Perilous Times
ISBN: 9780356518527
Description
Sir Kay and his fellow knights awake from their mythical slumber whenever Britain has need of them; they fought at Agincourt and at the Somme. But in these perilous modern times, the realm is more divided than ever, a dragon has been seen for the first time in centuries, and Kay is not the only ancient and terrible thing to come crawling up out of the ground.
Reviewed on 27th August 2023
I picked this book somewhat at random during a shopping spree, after noticing the cover on the shelf.
It’s a chunky tale about Sir Kay, an Arthurian knight who returns from the ground whenever Britain (or England, it seems to change) is in peril, and Mariam, an ecoterrorist set to counter climate change. Set in a dystopian future where climate change has rendered much of Britain uninhabitable, and mass capitalism has removed all shreds of public service from government.
So it’s a strongly political story, and because of that I found it difficult to read in places, because those elements ring true as a possible future.
But it is also a comedy - there are little moments of amusement throughout, and plot twists which seem both incredible and entirely logical in the moment.
I’m not sure I’d go as far as to recommend the book - it took a lot of reading to get through and is heavier subject matter than I’m really in the mood for this year.