reviewed by
CALEB GEORGE
Peter David brings the Arthur from legend to life in this tale of modern day where Arthur seeks to live a private life with his wife Gwen (a reincarnation of his first love Guinevere) and Percival. He was, until fairly recently, the President of the United States and before that the Mayor of New York City. But the world is not done with Arthur, nor are they done with what is in his possession, the Holy Grail.
David puts his own unique twist on legend and he weaves a tale which encompasses the Spear of Destiny that pierced the side of Christ while he was on the cross, the Holy Grail that caught His blood, and Excalibur that was entrusted to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. The origins of these three objects are intertwined and this origin comes to play when Arthur gets the idea to try and give the gift of the Grail to the entire world, via Grail Ale. Arthur bottles water that passes through the Grail, giving it healing powers and provides it to the world. Rather then heal the world; this action threatens to tear the entire world apart, bringing Armageddon itself to the Earth. In the end Arthur must come forward and save the day.
David creates a world that takes a peek at a different past and puts to question many of Christianities core beliefs and we are left to wonder if we should in fact trust what we believe. David creates a world where magic is alive and legends come to life.
At first I was excited to read this book. I am very passionate about the Arthurian Legend and when I read a short description of the plot I was intrigued and I was eager to see where Peter David would take this book. But upon finishing Fall of Knight, I was very disappointed. At times the dialogue tried too hard to be humorous and this took away from the flow of the story. It seems like David tried to be witty and clever at all the wrong times.
This isn't to say that there were not high points to the work, where David gave a thoughtful description of what was going on and included detailed dialogue that created a vivid enchanting scene. There were many times that I smiled in awe at the scene and how it played out but these times are vastly outweighed by the number of scenes with clumsy dialogue. Many of his story ideas were new twists on what could have happened so many years ago when Christianity was forming. But I can't say that I agreed with what he put forth or even enjoyed those twists very much.
All in all, Fall of Knight
was a decent read and I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind and some time to spare. I didn't find it entirely too thrilling or enchanting but it did have its moments.
