A review by thebooklovingpanda
Once & Future by Cory McCarthy, A.R. Capetta

3.0

I really wanted to love this book. It had all the makings of a stellar (*ahem*) novel:
- Arthurian retelling
- queer af: gender-bent One True King (I actually really did like that Ari is still titled 'King' even though she's female), with a sapphic ArWen romance and did I mention GAY MERLIN!
- set in SPACE

This gif encapsulates my anticipation for this book:

But, alas, the stars did not align for me and this book. (Sorry, I'll stop.) Overall, it was entertaining, but I wasn't emotionally invested, nor did I feel that its full narrative potential was exploited.

The only characters I cared about were Merlin and Morgana

Spoiler

one of whom had a criminally glossed-over, quickie death and they deserved BETTER

- they're both ancient, with complex personalities and motives woven through heavy history with all the Arthurs and each other. But you can't rely on millennia of backstory for your character development! It's meant to happen over the course of the book. I did see some with Ari (thank GOD because she's the MAIN. CHARACTER.) but I struggled to get a handle on her character beyond: Impulsive. Stubborn. Super into Gweneviere (alternatingly cute and cringey). And that's not enough for me to dispense emotional real-estate on this MC. Ari's backstory had so much potential: it was suitably traumatic, mysterious and sets up her righteous vendetta against Mercer...maybe it'll be expanded on in The Sword in the Stars.

This book does represent a wide range of ethnicities, sexual orientations and identities, which is definitely a point in its favour. I liked that on the medieval-themed holiday-planet Lionel, they recognised what aspects of medieval history were worth honouring and what should be left in the past, e.g. racism, sexism and homophobia. Ari is of Arab descent, there are plenty of openly gender-fluid, gay and asexual people around, and gay royal marriage is universally recognised. That was definitely a win.

However, despite all the LGBTQ+ victories, some issues plaguing humanity today haven't yet been overcome: namely poverty and corporate greed - this time on an interstellar level. I liked that there was a realistic view of how the protagonists actions affect her environment, such as the intergalactic economy, and negotiations take place with the Big Bad, rather than a boom-rebellion-done-and-dusted scenario that's meant to solve everything. There was also no shying away from the ugliest faces of civilisation.

The plot was rather disjointed and unevenly paced, with quite a lot of planet-hopping, fluctuating goals and either not a lot happening or everything at once. Speaking of everything happening at once - that climax alone brought my rating up an entire star.

Spoiler

Kay being revealed as the 'Lancelot', Gwen's pregnancy, Kay dying, executing the Administrator

...why do so many books (e.g. [b: Three Dark Crowns|28374007|Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1)|Kendare Blake|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469265712s/28374007.jpg|42750582], [b:Shadow and Bone|10194157|Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1339533695s/10194157.jpg|15093325], [b:Throne of Glass|7896527|Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1495278054s/7896527.jpg|11138426] etc.) wait till the last 25% to really bring the thunder?!

All in all, this was a diverse, surprisingly original take on the Arthurian legend. Despite some reservations, I still got a few laughs out of this and I'll probably have a look at [b:The Sword in the Stars|36233087|The Sword in the Stars (Once & Future, #2)|Amy Rose Capetta|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|57874614] when it comes out. (Mostly to see how the

Spoiler

Mordred vs Ari

storyline plays out!)