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Perilous Times

A Novel

Thomas D. Lee

$62.95

Hardback

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English
Miscellaneous
23 May 2023
An immortal Knight of the Round Table faces his greatest challenge yet—saving the politically polarized, rapidly warming world from itself—in this slyly funny contemporary take on Arthurian legend.

“If you like Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, you’ll enjoy Perilous Times. . . . An utterly original take on Arthurian myth.”—The Times

A POPSUGAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Legends don’t always live up to reality.

Being reborn as an immortal defender of the realm gets awfully tiring over the years—or at least that’s what Sir Kay’s thinking as he claws his way up from beneath the earth yet again.

Kay once rode alongside his brother, King Arthur, as a Knight of the Round Table. Since then, he has fought at Hastings and at Waterloo and in both World Wars. But now he finds himself in a strange new world where oceans have risen, the army’s been privatized, and half of Britain’s been sold to foreign powers. The dragon that’s running amok—that he can handle. The rest? He’s not so sure.

Mariam’s spent her life fighting what’s wrong with her country. But she’s just one ordinary person, up against a hopelessly broken system. So when she meets Kay, she dares to hope that the world has finally found the savior it needs.

Yet as the two travel through this bizarre and dangerous land, they discover that a magical plot of apocalyptic proportions is underway. And Kay’s too busy hunting dragons—and exchanging blows with his old enemy Lancelot—to figure out what to do about it. 

In perilous times like these, the realm doesn’t just need a knight. It needs a true leader. 

Luckily, Excalibur lies within reach. 

But who will be fit to wield it? 

With a cast that includes Merlin, Morgan le Fay, the Lady of the Lake, and King Arthur himself—all reimagined in joyous, wickedly subversive fashion—Perilous Times is an Arthurian retelling that looks forward as much as it looks back . . . and a rollicking, deadpan-funny, surprisingly touching fantasy adventure.
By:  
Imprint:   Miscellaneous
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 243mm,  Width: 163mm,  Spine: 41mm
Weight:   731g
ISBN:   9780593499016
ISBN 10:   0593499018
Pages:   496
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Thomas D. Lee believes all sorts of things about how art and literature can be used as tools to fight for a better future, but mostly he just wants to make his readers laugh. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Manchester, where he is currently studying for a PhD specializing in queer interpretations of the Arthurian mythos. He frequently considers emulating Merlin and becoming a hermit in the woods who speaks only in riddles. Perilous Times is his first novel.

Reviews for Perilous Times: A Novel

[A] hugely entertaining yet thought-provokingcli-fi novel . . . the book [is] properly hilarious; that kind of whimsical and observational humor that Fforde and Pratchett fans are going to love. Lee has brought Arthur's legends into these modern, perilous, times. -The Fantasy Hive [Lee] maintains a steady faith in humanity's ability to bring itself back from the brink; swords can do more than cleave if they become rallying symbols for folks who do not recognize their own heroism. -Publishers Weekly Wow, what a book. Hilarious, heartwarming, and harrowing all at once, with such a fun, fresh twist on Arthurian legend. All great fantasy is escapist, but this one offers a hard-and quite necessary-dose of reality as well. -Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld An angry, funny novel, grounded in a vital, urgent reality and soaring with joyous fantasy-a needful delight of a book. -Claire North, author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August Enormous fun, combining razor-sharp wit with savage political commentary, propulsive action, and near-endless Arthurian Easter Eggs, this is a brilliant collision of ancient mysticism with modern madness. -Robert Jackson Bennett, USA Today bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy I howled my way through this book! Smart, funny, refreshing fantasy, full of vivid characters who will bring a lot of joy to a lot of people-it carves out a place for ancient legends in a brand-new world. -Natasha Pulley, author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Funny, weird, wise, lovely, and full of mad shit . . . You've never read anything like it before. -Stuart Turton, author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Thomas D. Lee has written a gloriously fun book, easily the best I've read this year. It's relentlessly entertaining, deadpan hilarious, and full of heart. Give it five pages and you'll be hooked. -Scott Hawkins, author of The Library at Mount Char A glorious experiment of a folklorist's 'what-if?' trounced by the dual-headed dragon of climate change and capitalism . . . It takes a keen writer to play with legends and come out with raw, evolving characters and Lee has done just that. -A. J. Hackwith, author of the Hell's Library series One of my very favorite books of the year-a magical, profane, and hilarious adventure . . . I raced through Perilous Times and finished it thinking about all the people I could buy it for. -Rosie Andrews, author of The Leviathan A deft evisceration of the state of modern Britain and the broader Western world. Lee has a maestro's eye for satire. -Richard Swan, bestselling author of The Justice of Kings Lee's tale of the Knights of the Round Table versus climate change grabs hold and won't let go. Forget the once-and-future-king; this is a once-and-future classic. -Jackson Ford, author of The Frost Files series


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