Mordred's Curse

by Ian McDowell

Book Overview

Raised by his witch-mother, Mordred of Orkney has a burning desire to serve his uncle, King Arthur, but after he discovers that he is the bastard son of the king, and Arthur rejects him, Mordred's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380781956
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 1.0" x 4.5"

Customer Reviews

The sleezy side of Arthurian legend!

Tired of Arthur being pious, Merlin being saintly, and Morganna and Mordred being nothing but generic villians to move the story along? Merlin's Gift, followed by its sequel, Mordred's Curse, puts an entirely new spin on the old tale. Mordred is the same self-centered, whoreing, cussing debaucher as in other versions of the story, yet as the protagonist, he is delightfully lovable for his honesty. Told from Mordred's cynical perspective, no one comes off looking good, and by the end of the story you will be as sick of Arthur's puritanical moralizing as Mordred is. Very refreshing and highly recommended if you like that style of wry humor. Mordred's Curse pulls you right down into the mud with the main character, and you'll be cheering for him all the way to the story's tragic end. "Dark" fantasy at its finest.

Deceitfully delightful!

Mr. McDowell has a way of catching you with the first sentence of his stories like no one else. And he doesn't let go. I bought a copy for myself, and made everyone read it. This variation makes much more sense than the romanticized writings of the Arthur legends one usually finds. Too bad it's out of print, or I'd start buying copies for friends again! Now I just need to finish reading the sequel.

A refreshing take on an old legend

I've read many retellings of the Arthur legend, and I'd started to think that authors were running out of fresh ways to tackle the subject matter. Then I read Mordred's Curse. This book is a look at the life of Mordred, a character who in most Arthurian tales appears suddenly at the end, just in time to spoil the party and bring Camelot to its ruin. In this book, we get the full story. McDowell's Mordred idolizes Arthur as a boy, but his admiration turns sour when Arthur, unable to accept the truth of Mordred's parentage, rejects him. The two develop an uneasy relationship, as Arthur increasingly relies on Mordred, even as he disapproves of him in many ways. Mordred makes a wonderful narrator. He is perceptive, brutally honest about his own faults as well as those of others, and wickedly funny. The other characters are also well drawn. Arthur is portrayed particularly well as a man struggling with the problems of kingship - he comes across as a flawed but admirable man. And Guinevere, who is all too often a rather lifeless character in the Arthurian retellings, comes across as a woman of real intelligence and spirit. In short, Mordred's Curse is well-written, has great-characterization, and will turn your picture of King Arthur on its head. Highly recommended.

A great new twist on the Arthurian legend!

I've read many Arthurian novels, and quite a few of them were abymsal. That's not the case here: Ian McDowell's novel is excellent! Told from the point of view of Mordred, Arthur's bastard son by his sister Morgawse, this is an inetersting twist on an oft-told tale. The characters really come alive, and Mordred (often relegated to second rate villain status) is fully fleshed out here. The novel is full of emotion, and the characters REALLY come alive. Telling the story from Mordred's point of view makes for some interesting viewpoints (Merlin a pervert?) but it's all smashingly done! I can't wait for the sequel!

So who cares if they left out Lancelot?

OK, so I admit it. Writers have messed around before with the "sacred" legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. I've even been known to yell about it myself. But, the thing is, this time it's so much fun! I've got to tell you, I really like this Mordred. He's got a sense of humor, he's smart, he's certainly not too holy (Arthur's got that market cornered), and he's pretty darned heroic. OK, so the language is a bit much and I don't like Merlin as a prissy pervert and where the heck is Lancelot any way? (McDowell does answer that one at the end of the book.) In spite of all these things, it's so entertaining that I just plain didn't care. If you're into legends about Camelot, you'll love this one!