King Arthur Is Dead. Long Live King Arthur!

THE BRIGHT SWORD: A Novel of King Arthur, by Lev Grossman

King Arthur is dead. What now?

With this question, Lev Grossman’s new novel, “The Bright Sword,” joins 1,400 years of storytelling and resoundingly earns its place among the best of Arthurian tales.

The aspiring hero of this epic is Collum, an adventurer who is equal parts naïve and sardonic. He survived a brutally abusive childhood by promising himself someday he’d be a knight under King Arthur, and so, now a young man, he steals a suit of armor, crafts a new life story and sets out to join the Round Table.

But when he arrives, he finds Camelot in shambles. The hero he admired was killed in a battle just weeks earlier. Ambitious would-be kings and powerful fairies are amassing on the borders. All that remain to uphold Arthur’s legacy are a handful of downtrodden knights and Nimue, Merlin’s apprentice and usurper. (Grossman’s version acknowledges that the Merlin of tradition is a sexual predator, and Nimue, a bold young woman trying to reconcile her Christian faith with her elemental magic, makes a far more interesting mage.)

Thanks to Collum’s boost of enthusiasm for the lost ideals of Camelot, the knights ask for a “great marvel,” which opens a magical portal and sets them on quest after quest in pursuit of … well, they’re not exactly sure. Collum and the knights of the Round Table don’t know what to hope for: A new king? To get the old one back? A new Camelot or the same Camelot or just a Camelot they can survive in?

The book is long, more than 600 pages, and it feels long. The story meanders, but other than a few back story chapters that are, if not unnecessary, perhaps mistimed, nothing feels superfluous. This is a narrative that demands and rewards patience.