If you’re a fan of Arthurian Legends, then this book might be for you.

Scott reached out to see if I would be interested in reading and reviewing his book – The Flower of Chivalry, but unfortunately, my schedule is packed. I still wanted to bring this book to your attention, because, hello – Arthurian Legend! So, I’m presenting it to you in a format other than a review.

When Scott first reached out, he had seen my post about not really caring for Cursed by Thomas Wheeler and Frank Miller. He said that since that book hadn’t been it for me, then I should give his book a go – I’ve already added it to my ever growing TBR. So, if Cursed wasn’t for you, maybe this applies to you as well!

I’ve always been a sucker for Arthurian Legend retellings/adaptations, and I’m always looking for new ones. I can legitimately recite lines from BBC’s Merlin because I’ve seen it so many times. But I think my love for Arthurian Legends comes from both, The Magic Tree House book, and Quest for Camelot – which apparently just hit Netflix! So, if you’re looking for your next King Arthur fix, maybe look no further.

One of these days, I plan on getting to this book and reading it, but until then, the synopsis is just going to have to hold me over.

No one knows who Arthur is—least of all himself. All his parents know is that they are to raise him as their own, and never let on to him that he is not their child. All his brother Kay knows is that Arthur just seems to be better at everything, and better liked by everyone. All Arthur knows is that he doesn’t look or act like his family, and no one will tell him why. And while his parents say that he and his brother are equals, they keep promoting Kay over him—putting Kay forward as a knight, while they will only allow Arthur to be his squire.

No one knows that he is destined to be King Arthur, the legendary king of all Britain.

Yet there’s something in Arthur that can’t be repressed. A will to do right, to defend those who cannot defend themselves. Through his idyllic childhood in the forests that surround his home, he learns to protect and care for a friend that is shunned by all others, finally leading him on a dangerous unaccompanied journey that he handles with ease. Emboldened by his success, Arthur drifts into overconfidence, and makes a disastrous mistake that threatens to end his adventures—and his life—before they’ve even begun.

I mean, I think it sounds really good, and I’m bummed that my schedule is so packed with books I have to read. But like I said, one of these days, I will be reading this book.

Now that you’ve read the synopsis, I have some more information for you! Since I haven’t read the book, and I’m only here promoting it, Scott was kind enough to provide a short little blurb review as well as a bit of information about himself, and his research into the Arthurian Legend.

“Far surpasses T.H. White’s ‘The Sword in the Stone’ for being far more serious and better thought out.”
–Tyler Tichelaar, author, “Children of Arthur”

Author’s Note:

The thing with my book series The Swithen is that I’ve set a challenge for myself as a writer that I have to remain completely faithful to the real Arthurian legend. The old stuff is in Middle English, which has like five emotions, no character development and no psychology, so what I do is keep the story and add all that stuff in, but whatever I add has to fit seamlessly into the legend without changing it. This book is 95% original, however, because there’s nothing about King Arthur’s childhood in the legend! It’s also okay to start here because it begins a whole new story and you can jump in without reading the previous ones. There’s a lot of focus on Arthur not knowing that he’s adopted–we usually forget that Arthur was a foster child–and even though we know he pulls the sword at the end, I think I’ve found a way to come at it that most people won’t expect. I patterned it more after classic childhood novels like Huck Finn or Little House on the Prairie than most current fantasy, and another way it differs from a lot of current fantasy is that it’s light and fun (until it turns dark and terrifying, but you know). I think so much epic fantasy tries to be all dark and edgy and gritty, but it’s important for me to show that the characters also laugh and make jokes and goof around–especially in this book, where they’re kids. This book skirts being Young Adult, but they do encounter some adult stuff, so I’m more comfortable saying that it’s aimed at adults rather than have some parent get mad at me! Oh and by the way, it’s available for free on NetGalley for members there.

Last but not least, I have links! So many links for you to check out, and if you’re on NetGalley, The Flower of Chivalry is available as Read Now! So, you can download and read right away!

The Flower of Chivalry: Amazon

The Flower of Chivalry: NetGalley

The Swithen Series: Amazon

The Swithen Series: Website

The Flower of Chivalry: Goodreads

Let me know if you check out The Flower of Chivalry! I’m curious to hear your thoughts. I hope you all liked this post and I hope you add it to your TBR’s!

I just want to say a quick thank you to Scott for reaching out and bringing this book to my attention. I doubt I would have found it otherwise!