The Adventure God Will Choose: The Swithen Book Seven. The Swithen, #7

A shocking murder. A knight disgraced. An upheaval of the spirit world. As King Arthur continues to court Guinevere and begins to build Camelot, our focus shifts to a knight of his court and the wider world around him. After Balin le Savage is released from prison, he commits a shocking act of violence. In fury, Arthur banishes him, setting in motion one of the strangest and most intriguing passages of the Arthurian legend.
Balin and his brother Balan vow to capture Arthur's enemy King Rion in order to appease the king. King Lot, upset at Arthur taking his baby-not realizing it is actually Arthur's child-allies with Rion to end Arthur's reign once and for all. The clash between the four leaves one captured, one dead, one under a spell and one riding obliviously toward his foretold doom."What makes this retelling stand out is its psychological depth.
Rather than portraying a flawless hero, Telek shows us a boy pretending at confidence while privately drowning in doubt. This vulnerability runs through every scene, creating a relatability rarely found in traditional Arthurian tales."     - Maria Ashford, Bookshelfie Meanwhile, the family charged with protecting the Holy Grail is chafing under the pressure, leading one of them to turn to overt acts of evil.
Guinevere's identical twin discovers a secret so explosive it threatens to take apart her family. Innocent child Mordred loses his opportunity to be raised by loving parents. A new Lady of the Lake arises to power. And Merlin continues to shape Arthur's path, guiding him through the turning world toward the greatness the wizard foresees in him. Committed to remaining faithful to the actual stories of the medieval Arthurian legend, The Swithen now becomes a twisting tapestry of interconnected storylines that cross and influence each other in unexpected ways.
With the primary cast of characters now in place, their stories will weave and connect with sudden violence, unexpected tenderness and astonishing visions of magic. Through it all, you discover the authentic Arthurian legend in a telling of unparalleled depth and power."Some modern retellings have not always respected the Arthurian legend, falling almost into parody, such as T. H. White's The Once and the Future King, but Telek does not make fun of the characters; rather, he helps us better understand the legend."     - Tyler Tichelaar, Author of Children of ArthurSeven novels into this unprecedented twenty-five novel epic work, we have covered Arthur's rise to power and now move into the adventures that define his reign.
These books are not sequels, but one continuous saga, often with different main characters, interweaving and advancing inexorably toward a climax so shattering it has endured for a thousand years. Will you take the adventure God will choose for you?"[Telek's] character development is strong. maintaining the original story but humanizing the characters rather than making them historical bores. Seems that they are just pretty much normal, emotional humans wherein greatness may have come accidentally.
I've read everything Arthurian that I can lay my hands on and this is certainly the best in years."     - Scott T., Amazon review