Mordred's Curse [Paperback]

Ian McDowell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

Raised by his witch-mother and an embittered foster father, Mordred of Orkney wants nothing more than to serve the uncle he idolizes, King Arthur. Discovering that he is Arthur's bastard son, not his nephew, Mordred confronts his beloved king. The king rejects him--turning Mordred's worship into an all-consuming hatred.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (Mm) (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380781956
• ISBN-13: 978-0380781959
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,173,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing take on an old legend, October 8, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mordred's Curse (Paperback)

I've read many retellings of the Arthur legend, and I'd started to think that authors were running out of fresh ways to tackle the subject matter. Then I read Mordred's Curse. This book is a look at the life of Mordred, a character who in most Arthurian tales appears suddenly at the end, just in time to spoil the party and bring Camelot to its ruin. In this book, we get the full story. McDowell's Mordred idolizes Arthur as a boy, but his admiration turns sour when Arthur, unable to accept the truth of Mordred's parentage, rejects him. The two develop an uneasy relationship, as Arthur increasingly relies on Mordred, even as he disapproves of him in many ways.

Mordred makes a wonderful narrator. He is perceptive, brutally honest about his own faults as well as those of others, and wickedly funny. The other characters are also well drawn. Arthur is portrayed particularly well as a man struggling with the problems of kingship - he comes across as a flawed but admirable man. And Guinevere, who is all too often a rather lifeless character in the Arthurian retellings, comes across as a woman of real intelligence and spirit.

In short, Mordred's Curse is well-written, has great-characterization, and will turn your picture of King Arthur on its head. Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The sleezy side of Arthurian legend!, September 1, 2005

By 

antihero (Central Cal) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mordred's Curse (Paperback)

Tired of Arthur being pious, Merlin being saintly, and Morganna and Mordred being nothing but generic villians to move the story along? Merlin's Gift, followed by its sequel, Mordred's Curse, puts an entirely new spin on the old tale. Mordred is the same self-centered, whoreing, cussing debaucher as in other versions of the story, yet as the protagonist, he is delightfully lovable for his honesty. Told from Mordred's cynical perspective, no one comes off looking good, and by the end of the story you will be as sick of Arthur's puritanical moralizing as Mordred is. Very refreshing and highly recommended if you like that style of wry humor. Mordred's Curse pulls you right down into the mud with the main character, and you'll be cheering for him all the way to the story's tragic end. "Dark" fantasy at its finest.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great new twist on the Arthurian legend!, August 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Mordred's Curse (Paperback)

I've read many Arthurian novels, and quite a few of them were abymsal. That's not the case here: Ian McDowell's novel is excellent! Told from the point of view of Mordred, Arthur's bastard son by his sister Morgawse, this is an inetersting twist on an oft-told tale. The characters really come alive, and Mordred (often relegated to second rate villain status) is fully fleshed out here. The novel is full of emotion, and the characters REALLY come alive. Telling the story from Mordred's point of view makes for some interesting viewpoints (Merlin a pervert?) but it's all smashingly done! I can't wait for the sequel!