Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Our chosen March Contemproary SF/F Novel read and discussion is:


The Green Knight's Apprentice by Virginia Chandler

As I mentioned in the voting comments, "The Green Knight's Apprentice" is actually a novella in length, a quick read. It takes an unorthodox approach to the story of the Green Knight and an unconventional interpretation of parts of the Arthurian legend. Stories set in Arthur's reign have been subject to many different treatments, some of them classic, in books, movies, music and musicals as well as pop culture.

The short story is divided into ten distinct events, each a chapter occurring at a different times over several years and skipping all events in between - a sort of snapshot album. Despite a first-person narration, this episodic nature keeps the narrator, Rhowbyn at an emotional distance. He chronicles his actions, but not much of his inner thoughts or feelings. (Usually a first-person narration is intended to bring the reader deeper inside the mind of the protagonist, but here the narrator reveals very little of his true self. E.g, somewhere in the early chapters Rhowbyn apparently falls in love with a young woman who he eventually takes as his lover; but the story skips entirely over there meeting and courtship. Late in the story, when Rhowbyn finally meets the mother he never knew, his reaction seems odd because he never really mentioned having wondered much about her.)

The story also ends without concluding Rhowbyn story. It begins with the selection of Gawain as the Green Knight, and concludes with the arrival of Gawain's successor to that role (in this version of the story, the role of the Green Knight appears to be a short-term assignment.) And yet, the story is more focused on Rhowbyn than Gawain, which makes the story's ending seem incomplete as neither Rhowbyn's life nor his time at the Green Chapel as its bard, is ending (he's planning his wedding, and his bride-to-be is already pregnant with his first child.) I can't find a topic that this story is about.

The result is that I found it a rather dry work. It remains stubbornly unheroic and largely uninvolving. I did think the narrative pace seemed to pick up as the story went along, making the last two thirds more interesting than the set up.

For those interested in another view of the Old Ways, fae, druids, bards, the Green Knight, and the tales of King Arthur and his Knights this might be an interesting work; those legends are clearly the author's love and focus. But for me, I never really became interested or invested in the characters.

I thought this book lacked too much focus for my tastes. I never found any interest in the main character. Kind of got bored with this book.

This book is currently rated highly, and I was disappointed to see that there are very few reviews, two of which are five star reviews from the author and her brother. Is that common on goodreads? It seems deceptive to me.

The main character is kept at a distance, despite the first person POV, and that meant I never felt any kind of connection to the story.

Sue wrote: "This book is currently rated highly, and I was disappointed to see that there are very few reviews, two of which are five star reviews from the author and her brother. Is that common on goodreads?..."

I'd have to say so. Some authors have supporters that inflate a few reviews. Until a title has dozens of reviews, or unless you know one or more of the reviewers to be independent, ratings for titles with the low rating counts are going to be skewed and inconsistent.

(I think that works against other authors who don't play the game. I've recently read a couple of books whose authors promoted them in our Promotions folder here, and then recorded my honest opinion — which was "I liked it" (which in Goodreads is 3 stars.) Since they didn't get their friends and relatives to put ratings on it, I feel strangely guilty for dragging down the average of what I thought were pretty decent reads.)

Sue wrote: "The main character is kept at a distance, despite the first person POV, and that meant I never felt any kind of connection to the story."

I think you, Vera and I pretty much had that same reaction.

I wonder whether Rhowbyn or Gawain was supposed to be the focus character? Rhowbyn is the PoV narrator as well as the titular apprentice, but because of the episodic nature of the novella, too much happens to him between episodes (somewhere in there he meets a woman falls in love and plans to get married, yet all those events are outside the storytelling, which is strange if it's Rhowbyn's story.) Gawain is the Green Knight for the duration of the story, but he's absent from maybe half the tale. It's like "a few things that happened to Rhowbyn during Gawain's year as the Green Knight."

Thanks for the explanation on the ratings. I'll have to pay more attention.

I'm fairly sure Rhowbyn is the focus character, but I was confused by the title since he didn't seem to be an apprentice to the Green Knight. We skipped over his years learning the ropes, and went straight to him in the capacity of spiritual guide to the Green Knight.