Garth Nix is channeling his inner Douglas Adams in this delightful take on the Arthurian legend.
Tamara is an archeologist working near Hadrian’s wall when an encounter with a mysterious woman embroils her in a multidimensional game.
Now she has to play her part or be responsible for the end of the world. Indiana Jones never had it so hard.
Nix’s imagination never ceases to amaze me. He writes magic systems with such depth that I nearly believe that the game exists. The characters in this novelette are suitably whimsical, with my favorite going to the talking chopstick. Yes, that’s a thing.
Reminiscent of Adams, Gaiman or Pratchett, Nix has taken something familiar, spun it around and made it new again. This time it’s the legend of King Arthur (always a favorite, it seems), but the framing device of the story interested me much more than the humorous updating of the legend.
Unfortunately, the weakness of this tale is the story. It reads much more like an excerpt from a novel, and therefore is ultimately unsatisfying.
I award The Necessary Arthur…
The Necessary Arthur is available free on Tor.com and for $0.99 on Amazon.
Iseult Murphy 
Garath used to be one of my absolute favorites
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His Abhorsen books are amazing.
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They were indeed
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Great review! I haven’t read the first book in Abhorsen but it’s in one of these moving boxes somewhere lol.
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Thanks, Jonny. You should read Sabriel. I know you’ll love it.
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Of course! Yeah, I may need to take another look at my TBR soon. It feels like it’s gotten out of control again
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You should make space for Sabriel on it. Well worth it, and the next two are even better!
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Okay, duly noted! 🙂
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I loved the setting for this story and the idea of the game, and I would love to read what happens next, but I agree, it’s like a small part of a much greater story.
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😊
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