The Forgotten Kingdom: Blog Tour and Review of Arthurian Novel @Signe Pike @Atria Books

                                                               

I read and reviewed the first book in The Lost Queen series by Signe Pike on this blog here. I was interested in Signe Pike’s approach to the Arthurian mythos. That’s why I decided to join The Forgotten Kingdom Blog Tour and accepted an ARC from the publisher via Net Gallley.

                                                   

                                                                 REVIEW

 I felt that The Lost Queen was a concept driven novel, and that the concept was original. OTOH, The Forgotten Kingdom is character driven. There’s a cluster of primary characters who are portrayed with genuine psychological depth. 

My favorite character was the mysterious Eira whose hidden past emerges over the course of the narrative. As a feminist, I admired her strength that allowed her to overcome all that she had to endure. I liked the fact that Languoreth, the female protagonist, also was impressed with her. 

Lailoken, the historical Merlin whose discovery inspired the series, begins to develop an understanding of his purpose by undergoing both a traumatic life event and a ritual ordeal. As a fan of Richard Carpenter’s TV series Robin of Sherwood in which Robin Hood worships Herne and is called Herne’s Son, I was delighted to see how much Lailoken identified himself with Herne in this book.

Languoreth’s daughter, Angharad, began as an amazing child of destiny at the age of nine. Her inner conflicts over the choices she made as she matures, define her as a complex character. Angharad’s training to become a priestess eventually awakened paranormal gifts.

In her author’s note, Signe Pike questioned whether her book should be categorized as fantasy when the people in that era considered paranormal gifts very real. This would require a complete re-evaluation of the historical fantasy sub-genre since rationalism didn’t become more widely accepted until some time in the later half of the 19^th century. What about novels taking place in a contemporary context in which all the characters are Wiccans or believe that paranormal gifts are genuine because of their experiences? Should those books also not be considered fantasy? My feeling is that genres exist to help readers find content that they prefer. What definition of fantasy would be most helpful to you as a reader?

Arthur as Artur first appears as a character in The Forgotten Kingdom. This caused me to speculate about how Signe Pike’s characters might be equivalent to conventional Arthurian personages within the myth. Is there already a Guinevere or a Morgan Le Fay? Has the equivalent of Lancelot appeared yet? Perhaps Signe Pike’s alternate vision of the myth doesn’t contain all or even any of these equivalent characters. We’ll just have to continue reading the books in this series in order to find out.

 

                                              

                                                                SIGNE PIKE