Knight Life

by Peter David

Book Overview

More than 1,500 years after his disappearance into the mists of Avalon, King Arthur has returned. This time, he's prepared to rule the Camelot of a new millennium: New York City. Handsome, charismatic... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441010776
• ISBN13: 9780441010776
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Hilarious Arthurian "Legend"

Arthur: trapped in a dreamless sleep for eternity. It was foretold that one day he would wake and help patch up the new yet horridly unclean world of the future. Merlin, also trapped, ages backward enough to escape the cave prison, wakes the King, and enfuriates Morgan le Fay. The only problem with this legend is that Merlin and Arthur find themselves in New York City!!!!!!!! In this hilarious novel, Arthur runs for the ruling throne of Mayor of NYC. He also (to his surprise)reunites with Guenivere, Lancelot, and Percival, and more. Of course, Morgan le Fay and her son Modred attempt to stop him (in ways unimaginable of this age: demons and spells and more). You'll get humor on every page of this novel! The entire aspect of a wise wizard trapped in a little boy's body is great and you'll love the humor from him. That's not all either. You'll laugh at his new "recruits" (previous bandits) and their ways of ensuring votes, the Lady of the Lake's (or Central Park Lake's) "graceful" poise as she returns Excalibur to Arthur, and the all around humor of this book. This is a recommended read for those who love a good laugh and more importantly, a good story line. I loved every minute of this book and didn't even come across boring parts! Wow! Happy reading!

Knight Life Is A Charmer

Peter David, well known in sci-fi and comic circles, updates one of his very first books with some newer material for the modern age, as well as an overhaul of the writing style to reflect his more mature and developed style. This book tells the "what if" story of King Arthur and his band of confidants in the modern age as the great king reappears in 21st century New York City after being bound in a magic cave for the past few centuries. If you like fanciful fiction and witty writing, you'll like this. Yeah, it's kind of a sily concept, but it works, and you won't be disappointed!

Camelot 2002: A Satiric Fantasy

Peter David has re-worked and re-issued his first novel Knight Life. In this updating of the Arthurian legend Arthur Penn (real last name Pendragon, get it?) returns to New York City to run for mayor as an independent. His Republican opponent is a gritty, profane prosecutor (hmmm....). The Democrat is a handsome actor who has played a big city mayor in a tv series. Too funny...Much of the rest of the legendary cast joins Arthur. Merlin looks like an eleven year old (remember, he lives and ages backwards) who dresses as a prep schooler. Morgan is here: dark, evil and sexy as ever. Mordred is a p.r. agent (ha!). Lancelot is a failed writer into s. and m. while Guinivere is initially an abused woman who grows mightily as the book progresses. Galahad is passingly refered to (he doesn't make the modern cut) as the whiny virgin. The book is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Luckily Arthur is outfitted with plastic credit when he arrives in NYC so he is able to trade his armor in for Brooks Brother-like duds. His first speech on a street corner is clever. His dismay during a televised three-way debate when his opponents evade all the questions using them as set pieces for a pre-written riff is painfully funny.This is a funny, satiric and, oddly, profound book. The melding of Arthurian honor and modern poitical opportunism is unsettling and yet by the end hopeful. Read this book for a fun time and a strangely compelling affirmation of man's basic goodness.

Fun and entertaining.

What if King Arthur came back today? And what if instead of being the king of England, he did something radically different--such as run for mayor of New York City? Those questions serve as the premise for Peter David's first novel, Knight Life. For years, Knight Life was hard to find--its popularity among David fans is well-known. Thankfully, David has ended the long searches through used bookstores by updating his novel and releasing it again in hardcover for a new generation of fans to pick up and enjoy. If you like Peter David's usual writing style, you're in for a treat here. David pays homage to the basic tenants of the Arthurian legend while putting his own, comic spin on a lot of it. David has apparently done his homework and done it well, but he doesn't take it so seriously that he can't have some fun with it. There are a lot of absolutely laugh-out loud sequences in the book, from the Lady of the Lake rising up in Central Park and being covered with trash to the running joke about Merlyn's reverse aging and looking like a teenager. This modern-day retelling of the Arthur story works very well and you can see the joy that David has in writing it. Some passages seem to be in the same vein as William Goldman's The Princess Bride. David pays homage, but also pokes holes in the coventions of the stories he is re-telling, just as he did last year with his great Sir Appropos of Nothing.If you've a Peter David fan, this is a must-read. If you've heard good things about him, start here and then head on to Sir Apropos and Imazadi. All of them are great stories by a great author.

wonderful modernization of Camelot in Manhattan

It is time to fulfill the medieval prophecy as Arthur Pendragon has returned to the mortal plane. However, instead of ye olde merry England he lands in modern day Central Park making Belvedere Castle his home. Arthur struggles to adjust to Manhattan especially with the dysfunctional assistance of his mentor Merlin.Once Arthur becomes a little more acclimated to the city that never sleeps, he decides that the best way to fulfill his mission is to become mayor so he throws his helmet into the ring as a candidate for the mayor of the Big Apple. Besides Merlin, Guinevere and Percival assist Arthur on his maiden political run. An atrophied couch potato living in exile in New Jersey, the return rejuvenates Morgan Le Fay who enters the city to challenge her long-term foes. Worse than the sorceress for Arthur is that Modred has also been reincarnated, but this time as the deadliest of opponents, a public relations professional working for the dreaded competitor.Renowned comic book and fantasy novelist Peter David has rewritten his wild mid-eighties -Camelot in Manhattan tale, retaining the humor and the personae of the cast, but tightening the plot. The story line is fun for more than just the Round Table crowd as Arthur struggles with almost everything about contemporary New York even as he runs for the job of mayor. Mindful of Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland's Camelot 3000 series (also originating in the 1980s), but less graphic and more amusing, KNIGHT LIFE is a wonderful modernization of Camelot.Harriet Klausner