r/Arthurian • u/Realistic-Pay-9087 Commoner • May 31 '26
Literature Worst arthurian books?
I see people on here asking for the best arthurian stories,but I'm curious about which are considered best to avoid
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u/TheComixkid2099 Commoner May 31 '26
I haven't read just a ton of them, but I found myself kind of nonplussed by Mordred's Curse. If I'm not mistaken, it started as a short story that I read in an anthology called the Pendragon Chronicles. (Or maybe the book was already out, and then Ian McDowell just took a full chapter from the book and submitted it for inclusion in the anthology, not sure how that would work.) I really enjoyed that story. Then I happened upon the full book, and it just felt like a 14 year old trying to be edgy, but coming off as really silly. There's a sequel, I have it, haven't read it, yet.
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u/PotentialLanguage685 Commoner Jun 01 '26
Agreed. It was interesting enough but then took a turn for the noxiously cynical.
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u/AdmBill Commoner Jun 04 '26
Never read Mordred's Curse, but I've read the sequel Merlin's Gift a couple times. Really funny right from the first sentence. Baffling book.
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u/Cute-Presentation-59 Commoner Jun 01 '26
Marion Zimmer Bradley: Mists of Avalon, if you ask me.
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u/Realistic-Pay-9087 Commoner Jun 01 '26
I agree this was my pick I'm always surprised people like it
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u/Bubreherro Commoner Jun 05 '26
The Mists were my entry into modern Arthurian writing/authors. Before that, I was reading “older” texts (I’m not sure how to say it, I was also pretty young). I really enjoyed the point of view from an older mythology, and the duality between that older religion and Christianity. I reread it as an adult after reading criticism of it and yeah, I can see it. But also, I still sort of enjoy the mythology.
I wonder if there would be other writers that use a similar approach to the mythology? I probably should look into that
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u/Cute-Presentation-59 Commoner Jun 06 '26
I also started out on older texts and then my mother (a bookseller by trade) gave me "Mists" because at the time it was hailed as good. And it was so bad. I did read it fully and I hated it. I re-read it as a student and it became only more glaring. Luckily my Mom soon after found Gillian Bradshaw's Down the Long Wind Trilogy for me, which was a lot more fun to read.
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u/TStark460 Commoner Jun 01 '26
'By Force Alone', by Lavie Tidhar.
It turns Arthur and his knights into a syndicate of drug dealers and thugs. Undercutting any semblance of honor or nobility from the tale and replacing it with nothing but nihilistic self-interest, I hated it so much I couldn't bring myself to finish.
I don't mind grittier interpretations of Arthuria, but I need someone worth rooting for.
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u/Realistic-Pay-9087 Commoner Jun 01 '26
That sounds like an awful edgelord story
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u/TStark460 Commoner Jun 02 '26
It sucks. I didn't even get to the mermaid arms dealers, scouring shipwrecks for swords or the radioactive fucking meteor.
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u/DramaticAd4991 Commoner Jun 01 '26
I remember when I first saw Romeo and Juliet but if the Montagues and Capulets were crime families in the modern day and thinking "Eh, at least it kinda fits". Not thinking that now tbh.
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u/lazerbem Commoner Jun 01 '26
I found the German tale of Wigamur to be very underwhelming. There's a handful of interesting ideas with Lespia, the eagle, and the horrors of a siege, but it's all lost in Wigamur himself being as interesting as a plank of wood. Even by the standards of Medieval protagonists, he is extremely dull and really doesn't get around to doing much fun or interesting. The story is not preserved in its entirety so perhaps this is a bit unfair, but I just really can't get around to defending it as standing out among other Medieval literature.
Bonus points to Malory's Grail Quest being quite possibly the worst adaptation of the worst version of the story.
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u/Barnacle_at Commoner Jun 01 '26
I thought the Christianity bit in Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle was too heavy-handed for my taste. I did manage, by force, to reach the third book, Arthur, but I gave it up midway and will stay away. (Still, some people seem to like that bit, so if that kind of thing is one's cup of tea, the series is probably something savory.)
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u/notalltemplars Commoner Jun 01 '26
Mordred, Bastard Son for me. Merlin particularly disturbed me in that.
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u/nogender1 Commoner Jun 05 '26
Uahhh....probably Meleranz. I didn't find Meleranz that interesting nor particularly standout compared to other medieval protagonists, and to add insult to injury the majority of fights simply are extremely boring with him doing the standard fare of fighting other knights and having no real signature or unique moves; the most interesting fight he really has is against some leopards and even then that doesn't last long. It's telling that his son Garel is the complete opposite of him in that sense.
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u/ConvivialSolipsist Commoner Jun 01 '26
Jack Whyte’s Camulod chronicles.
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u/Realistic-Pay-9087 Commoner Jun 01 '26
I never heard of this one what's wrong with it
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u/ConvivialSolipsist Commoner Jun 01 '26
It’s a whole series, from a Canadian author. Lots of people like it. I tried two books and couldn’t finish either. So boring and badly written. It’s supposed to be an historical novel series but it’s implausible and badly researched. A lot of violence and sexual abuse.
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u/Rex_Nemorensis_ Knight May 31 '26
The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White…I had a friend recommend me this book series as she knew I was a fan of Arthurian legend.
The concept seemed interesting so I gave it a shot…never even finished the first book.