My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I like this, book 2 of the Warlord Chronicles, Enemy of God, better than the first. Reason one is that everything has already been setup in part one and now the story can go into action as they say. Lancelot, Merlin, and Galahad are firmly set that all the story could do is begin its steady march towards the inevitable.
Second is that the ‘great betrayal’ of Camelot did not end up as simply as I thought it would. Oh yes definitely there was sex but it wasn’t simply the bodyguard (for some reason I keep coming to that analogy) sleeps with the queen. It’s not even Captain of the Guard and queen betrayal kind of thing.
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| Image by N.C. Wyeth |
The setup was obvious in book one only that the affair would happen but I never thought book two would give it a political and gender dynamic, which if seen with calmer modern world eyes Guinevere motives would be understandable.
Enemy of God has the idealism of a King Arthur story – that noble king of fantasy who was a light in a dark age. It has politics: Lancelot, Guinevere, and Arthur are not just a love triangle in a kingdom; each of them as a side, a politics in which they advocate for the Britain of that time. It has religion: Druids vs Christian church. Seeing how those aspects mix and mash made for a satisfying ending.
And through the eyes of Derfel Cadarn, the story has a sense of history, in the sense that it plays on the adage ‘history is written by the victors’. Told from the eyes of Derfel, it gives beauty in thinking that it is an insider story, a tale that only one of the losers who followed Arthur would know, and trying with great care not to be edited out by the victorious Christians.
Even in book two, I am still iffy with the magic of Merlin. My modern mind keeps thinking he’s a scam artist but upon deeper consideration Merlin is the religion, and Sansum is his counterpart in Christianity. I keep thinking how anyone can believe all the threats of magic and otherworldly powers by Merlin. It was only in consideration of the supposed power of a bishop or pope that I gained the proper perspective. Magic was a necessary evil.
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| There is a real life St. Derfel who is believed to be a knight of Arthur |
Any power that Merlin gives is plot convenience; which is ok; I can imagine how the medieval mind would swallow it hook, line, and sinker. There’s no definition and conclusion because that’s how the medieval mind might have recorded it. At least one memorable incident (dogs in heat) says the druids are just being astute observers of the world and people, where Merlin with his experience is king.
Christian advocates look impotent because they come from a sense of entitlement. They don’t do the work as much as a druid would. Still, I wonder if the story could survive without any kind of segway into magic. What I remember most about magic in the books is the spitting. Any reference to magic: spitting. They do other things to conjure up an enchantment but nothing pops to mind just as easy.
If that's the first thing anyone remember from a Harry Potter, JR Rowling would have made so much money. I gotta wonder.
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