Camelot's Sword follows the premise of the first two books in the series: One of the sons of Lot (in this case Gareth) meets a fair maiden (Lynet Carnbrea) as a result of some sort of evil plotting (Morgaine's magical hijinks) and together they defeat said evil plot.As usual the writing is very good and the characterisation is also on a par with the second in the series (which is to say, infinitely better than the first book was). The story was very entertaining, complex and innovative enough to keep me reading.My major gripe with this one was that I found the love between Gareth and Lynet to be completely unbelievable - as well as totally unnecessary for the plot. Gareth's sudden turnaround from his womanising ways I can maybe get on board with. But Lynet, who for at least half of the book seems to have nothing but contempt for Gareth, suddenly and without warning (not to mention no real interaction with him) finding herself so deeply in love with him that nothing else could bring her soul back to the world? Yeah, not buying it.If you can ignore that (which I mostly did, with much sighing and shaking of the head), the rest of the plot is quite good.I particularly enjoyed all the parallels in the book. Tristan and Iseult and Guinevere and Lancelot, fathers and sons and betrayals, etc.
Another lightning-quick reread for my essay. This one contains a lot more Guinevere -- and the more direct opposition of Morgaine. It's very interesting what Sarah Zettel tries to do here: at times, the reader is almost swayed by Morgaine and her power, but I think the shifting of blame, a sort of slut-shaming, shows through for a moment right at the end. She seems to sleep with Lancelot for pure spite. It's as if the female-centric plot breaks open for a moment there, and you see something profoundly patriarchal, a disgust of women and female sexuality.I do like what she's done with Morgaine, but that really stood out to me this time.Lynet and Gareth are far from my favourite couple. Gareth's just a boy, and it shows. Everything he does is boyish and impetuous -- I don't buy him as a courtly lover. The twisting of the tale of Sir Gareth and Lynet is interesting, but I can't summon up much care for him as a character, and Lynet's guilt-ridden self-blame doesn't appeal either.
What do You think about Under Camelot's Banner (2006)?
