cover image The Bloody Cup

The Bloody Cup

M.K. Hume. Atria, $16 trade paper (496p) ISBN 978-1-4767-1522-3

The court of King Artor has become a viper’s nest, and the king laments that “the next generation is gathering to pick my bones clean while I’m still alive,” in the grim final installment of Hume’s King Arthur trilogy. In the author’s magic-light, post-Roman Britain, the divine quest for the Holy Grail is turned into political necessity: a self-proclaimed Druid steals an old cup from the grave of a former bishop, and Artor knows that that the object could be turned into a symbol to foment rebellion, so he sends his warriors to find it and destroy the thief. Meanwhile, Artor tries to determine whether he could make one of his secret grandsons into his legitimate heir, but tragedy meets him at every turn. Of the young generation introduced in the tale, Merlin’s son, Taliesin, a harpist who takes his father’s place as advisor to Artor, is the most likable and least tragic. As Artor’s kingdom falls, so do its heroes, and Hume creates historical seeds that could have begun their legends. Despite occasionally stilted and anachronistic dialogue (“Bedwyr, check it out!”) and the depressing nature of Artor’s final years, Hume brings the series to a satisfying conclusion. (Feb.)