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A review by enchantedfiction
Once & Future by Cory McCarthy, A.R. Capetta
4.0
Once and Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy is a reincarnation story of King Arthur and his knights, but with a big ol' twist. It's in space. I kid you not, when I first heard Amy Rose talking about this at an author talk before anyone really knew much about it, I was hooked. I knew it was a story I needed to read, I needed to have in my life. As someone who absolutely loves the Merlin TV show which shows Merlin and Arthur as teenagers at the beginning, I was all for a story about a backwards aging Merlin to be roughly the same age as the show had shown. But instead of an army led by Mordred on a green field somewhere in the country of England, this reincarnation of Arthur must face consumerism and the bastards who run the corporations.
I dearly wish that I could have given this story 5 stars, but there were some issues I had with it that I just couldn't overlook. First off, the pacing was strange. It felt like there wasn't enough emphasis on some of the important things that were happening, yet we could spend a few pages sitting in the spaceship not really talking about anything. I also wasn't entirely convinced about some of the relationships in the story. Gwen said she felt betrayed in a way since Ari left without a word in the years they did knight camp, yet she offers to marry her to save her from Mercer. And then they end up talking to the Administrator anyways, only to be let go because Ari threatened to tell everyone that Mercer was destroying Old Earth, when that never really felt like a place that anyone really cared about anymore. And I wish there had been a bit more resistance from others once Ari became the voice of the resistance, like riots and things on Mercer planets. It would have made for a stronger story in my opinion.
The other thing that put me off a little bit, and I'm saying like the littlest bit because it got much better as the story went, was the diversity felt a bit forced. I felt like when Merlin came in and met the other characters that they all jumped down his throat for just assuming things he believed he knew based off of when he had last been awake. I'm all for diversity in stories because it's more true to real life anyways, but when so much emphasis is put on it all at once it feels forced. And I am all for everyone being happy with who they are and the choices that they make, but it almost feels like by putting so much emphasis on it it's now strange to be heterosexual.
Other than the pacing and the slight forced diversity, I really enjoyed the concept of the story and the plot. I liked Ari's personality with her sarcasm and random thoughts, and some of the references were really funny. I loved that Merlin used music to use his magic, and there were quite a few references thrown in music wise as well. Merlin and Val made me so happy because they had a very real relationship. They were definitely my favorites and then Ari. I hope that Jordan becomes a more prominent part of the story in the next book, since I think she has some hidden potentials to be a great character. And seriously, the concept of this story is amazing. Having the understanding that everyone else understands that they are reincarnated characters once Merlin shows up is refreshing and funny.
I would highly recommend this story to anyone looking for a fun, futuristic story with some sassy characters and a cool twist on a classic story.
I dearly wish that I could have given this story 5 stars, but there were some issues I had with it that I just couldn't overlook. First off, the pacing was strange. It felt like there wasn't enough emphasis on some of the important things that were happening, yet we could spend a few pages sitting in the spaceship not really talking about anything. I also wasn't entirely convinced about some of the relationships in the story. Gwen said she felt betrayed in a way since Ari left without a word in the years they did knight camp, yet she offers to marry her to save her from Mercer. And then they end up talking to the Administrator anyways, only to be let go because Ari threatened to tell everyone that Mercer was destroying Old Earth, when that never really felt like a place that anyone really cared about anymore. And I wish there had been a bit more resistance from others once Ari became the voice of the resistance, like riots and things on Mercer planets. It would have made for a stronger story in my opinion.
The other thing that put me off a little bit, and I'm saying like the littlest bit because it got much better as the story went, was the diversity felt a bit forced. I felt like when Merlin came in and met the other characters that they all jumped down his throat for just assuming things he believed he knew based off of when he had last been awake. I'm all for diversity in stories because it's more true to real life anyways, but when so much emphasis is put on it all at once it feels forced. And I am all for everyone being happy with who they are and the choices that they make, but it almost feels like by putting so much emphasis on it it's now strange to be heterosexual.
Other than the pacing and the slight forced diversity, I really enjoyed the concept of the story and the plot. I liked Ari's personality with her sarcasm and random thoughts, and some of the references were really funny. I loved that Merlin used music to use his magic, and there were quite a few references thrown in music wise as well. Merlin and Val made me so happy because they had a very real relationship. They were definitely my favorites and then Ari. I hope that Jordan becomes a more prominent part of the story in the next book, since I think she has some hidden potentials to be a great character. And seriously, the concept of this story is amazing. Having the understanding that everyone else understands that they are reincarnated characters once Merlin shows up is refreshing and funny.
I would highly recommend this story to anyone looking for a fun, futuristic story with some sassy characters and a cool twist on a classic story.