Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
Gwynna is only a little girl who is forced to leave her town after it is assaulted and set on fire. She is found in the woods, much to her distress. But it is Myrddin the bard, a wanderer and storyteller, who has discovered her. If Gwynna agrees to be tied in service to him, he will protect her. Gwynna is terrified but interested, and she agrees because this Myrddin works for the impressionable, strong, and young Arthur. Gwynna is changed by Myrddin into the enigmatic Lady of the Lake, a boy warrior, and a spy as they travel.
Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
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The King Arthur tale is dissected and demystified in the young adult novel Here Lies Arthur. And a fairly comprehensive demystifying at that. Reeve doesn’t just make Arthur into a Roman general or an English chieftain who rallies the populace against the Saxons, as opposed to the chivalrous magic-sword-wielding king of the Round Table. No, Reeve completely demolishes him; in this guise, Arthur is a small-minded, petty brigand with the following significant flaws: rudeness, vulgarity, lack of intelligence, unreliability, disorderliness, violence (including beating his wife), crudeness, and (literally) murderousness.
In essence, he is virtually completely without redeeming qualities. Remove the almost—there is nothing, in actuality.
He does, however, possess Myrrdin (Merlin), a false magician who is a master of deceit and propaganda. Myrrdin is likewise a man with a goal in mind and a strategy for pursuing it. For reasons we don’t fully understand until the end, Myrrdin despises the Saxons and harbours the fervent belief that without a strong leader in Britain, the Saxons will storm out of their holdings in the East and wreak havoc on the rest of Britain, which is currently divided into a few large states ruled by kings or chiefs, small fiefdoms, and even smaller regions under the control of regional warlords. For whatever reason, Myrrdin has identified Arthur as the “One,” and thus he provides advice to Arthur on who to court and who to oppose, as well as where to set up shop.
