Episode · The Book Review · 2024-07-19
Books mentioned on What It's Like to Write a King Arthur Tale
Gilbert Cruz discussed The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur by Lev Grossman, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, The Magician King by Lev Grossman, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Lev Grossman recommended The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell, and discussed The Once and Future King by T. H. White, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Watchmen by Alan Moore and others, and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur
The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur by Lev Grossman is an expansive fantasy epic that reimagines the traditional Arthurian legend through a fresh lens focused on the lesser-known knights of the Round Table.
Discussed“the latest version of the story is called the bright swword and its author is Lev grman”
Where to get it
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The Magicians
The Magicians by Lev Grossman is a contemporary fantasy novel that follows a group of young adults discovering that magic is real, combining dark themes with a meta-fictional approach to traditional fantasy tropes.
Discussed“Lev is the author of several novels most notably the trilogy of fantasy books that begin with The Magicians”
Where to get it
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Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory is the classic fifteenth-century compilation of Arthurian romances that definitively shaped the legends of King Arthur, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table.
Discussed“epigraph to your second book The Magician King is from Sir Thomas mallerie's version of this story”
Where to get it
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The Magician King
Discussed“as I was going through my copies of your books last night the magician Trilogy I I did note that the epigraph to your second book The Magician King is from Sir Thomas mallerie's version of this story”
Where to get it
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The Once and Future King
The Once and Future King by T.
Discussed“like a lot of people I fell in love with Arthur through Sword in the Stone the th White and The Once and Future King which is that sort of Novel cycle that he wrote”
Where to get it
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The Mists of Avalon
Discussed“and then I went on and I read mallerie and M Avalon and Rosary s Cliffe”
Where to get it
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The Winter King
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell is a historical fiction novel that offers a gritty, realistic retelling of the Arthurian legend.
Recommended“the one that states with me is the winter King by Vernard Cornwell amazing book”
Where to get it
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Idylls of the King
Discussed“probably Tennyson idles of the king as the high water mark of that”
Where to get it
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Watchmen
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is a landmark graphic novel set in an alternate history that deconstructs the superhero genre against the backdrop of Cold War tensions.
Discussed“I feel like the great Treatise on this which was a formative reading experience for me is Watchmen by Alan Moore which I read when I was in high school”
Where to get it
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War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace is a monumental historical novel blending grand military strategy with intimate domestic life against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.
Discussed“that scene oddly came out of I I I had been reading War and Peace a book that I had put off reading for a very long time”
Where to get it
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Wolf Hall
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is a historical fiction novel that chronicles the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of King Henry VIII.
Discussed“and of course that immediately made me think about Wolf Hall uh a book that we were lucky enough to have you write a little thing about for our recent list of the best books of the 21st century”
Where to get it
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Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Jonathan Strange and Mr.
Discussed“there is a book that is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year it came out in 2004 and that's a book called Jonathan strange and Mr norl which I know you have talked about in the past”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“and I thought somebody it was time somebody took him seriously and told his story and that that that's how the bright sword happened”
“I'm joined this week by Lev grman author of the bright sword a novel of King Arthur”
“and I came back to that in in the bright swword one of the heroes of the book column”
“And I tried to bring some of that to the battle scenes in the bright sword because it must have been a truly amazingly difficult experience being in a battle”
“congratulations on finally reaching the end of a decade of writing the bright sword a novel of King Arthur”