The Bright Sword

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By Lev Grossman

Publisher Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A New York Times Editors’ Choice • The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Magicians Trilogy and “master storyteller” (New York Times) returns with a triumphant reimagining of the King Arthur legend for the new millennium

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist • Locus Award Finalist

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, NPR, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, VANITY FAIR, TIME, OPRAH DAILY, TOWN & COUNTRY, ELLE, VOX, PASTE, LIT HUB, POLYGON, KIRKUS REVIEWS

“Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword stands out as the best fantasy of the year.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Grossman, who is best known for his The Magicians series, is at the top of his game with The Bright Sword.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A thrilling new take on Arthurian legend. . . . Marvelous.” —The Washington Post

“If you love King Arthur as much as I do, you’ll love Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword, a fresh and engrossing take on the Matter of Britain featuring a colorful cast of Round Table knights who don’t often get as much story time as they deserve. The creator of The Magicians has woven another spell.” —George R. R. Martin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones

A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a place at the Round Table, only to find that he’s too late. King Arthur died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table are left.

The survivors aren’t the heroes of legend like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Table, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill.

But it's up to them to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance, even as God abandons Britain and the fairies and old gods return, led by Morgan le Fay. They must reclaim Excalibur and make this ruined world whole again—but first they'll have to solve the mystery of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell.

The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, The Bright Sword is steeped in tradition, complete with duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings. It's also a story about imperfect men and women, full of strength and pain, trying to reforge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves.

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1008 Reviews

3.5

MarissaPeterson

Created about 1 hour ago

Csillagdarts_books

Created 1 day ago

patorikku13

Created 3 days ago

Ant

Created 3 days ago

“Ok so I’ll just say that I enjoyed every second of reading this book. All the knights were super interesting and it only hindered my reading a little bit that someone posted that Merlin was a villain before I read it so I liked it a lot I kinda wish there was more but it did feel like a great standalone book”

Change and grow Memorable Minor characters stand out Morally ambiguous Strong relationships

Hillary Moralez

Created 5 days ago

“Lev Grossman steps out of the shadows of his Magicians series and demands you respect his romanticism English degree. But I digress. Following the death of King Arthur, we meet Collum, a young lad with big dreams who makes his way to Camelot only to find only the second string knights are left, and Nimue. Spaced between this main story, as they quest to find a quest to find a king, we get vignettes on each knight and their oft-overlooked history. I admit, I liked the stories of the knights more than the plot sometimes. Some vignettes went so long I flat out forgot what was going on in the main story!! Still, it’s a noble addition to the Arthurian legend and I am happy to add it to my library. As somebody who studied art and lore extensively in college leading up to my degree, I enjoyed all of the Easter eggs that were clearly researched and lovingly placed in what I feel was meant for readers of that certain type. In other notes, the audiobook was fabulously read. I came to care about each character when there was time to finally close the book. It felt OK which is the only real criticism that I have in that the plot itself felt in certain ways circular. I would love to see the author, go back and revisit some of the knights, given that he had placed so much energy into giving them such distinct backgrounds and lore. I would highly recommend this book to anybody who loves Aurthurian legend, it might be a bit much for the light and casual reader.”

About Lev Grossman

Lev Grossman is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy—The Magicians, The Magician King, and The Magician’s Land—which has been published in thirty countries and adapted as a TV show that ran for five seasons on SYFY. He is also a screenwriter and the author of two children’s books, The Golden Swift and The Silver Arrow, and his journalism has appeared in Time, Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, among many other places. He lives with his wife and children in New York City.