Percival's Angel | |||||
Anne Eliot Crompton | |||||
Roc Books, 256 pages | |||||
A review by Charlene Brusso
The author's previous books (Merlin's Harp, etc), explored the story of Arthur and his knights
through feminist and pagan viewpoints. Add to that now the genuine fantastic element of Fey influences and
you have the story of Percival, "Arthur's greatest Knight," as told here. Lili of the Fey, apprentice to Nimway,
Lady of the Lake, is the childhood companion of young human Percy, raised among the Fey of the enchanted
wood which surrounds Nimway's lake. Percival's mother Alanna, the runaway widow of a Knight, is
well-versed in the reality behind the pretty stories of knightly deeds. She intends her son to live out his days with
her in the safety of the Fey wood and have nothing to do with knighthood, or coarse humanity in general. But
as Lili and Percy grow older, Alanna's desire is doomed to disappointment.
As Fey, Lili matures more quickly than her companion. She knows the differences between Fey and
human, even if she doesn't exactly understand them. Looking at her reflection in a forest pool, Lili sees
Merlin tells Lili that humans and Fey have different gifts. Fey possess "Simplicity, Clarity and
Freedom," while each human owns a human Heart, "the World's Greatest Magical Power." As something of a
sorcerer herself, Lili longs to know more about this Heart and what power it possesses.
The day a ragtag group of Knights wanders into the Fey wood is the day everything changes. While
the bluff, earthy souls who blunder about in loud metal armour, with frequent shoutings of "Goddamn!", don't
impress Lili, Percival is captivated. "Knights don't live to grub a root here, a piglet there..." he tries to explain
to Lili. "Goddamn fishes live like that! Knights live for their King, for his Kingdom, their Honour! Fame!
Riches! Each one his own!"
Thus begins Percival's quest to become one of Arthur's Knights. Driven by her own desire to obtain
the power of a human Heart, Lili accompanies Percy. With the power of a magic ring called Victory given to
her as a parting gift by the Lady of the Lake, Lili is Percy's protector and also his conscience, more attuned to
the reality they find than Percy, whose dreams of knighthood have glamoured him as strongly as any spell. To
Lili, Arthur and his Knights have little to do with the fine values they represent. Instead, mere common
Humans -- a priest who risks his life to treat plague victims, or villagers who enter a burning building to rescue
those trapped within -- amaze her. Is this what Human Heart is?
Lili's quest parallels Percy's, always moving just enough within the confines of older legends -- the
Fisher King and the Holy Grail -- to almost turn them inside out. By the time Lili has gained her Heart and Percy
his Knighthood, both realize it isn't what they thought it was. Coming to terms with that fact, and reaching
something wiser than disappointment, each finds that what they needed all along was something they took for
granted. Yet, neither can regret the journey, for "Nothing is so strange that Humans will not do it." Readers looking for
a decidedly different take on the popular reconstructionist view of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
will find much to enjoy and consider in Crompton's latest book.
Charlene's sixth grade teacher told her she would burn her eyes out before she was 30 if she kept reading and writing so much. Fortunately he was wrong. Her work has also appeared in Aboriginal SF, Amazing Stories, Dark Regions, MZB's Fantasy Magazine, and other genre magazines. |
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