Once & Future
Ratings10
Average rating3.3
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 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
Series
Featured Series
3 primary booksOnce & Future
Once & Future is a 3-book series with 5 primary works first released in 2019 with contributions by A.R. Capetta, Cory McCarthy, and Tamra Bonvillain.
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
This book is a riot! Ari is our main character, and she's King Arthur reborn, as these stories always go. Merlin is aging backwards, as he often is, and he wakes up this time as a teenager and groans. It's pretty hilarious. Arthur's knights are various characters, of various ethnicities and sexualities. This is a HELLA queer book, and it's great. We get bi, lesbian, gay, pan, omni - honestly it seems that in this future, people have just accepted that you'll love who you will love, gender be damned. One of the knights is even ace!
There is going to be a sequel, though I'm not sure when it's scheduled to be released. Not soon enough, is the real answer, in my opinion!
I realize I haven't said much about the actual plot, but - really. It's King Arthur and her knights, as queer teenagers, in space, fighting a giant corporation. That's really all you need to know. Go read it!
You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.
“We can play battles and knights and kings, but in the end, we just want to exist”
I'm so annoyed at this book because I really liked it but there was just one plotline from it that I absolutely hated. But to start off with what makes it so great:
Arthur retellings are one of my favourite retellings of all time purely because I was (still am) absolutely obsessed with the tv show merlin. So finding a queer and sci fi version of this was just so amazing. Not to mention this book is funny, light hearted and filled with action as well as vulnerable moments, flawed characters and easy to understand politics
However, if you were not familiar with the story I feel like the book would be a little too confusing. It's a YA/children's book so it's not overly complicated which you might love but you might also hate, so it definitely depends on the reader. The most annoying thing about the book though is the writer's plot choices:
Because who decides "oh my former partner is dead so let me make a baby with her adoptive brother because he was the closest thing to her"
Maybe it's just me but I was kinda horrified when it was revealed
Regardless the majority of the book I really enjoyed and am looking forward to reading the sequel soon
