Henge by Realm Lovejoy
(Le Fay #1)
Publication date: November 11th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publication date: November 11th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Modern-day Camelot. Where knights no longer carry swords. Magic is dangerous. And those who seek control are not to be trusted.
Sixteen-year-old Morgan le Fay is a fire user. An ordinary girl with an extraordinary skill, she has the ability to create and command fire at will. Her dream is to become the Maven—the right hand of the future King Arthur. In the chance of a lifetime, Morgan is selected to join Arthur’s Round, an elite group of young magic users from which the new Maven will be chosen.
Along with the other fire, water, and wind users in Arthur’s Round, Morgan is rigorously trained and tested. The handsome Merlin, a brilliant water user, takes a particular interest in her. Is his friendship to be trusted, or is Merlin simply trying to win the position of Maven for himself? Among the many rivals Morgan faces is the current Maven, Mordred, who seems determined to see her fail.
But Morgan has a secret—years ago, her mother was executed for using fire magic, and Morgan’s desire for justice makes her more than ready to take on the challenge before her. Can she prevail in Camelot’s tests of survival and magic? Only time—and Morgan’s powerful fire—will tell.
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“Camelot meets Hogwarts meets Panem in this intriguing, well-written beginning to a planned YA series.”–Kirkus Reviews
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qoGAE2s8RE
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AUTHOR BIO:
Realm Lovejoy is an American writer and an artist. She grew up in both Washington State and the Japanese Alps of Nagano, Japan. Currently, she lives in Seattle and works as an artist in the video game industry. CLAN is her first book. You can find out more about her and her book at realmlovejoy.com
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Review
It's hard to find a good Arthurian retelling these days - even harder to find one that's a MODERN retelling of the well-known legends. Realm Lovejoy's Henge, the first in a series about a teenaged Morgan Le Fay, is both of these things. I started reading this book and was immediately drawn in by Morgan who seems like such a good girl, living in an isolated area with her overprotective father Gorlois, who has been told to hide her elemental ability with fire most of her life. At least, she's been hiding her abilities ever since her mother was executed for the murder of her husband using her abilities. But it's Morgan's dream to one day be Maven (basically main advisor) to Arthur once he's on the throne, like her Grandfather was to the Prince's grandfather. So Morgan sneaks away to compete for a place in the trials for Arthur's Round, whom the Maven will ultimately be chosen from. Even competing with a forged license and against her father's wishes, Morgan is chosen to participate in the competition. But does she even have any chance of winning when the man who convicted her Mother, the current Maven, Mordred, seems to be blocking her at every turn? And when some very fishy incidents involving the other candidates (including her friend Guinevere, and rival Merlin) and near death experiences seem to point towards illegal magic usage, Morgan may be fighting for more than just Maven - she might be fighting for her very life...
Morgan was such an easily connectable main character. She loves her father and still misses her mother, even after all these years. She just wants a chance to prove that she's not going to make the same mistakes her mother, Morgause, did and to renew her family's legacy. Morgan starts to really come into her own once she's competing in Arthur's Round, really learning to control the fire and do things with it she never imagined. I liked that Lovejoy put Mordred in a position of power, and in opposition of Morgan, especially considering that in the legends he's her son! It was an interesting dynamic, almost verging on complete role reversal. Morgan's the one trying to take over Mordred's position of power, instead of helping him depose Arthur. The take on elemental magic was interesting and the conspiracy involving some of the other candidates, along with the iffy-ness of Merlin's honesty/innoncence in the incidents makes things even more interesting. But probably my favorite things about this book were: Morgan's friendship with Guinevere, who has a healing ability (I have NEVER seen them represented as friends before in ANY retelling!), the twist near the end about what really happened the night Morgan's mother murdered her husband (never saw it coming) and the prophecy/visions Morgan has for her future. Not going to say anymore because I don't want to spoil it, but I really enjoyed this book! Can't wait to read what happens next and I'm really excited for Morgan's further adventures. I highly recommend it!
VERDICT: 4/5 Stars
*An ebook copy of this book was provided via the author and Xpresso Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review. No money or favors were exchanged. This book was published November 11th, 2014.*
GIVEAWAY
Great review, Anna! I'm not very familiar with the Arthurian legend but it sounds like a really interesting book! I like how well developed the characters sounds, too! Glad you liked it! :)
ReplyDeleteI hosted this book a while back and was super intrigued by it! I'm a sucker for things related to myths and legends.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading HENGE and taking the time to write a detailed review, Anna! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the book. I hope you will also like the next book coming out later this year!
ReplyDeletesounds interesting
ReplyDelete