18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"You are a young man and you must make your way in the world", May 6, 2006
This review is from: Mordred, Bastard Son (The Mordred Trilogy, Book 1) (Hardcover)
With the help of the mighty sword Excalibur stolen from the Lady of the Lake, King Arthur has forged a mighty empire. Centered in the mighty Castle of Tintagel, his power is unsurpassed throughout Britannia. But Arthur's supremacy is threatened, the divination of the prophet-wanderer Merlin tells of a great tragedy that will befall the King.
Mordred, born bastard and heathen of an incestuous coupling of the bloodline pun-Dragon and the bloodline of the Fay, conceived from the brutal rape of Arthur's half sister Morgan LeFay, will be the instrument of the King's great unmaking, perhaps even the greatest unraveling of all. Fearing for their lives, the pregnant Morgan escapes Tintagel with Merlin, finding sanctity on the Isle of Glass where Mordred is safely born.
From birth, Mordred is sheltered by his aunt Morgause and great aunt Viviane, as they gather around this great son of a King, steadily casting their prayers to "the will of life," offering up to him the blessings from the Great Lady of the Lake. As Mordred grows older, he learns the secrets of the earth and lakes, and trains with Merlin in the Eastern Arts of necromancy and war.
He learns of the elements, the energies of the forest, and the "magick" of the faerie realm that invade the mind through scent and the invisible boundaries existing in the world "unseen by men." It's a bucolic and tempered existence, but Mordred knows he is different: When he becomes physically attracted to his best friend Lukat, Viviane tells him he is like the "soldier-mages," those who love other men, "as some fear in this world who know not of such love."
Mordred is consumed with adolescent sexual urges when one day, at the edge the desolate territory, he spies a wild hermit swimming naked in the Lake of Glass. Little does he know this man is the greatest betrayer; Viviane warns him to say away from this knight, swordsman, and best friend of Arthur. But Mordred ignores them and soon he's caught up in the alchemy of love, a mingling of confusion with flesh and soul.
This hermit, this enigmatic man, once told Arthur of the sacred place beneath the lake, where the sword of Excalibur lay buried in rock. And as Mordred learns more, he falls in love but is deceived into thinking he can live a life unaffected by the machinations of the outside world. For Morgan, dreams of vengeance, and remembers how she was once hunted like a dog by her half brother, who stole the sword and the thrones of the kingdoms from her.
Betrayal also comes in the form of the seemingly loyal the Morgause, who has swallowed a life of servitude to King Lot and to her sons. Now full of vengeful fury she has captured the half soul of her sister, and is intent to battle a King who has been given the sacred tools of the greatest of kings. As Mordred becomes a man, he must deal with his guilt at his crimes of passion, and his longing for the world that had begun to remake itself around him.
Author Douglass Clegg beautifully skewers the Arthurian legends; weaving a compelling story, single handedly reinventing Mordred's sexuality. He is no longer the betrayer, of Arthur, the knight Lancelot, and Guinevere Queen of the Britons; he is now the seductive and passionate hero, given the almost insurmountable task of finding the cauldron of rebirth - the Grail. Arthur is the greatest of all emperors, and Mordred longs to see him, despite the monstrous things he had done to his mother before his birth.
This is a lawless, violent and random world, caught up in ancient superstitions, where the Kings and Druid priests, remember terrors of roman captivity, and call out for Merlin, hoping that the ancient mage might save them from devastation. Those who worshipped the heathen gods have largely gone underground, and those of Christendom have sought sanctuary in the ruins of abbeys, monasteries, nunneries and the Roman villas.
Mordred and his ilk remain tied to the rituals of the sacred midsummer rites, of the men of the tribes and the old ways of his people. But eventually, Mordred must leave the safety of Isle of Glass, for his destiny is predetermined and he is set on a irrevocable path that will become his life.
In this first part of this adventure, our young and heroic prince achieves a type of erotic understanding, arriving from his breaking of the bonds of innocence. Yet as he saves a damsel in distress and witnesses his enemies gathering - in the form of a newly rejuvenated and vengeful Morgause - Mordred realizes that the debts of his life are only just beginning. Mike Leonard May 06.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An original classic, March 8, 2006
This review is from: Mordred, Bastard Son (The Mordred Trilogy, Book 1) (Hardcover)
For gay men fascinated with the classics of myth and romance, there is often a certain level of gratification missing: the pleasure of reading the accounts of our own heroes and their place in the course of human history and myth. The author has successfully cast Mordred and another central character as being open to same sex love, and the tale is all the richer for it. After reading this book I couldn't imagine the story told in any other way, I FELT Mordred's longing, frustration and ultimate realisation of his special nature. His first unrequited love is recounted in a very tender and authentic manner, immediately recognisable to those of us who walked this same path in our youth.
The ancient world of Arthurian legend is beautifully brought to life with numerous references to the Old Religion that will be appreciated by neo-Pagan readers. All of the original cast are included, with the addition of the author's special insight and sensitive treatment of the "gay angle". Not just a rewrite of the same old stock literary figures and synopsis, I fell in LOVE with Mordred, the person (not to mention the man he finds romantic passion with, but I won't give that away). The women in the story are healers, leaders, villains...passionate, fully-realised human portrayals of the characters we know from older works but now become believable as sisters, mothers, and priestesses in a world that humans can't always control or understand. One is often reminded that life is a mystery, there are no easy answers for any of us. Gay or straight, we all experience love and loss, pain and joy and ponder what it all means and why we're here at all. The author weaves these eternal themes skillfully into the narrative with generous doses of humour and occasionally profound sorrow.
We'll have to wait for the next book, in the meantime I'll read this one again, perhaps a few times.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mordred's more then meets the eye., February 23, 2006
This review is from: Mordred, Bastard Son (The Mordred Trilogy, Book 1) (Hardcover)
Douglas Cleggs take on the King Arthur theme is original and very entertaining.
I have never been a fan of the King Arthur story line. I have tried on many occasions to read tales of the round table but to no avail.
Finally someone has written a unique vision of the time and myth of Camelot.
Mordred, the bastard son of Arthur is a compelling character that in the past has been represented as a demon sissy who in the end destroys Camelot.
Not now! This Mordred is compelling, beautiful and I can hardly wait for the second book.
Keep it up Douglas!
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