Here Lies Arthur

by Philip Reeve

Here Lies Arthur follows the life of a young girl named Gwyna after an attack on her village. When no one else survives, she is left all alone and escapes into the woods. There, she meets Myrddin, a bard rumoured to have magic, who saves her. Gwyna finds out the Myrddin is trying to unite Britain, which after being attacked by the Saxons, is now split up into many small kingdoms and villages. Only under the rule of Arthur, the leader of a fierce war-band, does Myrddin think this can be achieved. However, several obstacles stand in their way.

One of these, Gwyna finds out, is convincing some people that the gods are on Arthur's side. To do this, Myrddin has Gwyna rise out of the lake as a goddess of water and give Arthur a sword named Caliburn in front of the non-followers. After successfully tricking them, Myrddin disguises Gwyna as a boy and takes her to be his servant.

When I first picked up this book and saw who had written it I wasn't eager to start it. After being unimpressed by Reeve's Fever Crumb series (though my Mom and co-author of this blog liked it very much) and finding the Hunger City Chronicles only OK, I wasn't expecting much from this book. However, this book didn't win the 2008 Carnegie Medal in Literature for nothing.

This book ended up being quite a page-turner with an interesting mix of fast-paced moments and funny ones.  I found it shorter than most books of the same genre; however, after reading it, the length seemed just right. It is not a stay-up-all-night-reading-under-the-covers book, but one that I enjoyed reading for fun because the plot and the general idea was so clever and interesting.

I also found this book so appealing because it took the myths and put history behind them. This made me think about whether there actually was an Arthur and if there was one, how close the real one could have been to the Arthur portrayed in the legends and myths.

I would recommend it for teens who love historical fiction, but especially ones who know the King Arthur legend and would understand how cleverly the book is written. Because I know the legend myself, I'm not sure if people who do not know it would find Here Lies Arthur confusing or not.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the book and hope to keep a more open mind about Philip Reeve's books.

48-Hour Book Challenge: Update 3#

Hi! Kate here. I've been so absorbed in my book that I haven't been able to make a post until now.

My update:
Hours of reading: 7.5
Books finished: 1
Books in progress: 1

Paulina's (Mom's) update:
Hours of reading: 8
Hours of listening to audiobooks: 2
Books finished: 1
Books in progress: 2

Paulina's list of finished books:
- Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant

Kate's list of finished books:
- The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Paulina is half-way through Wondrous Strange but also started reading another book, Say What? by Gena K. Gorrell, a non-fiction book about the history of the English language.

I've finally finished The Red Pyramid after 7 hours! Right now, I'm in the midst of reading No Small Thing by Natale Ghent. My mom and I have been celebrating with apple crumble pie. Can't wait until next pie break!

The Red Pyramid is the first book in the series The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan- author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Personally, I liked the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series more, because I love Greek mythology. But for those who are interested in Egypt mythology, this is the book for you.

The Red Pyramid is about two children, Carter and Sadie, who are on a mission to save the world and get back their father from the Egyptian God of Evil- Set. Carter, the oldest, has been traveling the world with his father- an egyptologist, while Sadie has been living with her grandparents in England. Their mother died when they were young and their father lost the court battle to keep Sadie, so the Carter and Sadie were separated. When their father brings then to the British Museum, he releases 5 major Egyptian gods and gets captured by Set. Carter and Sadie have to now release their father and prevent Set from taking over the world.

I found Rick Riordan didn't explain Egypt's mythology as well as in The Lightening Thief; therefore the book was a bit difficult to keep up with. I do believe that Rick Riordan did keep up the same suspense as his previous books. He also did a good job on the British words (for example, crisps instead of chips and lorry instead of truck). Overall, this is a wonderful book.