King Arthur as you’ve never seen her! This bold, sizzling YA novel reimagines the Once and Future King as a teenage girl determined to save the universe from an evil curse. My name is Ari Helix. I have a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start. I’ve been chased my whole life. As a fugitive refugee in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I’ve always … territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I’ve always had to hide who I am. Until I found Excalibur. Now I’m done hiding.
When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind. No pressure.
* “All hail this worthier-than-ever, fresh, and affirming reincarnation of the legendary king and her round table of knights which dazzles with heroic flair, humor, and suspense.” —Kirkus, starred review
Fun and fearless, this story romps right across the galaxy and into your heart.
What an amazing novel. Once and Future has heaps of representation that make the book and the characters so engaging. First off, Ari is the forty-second incarnation of King Arthur, and the only girl to hold the title, offering up new challenges and new perspectives regarding the tale. For Merlin, who is trapped in the cycle of waking and training and aging in the opposite direction. Merlin is in a new era and a new world that gives him even more challenges than ever before. Together, these two characters tackle the challenges together.
The diversity in the novel is really what makes the novel so enjoyable. It is not only gender-bending the roles of the story in exciting ways, but it is also moving past the “normal” conceptions of society that modern day society is finally tackling in real life. It is beautiful to see a novel have racially diverse characters as well as sexually diverse characters, non-binary characters.
Each character has depth and tension making them both complex and relatable. These characters bring dimension and tension into the story with their complicated relationships. It makes for such a compelling read to follow these characters on their journey in this sci-fi/fantasy retelling of King Arthur’s tale. It is written without hindrance and apology, as it should be, and at the end of the day, the representation is powerful.
As for the story, it is incredible. The detail the authors put into the storytelling makes everything so vibrant for the readers creating a beautiful and dark world for the readers, a world where consumerism dominates the world, at any cost. This sci-fi take on the storytelling is so unique and breathtaking how the villain’s and the heroes are structured, both internally and externally. These writers bring delightful twists to the saga of King Arthur and offer readers fresh voices with completely open, mindful, and modern perspectives and representation. They keep the pace moving, keeping the reader glued to the story, and even in those moments where it seems as though time has stopped, the tension in the scene and structure of the story keep the reader gripped to the pages. Science fiction and fantasy meld together so perfectly here to tell an incredible story and, in the end, it only leaves the reader hungry for more
Okay so “lady king Arthur in space” already won me over. (That concept was amazballs to begin with) But this book lived up to my expectations and surpassed them. I loved the humor and it fit in well. (It was reminiscent of Douglas Adams H2G2 series and Monty Python, so another win in my mind) but the humor didn’t overshadow the story. It felt balanced and wonderful.
I really hope there’s a second book and think that there is a ton of potential to keep this retelling going while keeping it fresh.
Once & Future is an utterly delightful romp, full of witty voice, imaginative adventures, and deeply lovable characters. It kept me up into the wee hours of the morning. I couldn’t put it down!
This is my third read through of this book. It checks so many boxes for me: Mythology, space, romance, silly characters. The authors weave such a great story and I keep coming back to the story every year. It also has great gender inclusive language and representation not only across relationship, sexuality, and race. Plus the story zips right along.
I loved this so much!! So much action, and I loved how the whole team came together and changed the story of King Arthur in unexpected ways. I really loved the interaction between all the characters, and the feeling of family throughout. Plus it’s in space?! All of the different planets were so cool and different, and I can’t wait to see what happens to Ari, Gwen, and the rest of the crew!
It’s so nice to pick up a novel that brings the fun back to reading. I love books, I love reading and talking about them, but a lot of the subject matter isn’t necessarily happy or fun; even fantasy has taken on a distinctive nihilistic slant in genres like grimdark. And that’s not a bad thing. Novels can be an excellent way of discussing real-life problems or historical or current struggles people have gone through, and Once & Future does do that, but it is unabashedly fun, a gleeful romp through legends of old, bringing back new, quirky iterations of characters we’ve seen reimagined in novels and several terrible movie adaptations in a much better format.
Science fiction and fantasy are normally lumped into one genre as SFF or speculative, but this novel is really both genres at once, a perfect blend of technological advancements and old fashioned sword and sorcery. Ari Helix is on the run as the only resident of planet Ketch to escape the barrier placed around the planet by the Mercer Corporation, which runs the galaxy. During a daring escape with her brother Kay, she crash-lands their spaceship on Earth and pulls the sword from the stone, awakening both Merlin, a geeky magician that’s aged backwards into an awkward teenager, and Morgana, who’s determined to kill the piece of Arthur’s soul inside Ari and end the reincarnation cycle once and for all. So we have two plots going on: Ari’s fantastical rise to kinghood using a magic sword, accompanied by a wizard, and the more traditional sci-fi story wherein they’re trying to take down a powerful, technologically advanced CEO. It takes a bit to get the two stories to blend properly, admittedly, but after the novel gets over its first third hump, it’s a great time.
Every character in this novel is amazing, maybe a bit over-the-top, but I’m willing to forgive it just for the sheer joy of it all. Ari is a king mostly unwilling to take her throne, being more concerned with her own problems and love life. Despite being the central point of a fantastical legend, she’s more concerned with the sci-fi elements of the story; the Mercer Corporation killed her parents and stole her planet, and the only difference between the Ari before the story and the Ari now is that she’s acquired a cool sword and thinks its fun to stab people with it. She’s the perfect seventeen year old. She doesn’t make great decisions all the time and her priorities are skewed, but a relatable and charming protagonist. In case the queer married author duo didn’t make it clear, this book is rife with diverse characters and a sapphic love story, Arthur’s gender change into a woman doesn’t stop the love story with Guinevere, here Gwen. The two girls are alternatively sweet and complicated, burdened by their individual problems and the overarching canon of Arthurian legend: Arthur and Gwen never end well. The inherent tragedy of their story doesn’t deter either character from taking their love by the reins, and even though the story doesn’t focus primarily on the romance, it was a sweet aside. We also have other various members of the round table, a disabled black nonbinary character, an aroace knight, and a queer diplomat. Merlin himself, reverse-aged into Ari’s age, is shocked by the depth of his own queerness, which was definitely not a take on the wizened wizard I’d ever thought I’d see. While diversity doesn’t a good story make (and I’ve definitely seen more than one author trying to get woke points for their it), the inclusions here are nothing but fun, handled with grace but not too much seriousness. I’m not one for much romance, but the relationships in this novel were very charming with occasional surprising depth.
The world Once & Future takes place in is also broadly unusual; fighting against a mega-corporation is normal for a sci-fi story, but the idea of floating museums, entrapped planets, ice prisons, deranged spectator sports, and a full planet of LARPers whose medieval roles are how they actually live their lives are all beyond the scope of normalcy. Once & Future is on the shorter side, but the errant details make the world seem so massive. The world the authors has built is bleak, don’t get me wrong, the Mercer corporation being the epitome of unchecked capitalism, the sins of humanity past still ringing in the background, the horrors of past and current war always a looming specter, but again, the novel is more concerned with optimism in the face of all of this. The contrasting tone and background is unusual and makes for the perfect theme of today’s times: finding positivity in the darkest of circumstances.
Once & Future takes a bit to get to its feet properly. A lot of the initial action is setup done a little clumsily, the gathering of Ari’s knights takes a bit too much time, some of the magic is hand-wavey and taken at face-value too often, but these are just tiny pieces of a much larger picture. It’s possible that if I read this novel during a different time, when the world outside is so bleak in so many ways, that I wouldn’t have appreciated it as much as I do now, but it’s refreshing to read something determinedly optimistic in such times. Overall, if you’re looking for a feel-good read or are feeling particularly bitter about the crushing weight of capitalism, this is perfect.
review blog
Okay so this retelling is like a spacey futuristic King Author with twists on the dirty politics, a time-travely vibe (circular time?) with the Merlin-Arthur relationship, and a gang of such fantastic characters slipping into the old familiar roles but in completely new skins that you simply are unable to stop watching this vibrant book movie in your head. Seriously. I want to see this as a movie.
Funny, quirky characters. Family complexities. Sexy romance. Compelling bad guys. Great magic.
(Heck yeah, I’ll be reading the sequel in 2020.)
Timeless and classic retelling of the greatest of English tales. Endearing, witty and using the major elements of Malory to discuss the so-called “founding of civilization.” Not to be mistaken for a children’s tale!
*I received a complimentary copy from Jimmy Patterson Books. All opinions expressed are my own.*
Once And Future is a book I had no expectations about before reading. I simply had no idea what I was about to read. Lucky for me, I absolutely loved it! I’ve been hoping to find a story with diversity of race, culture, sexuality and gender identity, and viola!
The female Arthur (Ari) and backwards aging Merlin are simply genius. What a brilliant concept to shake up a legend of old! But, the authors went further by writing these characters as a diverse casting of race, culture, LGBTQ, including Ari and Merlin. Then, still the story goes even further with it’s atmosphere of inclusivity. Imagine this place where everyone is accepted.
The plot was action packed and had plenty of humor and layers of smaller things happening within the bigger picture. I found Merlin especially funny. Ari is chosen for this crazy thing, fighting for justice and fighting the corporate world, and I don’t know how she keeps it together. I liked all the characters. My only complaint is I had trouble keeping their names straight because they were too familiar with three letters. Overall, I think it’s a great positive thing to have a story with such diversity and acceptance. The authors are truly imaginative, and I’m excited for the next book.
Pointedly funny and deftly topical, an effortless Arthurian update with heart in all the right places.