Review: King Maker by Maurice Broaddus

Escapism – in many circles it’s a dirty word as no discerning, intelligent reader could possibly read for a reason as mundane as escapism. Well, I will stand up and happily shout that escapism is absolutely the primary reason I read (it’s not like it’s the first time either). But, escapism isn’t the only reason I read and sometimes a book comes along that is absolutely not an escapist read. Generally I know in advance that a book will be such, but sometimes they sneak in and catch me by surprise. King Maker by Maurice Broaddus (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) is one of those stealth, non-escapist books.

King Maker, the first book in The Knights of Breton Court trilogy, re-tells Arthurian myth in the streets of Indianapolis. On the surface it is definitely fantasy and a clever version of urban fantasy at that – and it is both of those. But the reality is much different. Whether the story of violent gang-banger, crack-head, drug-dealing, youths of the Indianapolis ghetto is an allegory for Arthurian myth, or if Arthurian myth has become an allegory for the struggles of the lost urban core of an American city, I can’t say for certain. But King Maker is a poignant vision into an aspect of American society that most of strive to ignore. King Maker is a book that I wouldn’t have chosen to read if I had known what it was really about – and for precisely that reason, it’s a book that a guy like me should read.

The tag-line for King Maker reads ‘The Wire meets Excalibur…’ and it is an apt description. The story is full of gang warfare, drug addiction, youth violence, racial issues, poverty, economic class, homeless, mentally ill, and most of the elements of society that so many of us intentionally and/or ignorantly have absolutely no understanding of. It’s bleak, it’s violent, it’s depressing, it’s eye-opening, it’s tragic, and it’s real.

And it is fantasy – Broaddus increasingly weaves elements of Arthurian myth into the story while keeping it founded in reality. That is until the end when the fantastic takes over. To maintain the delicate balance, Broaddus cleverly mingles the tough language of the street with the fantastical prose of Arthurian myth. The result is likely still quite watered down from actual street language, but none the less, a challenge at times.

One of the most effective aspects of King Maker is its setting – Indianapolis. These aren’t the hard streets of New York, Chicago, L.A., Detroit or any other of those more iconic American cities. The setting is Indianapolis – perhaps one of the most generic cities in the US – most people know of it, but don’t know it. It’s in the heart of the ‘nice-guy’ country, the American Mid-West, and certainly a place that I don’t associate with intense gang violence (though I haven’t ever actually been to Indianapolis). It may simply be that since Broaddus is from Indianapolis, he chooses to set his books there – after all, write what you know – but the generic settings adds even more weight to King Maker.

Unfortunately for such a potentially powerful novel, King Maker is terribly uneven. Fans of Arthurian myth will delight in the way Broaddus fills out the cast – the crazy, ranting, homeless man Merle is Merlin. The homeless youth Lady G, Guinevere. The gang leader Dred, Mordred. And the list goes on. Reality rules the start of King Maker, with only subtle underpinnings of the fantastic. But toward the end, Broaddus abruptly throws all sorts of fantastic elements into the story. While I found it clever (especially what he does with the fiends – drug addicts), I also felt that it totally ruined the affect of a few good people rising up against he criminal elements that control the streets.

Equally uneven is the characterization. Everyone is only a minor character – while this is good in that Broaddus does best with minor characters, it also causes problems. Who is the hero? Who am I a routing for or against? My knowledge of Arthurian myth gives me these answers, as well as hints to where the series is going in the future, but I’m not endeared to any of the characters. Yes, Broaddus is great with the back-story, the tragic, unfortunately past and present that youths experience in the streets – absent fathers, misogynistic abuse, hunger, easy money through drugs, drug addiction, casual violence, etc. It’s horrifying, but the characters soon become rather faceless, just a list of characteristics. The situation is steeped in tragic reality but the characters never become as real – particularly the ‘good guys’. Of course there are exceptions (such as Wayne and Percy), but how is this supposed to work without endearment to King, Lott, and Lady G?

From time to time any avowed escapist such as myself needs a shock to the system – and King Maker provides just that. The wonderfully creative premise and horrific reality make it a book that should be read. Unfortunately, it is a flawed work that undermines the weight of the powerful punch it should deliver. But even with its flaws, even if it stays true to Arthurian myth, giving me the knowledge of how things will end, The Knights of Breton Court is a series I will continue reading. 6.5-7/10

The Dragon and the Unicorn by A.A. Attanasio

I still don’t quite understand how or why I read the entire book. The Dragon and the Unicorn begins with a ‘Prelude’ that is about 50 pages of incoherent rambling about life, the universe and everything – it was utterly painful to read. Then we get to the actual story part of the book – which turns out to be just another version of Arthurian myth.

A majority of the story follows Merlinus (Merlin) who searches for, finds, and raises Uther Pendragon to be King of the Britons in the age after Rome has left the land and invasions by the Angles, Saxons, and other tribes begin. The story is pretty standard with Ygrane, Queen of the Celts eventually marrying Uther to ultimately give birth to Arthur – this is not the story of Arthur, but his parents (I assume there is a sequel but don’t care to look it up).

Generally speaking this book is just painful – it attempts to be philosophically universal in the origins of the universe, earth, and religion. This is something that should appeal to me, but it just never works, coming across as New Age crap rather than anything meaningful. A few places in the book become compelling to read and that magical Celtic feel is achieved, but these are exceptions rather than the norm. In the end, I didn’t care for a single character in this book and it took an extreme exercise in will to reach the end of the book.

I can only recommend The Dragon and the Unicorn to the most hard core fans of Arthurian myth; everyone else should give it a wide birth. 4/10.

The Once and Future King by T.H. White

The tale of Arthur, Merlyn, Lancelot, Guenever, and the round table is immortal and The Once and Future King by T.H. White, first published in 1958, is arguably the most respected modern version of these events and a widely acknowledged classic of fantasy. White loosely bases his retelling of this famous legend from the text of Le Morte D'arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, dating to the 15th century. He tells the tale in four parts: The Sword in the Stone, The Queen of Air and Darkness, The Ill-Made Knight, and The Candle in the Wind, with a fifth part published separately as The Book of Merlyn.

The Sword in the Stone covers the life of Arthur as a child, when Merlyn comes to him as his teacher and provides inspiration for the Disney movie of the same name. Arthur has no knowledge of his birthright and believes he is destined to be merely a page to his bully-ish foster brother Kay. The Wart, as Arthur is known, has many adventures, including conversations with beasts and outlaws, and an encounter with a sword stuck in a stone.

The Queen of Air and Darkness focuses on the childhood of the Orkney faction, the sons of King Lot and Queen Morgause. We see their troubled childhood and anticipate the trouble it will cause.

The Ill-Made Knight is the tale of the greatest knight in the world – Sir Lancelot Dulac. Lancelot is not the dreamy hero anticipated, but a troubled man of conflicted emotions and loyalty. We see the blossoming love with Guenever, the quest for the Holy Grail, and the trappings of Elaine.

The Candle in the Wind concludes The Once and Future King with the story of Arthur’s downfall, the love quadrangle of Arthur, Lancelot, Guenever, and God, and the tragedy of Mordred, Arthur’s illegitimate son of Queen Morgause.

The voice of The Once and Future King sets it apart from the usual re-telling of the myth of Arthur and his round table. White takes a conversational tone at times, jumping in and out of the time and point of view of his subject with commentary on Malory’s original telling. This tone is both a curse and blessing on the tale, sometimes annoying, sometimes amusing.

One suffering of White’s telling is the lack of that extra something that makes the reader truly care for the characters. This is a tragic tale, yet I never felt sorry for the characters, I never connected with them as I should have. Perhaps it’s due to the conversational voice I mention above, but whatever its origin, the story never overcomes this.

The Candle in the Wind sets itself apart from the rest of book as the best written installment. White finally manages to get me to care about the characters, and it ends well. The tone become much more serious and reflections of ‘modern’ times shine through as Europe repairs from WWII and the Cold War takes over.

The Once and Future King is a classic of fantasy (it says it right on the cover), one of the best known versions of the story of King Arthur, and therefore, a must read in the pantheon of Arthur, but not a book without flaws. On my 10-point rating scale, The Once and Future King rates a 6, not as high as anticipated, but still a decent read.