Review: Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley, I did however opt to listen to the final published version of the audiobook which I borrowed from the library.  As always all opinions are my own.

This was a really creative Arthurian retelling.   I love a good King Arthur retelling, and this had all of the key players present, but it was not what I was expecting.  This takes place in the present day or the near future and is set in the "real world" versus the fantasy version of Avalon or Britain that many King Arthur tales are told.  While it does have fantastical elements, the main focus is more on climate change and politics.  This is not your typical Knights of the Round Table adventure, so if you are looking for a more traditional fantasy adventure like I was, this is is not that.  This does focus on the very real issues of corporate greed, climate change, pollution, and other environmental issues but you wouldn't know that from the synopsis.  

This follows Kay, Arthur's brother, who look a vow to protect the realm from peril and he and the other Knights of the Round table resurrect periodically when the realm needs defending.  He has fought in every major conflict since Arthur was king and again he has been awoken to protect the realm, but he is tired and doesn't quite understand the world he has woken up in.  Miriam is member of a feminist extremist group whose goal is to save the environment and fight climate change.  She meets Kay when she sets off a massive explosion at a fracking facility, releases a dragon, and sets off a series of events that changes both of their fates.  You have to read the rest to find out what happens.  I think to tell you more would spoil things.

As as I mentioned I borrowed the audiobook from the library, mainly because this is close to 500 pages long.  The audio came in around 20 hours long, but I listened to it at 2x speed and probably could have sped it up a bit more without losing any comprehension (I listen to most books between 1.5 and 1.8 normally).  The narrator had a pleasant voice, but the pacing was a bit slow for my taste overall.  The plot is slow paced in general and in my opinion the book was a bit too long.   I personally prefer faster faced fantasy with a well developed magic system and lots of action, but this is more reminiscent of court politics set in the modern day. 

Overall this was a fine read, I just felt mislead by the synopsis.  One of the reasons I like to read fantasy is to escape reality, and this had too much reality in it for my taste.  If you like more realistic reads that have a magical or fantastical element to them I'd give this a try.

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