The Cleaving

With this impressive fantasy, McKenna (The Green Man’s Challenge) brings a fresh, female perspective to the story of King Arthur while retaining all the magic and grandeur of the original tale. Nimue is Queen Ygraine’s maidservant, but there’s more to her than meets the eye: like Merlin, Nimue is capable of magic, but unlike him, she refuses to use it to manipulate mortals. As Merlin’s meddling with King Uther Pendragon and his son, Arthur, who was born of rape, sets off political upheaval in Camelot, Nimue, Morgana, and Guinevere navigate shifting alliances and fraught positions in court. When Merlin mysteriously disappears, Arthur becomes increasingly unstable and tensions between kingdoms grow. As the land descends into war, the women fight to stop the bloodshed. The near-immortal Nimue makes a fascinating point-of-entry into this familiar tale, and the unusually dark take on Arthur himself is equally refreshing, though readers who idolize the character may be disappointed to see him so flawed. Fans of Arthurian legend and female-centric retellings like Circe and Ariadne will find much to enjoy. Agent: Max Edwards, Aevitas Creative Management. (Apr.)