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rat_girly's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A queer, gender-bent retelling of the Arthurian legend told with magical and poetic prose. Quite a short read but the pace isn’t rushed. I really liked Peretur’s character; she is kind, caring, brave, and deeply connected to nature. Great disability representation via Lance as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Violence, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Infertility
Minor: Vomit
blacksphinx's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Moderate: Dementia, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Animal death, and Mental illness
Minor: Xenophobia, Homophobia, Rape, and War
blewballoon's review
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I recommend going into this blind. The story is written like a folk tale, which sometimes can make you feel a little removed from what's going on and also can feel a bit like a run-on sentence with how things are described and unfold. I think I generally prefer writing that feels more personal and easy to connect with, but I don't think that was the goal here. I think the goal of writing a story that feels like an ancient fable was achieved. I think the shorter length works in its favor in that regard as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Death
Minor: Animal death and Sexual content
deedireads's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
Spear is a gender-bent, queer, Arthurian/Percival retelling that’s rich, stunning, and timely. It’s especially good on audio. I’m so glad I read it!
For you if: You like fantasy retellings that feel a little more literary, kind of like The Silence of the Girls.
FULL REVIEW:
I’d never read Nicola Griffith before, but boy am I glad that Spear was shortlisted for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize, because now I have and she is excellent. This novella is rich, stunning, and timely — and, bonus, it has a distinct but accessible literary feeling to it.
This novella is an Arthurian retelling focused on Percival, here rendered as Peretur. It’s also (wait for it) gender-bent and sapphic. Peretur was raised by her mother in a remote cave but soon leaves to seek her fate by disguising herself as a man, earning a name for herself, (making maidens swoon,) and joining the knights of the round table. But soon it becomes clear that there are mysteries to uncover and a quest to embark on when it comes to her own history and upbringing.
Gender-bent Arthurian retellings will always catch my eye, but what makes this book so stunning is Griffith’s prose. She leaves a distance between the text and the story to give you, the reader, plenty of space to exist in between. That makes this novella-length story feel not empty, but rich and full and literary (in fact, Tor published this book but they gave her an FSG editor, soooo if that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know!). Not a single phrase is wasted, and it’s not something to rush through but definitely something to get lost in. I think if you enjoyed the vibe in The Silence of the Girls, you might like this as well. (Also: genre is marketing!)
Finally, please do yourself a favor and listen to this one on audio (or tandem read print and audio, as I did). It lends itself beautifully to the form and Griffith herself narrates.
To Nicola Griffith’s backlist I go!
TL;DR REVIEW:
Spear is a gender-bent, queer, Arthurian/Percival retelling that’s rich, stunning, and timely. It’s especially good on audio. I’m so glad I read it!
For you if: You like fantasy retellings that feel a little more literary, kind of like The Silence of the Girls.
FULL REVIEW:
I’d never read Nicola Griffith before, but boy am I glad that Spear was shortlisted for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize, because now I have and she is excellent. This novella is rich, stunning, and timely — and, bonus, it has a distinct but accessible literary feeling to it.
This novella is an Arthurian retelling focused on Percival, here rendered as Peretur. It’s also (wait for it) gender-bent and sapphic. Peretur was raised by her mother in a remote cave but soon leaves to seek her fate by disguising herself as a man, earning a name for herself, (making maidens swoon,) and joining the knights of the round table. But soon it becomes clear that there are mysteries to uncover and a quest to embark on when it comes to her own history and upbringing.
Gender-bent Arthurian retellings will always catch my eye, but what makes this book so stunning is Griffith’s prose. She leaves a distance between the text and the story to give you, the reader, plenty of space to exist in between. That makes this novella-length story feel not empty, but rich and full and literary (in fact, Tor published this book but they gave her an FSG editor, soooo if that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know!). Not a single phrase is wasted, and it’s not something to rush through but definitely something to get lost in. I think if you enjoyed the vibe in The Silence of the Girls, you might like this as well. (Also: genre is marketing!)
Finally, please do yourself a favor and listen to this one on audio (or tandem read print and audio, as I did). It lends itself beautifully to the form and Griffith herself narrates.
To Nicola Griffith’s backlist I go!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Blood
Moderate: Animal death and Infertility
Minor: Rape
bluedilly's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Suicide, Infertility, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content, War, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Torture, Animal cruelty, Classism, Grief, Mental illness, and Rape
madzie's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
A nice queer retelling of a classic Arthurian myth. Griffith's research into the legend certainly comes through and makes an immersive world. Unfortunately, the characters often come across as a little bland. Although Per is interesting, most of the other characters do not seem to have any real purpose. Additionally, I longed for more chemistry between Per and her main love interest. Although Griffith twisted the well-known legend a little, I personally would have liked more of a twist with a plot that is not just about a bad guy who wants something and those noble enough to stop him. Nothing very shocking occurred in this book. Overall, the writing style was nice and easy to follow, and the themes were mainly well-developed, but nothing felt particularly awe-inspiring.
Perhaps my biggest gripe is that Griffith retells this legend from a queer perspective, and yet she is acephobic. This does not mean that Griffith had to include ace characters, but she should have ensured her language was inclusive. Unfortunately, this is not unusual for queer books. However, I think it speaks to a lack of development in her queer theme. You cannot write about accepting yourself and finding where you belong as a queer person while also noting only some queer people get that; that is contradictory.
Overall, I think this book was not for me (I prefer fantasy with a little more oomph, drama, and stakes). Perfect for someone who likes and is looking for an easy, plot-driven, and atmospheric fantasy.
Perhaps my biggest gripe is that Griffith retells this legend from a queer perspective, and yet she is acephobic. This does not mean that Griffith had to include ace characters, but she should have ensured her language was inclusive. Unfortunately, this is not unusual for queer books. However, I think it speaks to a lack of development in her queer theme. You cannot write about accepting yourself and finding where you belong as a queer person while also noting only some queer people get that; that is contradictory.
Overall, I think this book was not for me (I prefer fantasy with a little more oomph, drama, and stakes). Perfect for someone who likes and is looking for an easy, plot-driven, and atmospheric fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault, Infertility, Sexual content, and Animal death
chalkletters's review
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Despite being a long-term fantasy fan, I’ve never gotten particularly interested in the Arthur legend. I liked First Knight as a teen (despite, as I recently discovered with Nickie, utterly forgetting the lead actress), but I was never into Merlin and I didn’t even read Le Morte d'Arthur when I should have done as part of my degree. Despite this, I have at least one other retelling of Arthur on my TBR, which says something about their popularity.
Nicola Griffith’s prose in Spear feels magical; every sentence is gorgeously written and yet completely clear. It’s never difficult to understand what’s happening or what characters’ motivations are. The few illustrations scattered throughout the novel are also lovely and otherworldly, just right for the kind of story being told. Peretur’s magic is never really explained, but her ability to sense particulars about things she touches or smells is expressed very lyrically.
It was fun to see the Welsh influence on the naming, as well as trying to puzzle out which characters mapped to which Arthurian counterparts. Nicola Griffith’s (excellent) author’s note highlighted the importance of showing characters from multiple class and national backgrounds, which played a particularly important role in Peretur coming from more humble origins.
Spear stands out from other novellas in being particularly well-paced. All the loose threads are neatly wrapped up, but Nicola Griffith gives that part of the story just as much time as the build-up, which makes it much more satisfying than a rushed job.
For me, Spear worked on every level, and I’ll definitely look out for more of Nicola Griffith’s work.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, and Blood
Minor: Animal death
quinnyquinnquinn's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Animal death and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual content
bluejayreads's review against another edition
This is a weird DNF book to review, as there really isn't anything particularly wrong with it. If you'd asked me while I was reading, I would have told you it was perfectly good. If I had read it in a different situation, i.e. if I still had the job where I could read audiobooks while I worked, I absolutely would have finished it and enjoyed it. And I did enjoy it while reading. The story was weird and interesting - a more realistic retelling of Arthurian myth, twisted with magic, steeped in a genuine pre-middle-ages historical feel, and told in a stark, almost minimalist style that throws out all the rules of "show don't tell" but somehow works. There's a lot to like here. But somehow I found myself always choosing to listen to something else. In the car, I turned on the radio. On Saturday mornings, when I usually put on an audiobook while I clean my apartment, I instead chose a podcast. I can't even put my finger on why I really don't want to go back to reading this book. By all rights, it's pretty good, and I did enjoy it while reading. (I can't emphasize that enough, despite how much I've avoided reading it after the fact, I genuinely really enjoyed the parts that I did read.) I don't see much of a point of forcing myself to finish a book I'm avoiding picking up, so I'm not going to. I just still can't explain why.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Blood, and Death
Minor: Infertility, Animal death, and Sexual content