humblebee20 's review for:

By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar

4.0

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A really good read that was a lot of fun to speed through. The characters are all lifted from Arthurian legend, and yet the very modern prose makes the characters thugs and more down to earth and yet simehow more outlandish than the hugh fantasy often associated with the king. The indroduction led me to believe it would be a very cut and dry, if cynical and more realistic take, but the following sections blew that idea out of the water. It did take some getting used to the somewhat modern language and Arthur being a drug lord, but after the book slaps you with that, you're well prepared for the absurdity that's to come. While I loved the crazy take on the classic characters, especially Guineveire, the grail section felt a little too out there for my tastes, despite loving the "dragon's" influence on the land. Good for fans of a realistic and crude medieval settong with a good helping of dry wit and fantasy elements.