisoned by her sly cousin, Nimue. There are also some bits about a Dwarf.
I was dissapointed by this book. I really was expecting more. It read like an introductory manual to the world of King Arthur. The moral was pretty simple- "learn the rules before you break them, which makes you happy but will probably cause some major screw up IE failing Camelot." The Lady's narration alternated with that of a random dwarf, who felt like a plot crutch. Plus, I'm not even really sure she got all her characters straight.
I was dissapointed by this book. I really was expecting more. It read like an introductory manual to the world of King Arthur. The moral was pretty simple- "learn the rules before you break them, which makes you happy but will probably cause some major screw up IE failing Camelot." The Lady's narration alternated with that of a random dwarf, who felt like a plot crutch. Plus, I'm not even really sure she got all her characters straight.
July 11, 2016
Very short version of the legend of King Arthur seen through the eyes of Lady of the Lake Damosel and the dwarf Twixt. There is magic, but it is eclipsed again and again by human jealousy, anger, and love. Damosel is bound by endless rules as a Lady of the Lake and finds herself struggling to keep Arthur safe at Merlin's request despite the king's many enemies and her own desire to keep to the lake. Twixt finds himself in Arthur's court and experiencing Morgan and Mordred's deceit up close while trying to watch over Arthur and Guinevere. There isn't anything terribly surprising or different about this retelling, but the viewpoint is refreshing and nicely written.
November 23, 2008
I liked this better once I realized that there were two narrators and not just a mental author, but it still wasn't that good. Damosel's story was mainly her hearing stories about Arthur, so it told the legend (and of course the most common one of Guinevere and Lancelot's love, and Mordred and Morgan le Fay's betrayal) in a slightly different way.
I would rather that it have been a more original story about the Lady of the Lake, and only have her part in the giving of Excalibur being mentioned in passing.
I would rather that it have been a more original story about the Lady of the Lake, and only have her part in the giving of Excalibur being mentioned in passing.
March 22, 2009
This is a very interesting idea for a story, but it didn't keep my attention. About 1/4 of the way in, I was forcing myself to keep going. By the time I was 1/2 way in, I had skipped several pages several times, hoping I would get more interested in the story. But I didn't. So I'm done forcing myself to keep reading. I didn't really know anything about the Lady of the Lake in the King Arthur legends, other than she was in them. And after reading 1/2 of this book, I still don't really know much about her.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews