The Serpent and the Grail

Rating:
Summary: I should like this series more, but. . .
Review: As a confirmed fan of the Arthurian Legend and the various retellings, I should probably like this series more than I do. I can't claim that it's because I'm a traditionalist - one of my favorite retellings is Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's three-book subset of her Keltiad series known as "The Tales of Arthur". For those of you who haven't read it, it's a great series referred to by both to the author and its aficionados as "Celts in Space", so use your imagination. And, it's not because A. A. Attanasio's series is poorly written. The prose is lyrical, yet strong, and the characterizations are full. I think it may be because even though the series is original and the setting non-traditional, it reaches too far for my personal tastes. In this series, Arthur (or, Arthor, as he starts out), is certainly a featured character, but not the main one. Arthur's tale is lost in the maze of all the immortals in all the galaxies in all the universes of the cosmos. The story has its beginning in the beginning of time when all was chaos. To keep it brief, Merlin starts out as the demon Lailoken, spawn of Lucifer along with the others of his ilk, who through a series of miraculous events is given birth as a human living backwards in time, i.e., his body grows younger as time progresses. As a result, Merlin sheds his demonic ways, becomes a devout Christian, and is tasked with guiding Arthor on his quest of uniting the British Isles under the umbrella of Christianity. Opposing him are the Furor and the old (pagan) gods. The Furor is Odin and his cohorts the rest of the cadre of the Norse deities. Throw in the Firelords (i.e., the "good" angels), the immortal Nine Queens of Avalon, and the elfin Daione Sid, and you have a battle royale par excellence. Oh, and throw in the fact additional fact that the earth 's core is formed by a sleeping dragon who is cosmically connected to every other dragon that forms the core of every other planet in the Creation. . . As many of the characters are gods or have god-like characters, time tripping abounds and everyone, save the puny mortal humans, can see the future and has their own ways of trying to prevent the holocaust they all foresee. The fact that they all have different ideas about how to accomplish this is what provides the conflict that makes the story go. Mr. Attanasio tells the story far better than I do, but I find the constantly shifting points of view to be difficult to follow. I like the straight-ahead descriptions of Arthur's dealings well enough, but tend to get lost and gloss over the philosophical and mystical mumbo-jumbo. Also, there are some incongruities with the mainstream Arthurian legend that seem to serve no real purpose, or none that I'm smart enough to discern. The Fisher King appears in the book, but Arthur's the one with the wound that will not heal. Call me an ignorant, lowbrow Philistine, and that's OK with me. I like thoughtful fantasy, but a little sword and sorcery floats my boat, too. As I intimated earlier, I don't dislike these books. I've read all four to date, and will read any more that are published. Which brings up another question in my mind - this book has a complete enough ending that it could be the last in the series. However, it leaves us at the very beginning of Arthur's reign. Will there be more? I can't tell. . . The books are well written and mostly enjoyable. They are a strong addition to the store of Arthurian lore that exists. There not my personal favorites, but I do recommend that anyone who enjoys Arthurian literature at all give them a try and formulate their own opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Reality (?) bites.
Review: Finally, a multi-faceted, richly textured, thought-provoking and deeply woven and embroidered series of "tales" from a rather masterful story-teller who treats his readers as cogent listeners capable of keeping the various skeins of this historical, cultural, psychosociological and demi-religious tapestry flowing. As an avid and voracious reader with somewhat eclectic tastes, I find Mr. Attanasio's spinning of the threads of these tales to be highly intelligent, deeply fascinating, richly image-evocative and teleportational. So much more so than the typical Freudean psychic-cleansing pap that many current editors seem to qualify as saleable fiction. Yes, life is not easy and we all have our "crosses" to bear; however, can't we have a little more story-telling and a little less Freudean-couch revelations? Occassionally, as with any modern-day story-teller, he has to fall back into reiterrations in order to keep those not willing or able to invest the time and/or money in the preceding tales up with the mulitlayered goings-on in these tales; and yes, he sometimes strays across to "New Age-Feel Good" whining or carping. Yet, his characters for the most part are so fully fleshed and "real" that I feel I'm standing, next to, or even looking out of the eyes of, each narrating character.
To be honest, I haven't watched TV since I got hooked on the first book of this Middle Earth adventure, nor even listened to the stereo, as the lyricality of this writing, and the characters, both human and demiurge (sometimes even animal) has enraptured all of my senses, especially my own little dreamworld. He has also led me into new forays through the almost-forgotten magical pleasures of my local library, seeking further illumination on Celtic, Drudic, Christian, British, magical and other tangential gems tossed out as asides in his tale. What an extra-special, unexpected treat! Challenge yourself to reasses your own "reality". Wrap yourself up in these tales.

Rating:
Summary: Reality (?) bites.
Review: Finally, a multi-faceted, richly textured, thought-provoking and deeply woven and embroidered series of "tales" from a rather masterful story-teller who treats his readers as cogent listeners capable of keeping the various skeins of this historical, cultural, psychosociological and demi-religious tapestry flowing. As an avid and voracious reader with somewhat eclectic tastes, I find Mr. Attanasio's spinning of the threads of these tales to be highly intelligent, deeply fascinating, richly image-evocative and teleportational. So much more so than the typical Freudean psychic-cleansing pap that many current editors seem to qualify as saleable fiction. Yes, life is not easy and we all have our "crosses" to bear; however, can't we have a little more story-telling and a little less Freudean-couch revelations? Occassionally, as with any modern-day story-teller, he has to fall back into reiterrations in order to keep those not willing or able to invest the time and/or money in the preceding tales up with the mulitlayered goings-on in these tales; and yes, he sometimes strays across to "New Age-Feel Good" whining or carping. Yet, his characters for the most part are so fully fleshed and "real" that I feel I'm standing, next to, or even looking out of the eyes of, each narrating character.
To be honest, I haven't watched TV since I got hooked on the first book of this Middle Earth adventure, nor even listened to the stereo, as the lyricality of this writing, and the characters, both human and demiurge (sometimes even animal) has enraptured all of my senses, especially my own little dreamworld. He has also led me into new forays through the almost-forgotten magical pleasures of my local library, seeking further illumination on Celtic, Drudic, Christian, British, magical and other tangential gems tossed out as asides in his tale. What an extra-special, unexpected treat! Challenge yourself to reasses your own "reality". Wrap yourself up in these tales.

Rating:
Summary: The Legend continues....
Review: I have just finished reading the serpent and the grail and I must say that it was again one of the best books I have ever read! Just like the rest of the Arthurian books he has out it was in one word...beautiful. The way this author writes is incredible. It is almost like reading poetry. The book taking place after Wolf and the Crown,finds the young king once again in a quest to save Britian. This book was one of the best i've read in the series and hopefully not the last. This book is a must read for A.A. Attanasio fans. But if you've just discovered the author and the series i recommend picking up his first book in the series The Dragon and the Unicorn.

Rating:
Summary: Arthurian Legend ..... retold (?)
Review: I picked up the first book of this series because I am an Arthurian legend fan. At that time I had never even heard of Attanasio....I am now an avid Attanasio reader.

The Serpent and the Grail is a hard-to-put-down book and continues the fantasy world of Arthur's rule started in the earlier books. The only problem I have with this book is that this is still not the end of the series (I hope!). As an Arthurian fan, I hope that Attanasio will continue telling this story until the end of the legend and that the next book in the series comes out before I forget the characters again (that's another problem ... the wealth of characters!). If you're already familiar with the legend then reading this series is as if you've never heard of Arthur and Camelot before .... very refreshing.

As an Attanasio fan, this is another example of the diversity of Attanasio's vivid epic-telling talents. You need to read other Attanasio's works to appreciate what I mean (personal recommendations: The Last Legends of Earth, The Dark Shore)

My advice to all would-be readers .... get all the books in the series and read them straight through from the first to the last, in sequence. It won't be easy reading, but it will be worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Best Arthurian account ever!
Review: I was so amazed by this book that I read the whole series. Attanasio keeps the reader in suspense, and does not disappoint. Mixing science and folklore and Norse gods, this is better than Tolkein

Rating:
Summary: Odin vs. the Industrial Revolution
Review: The Wolf and the Crown, The Eagle and the Sword, The Dragon and the Unicorn, The Serpent and the Grail, so far... Don't know what to make of these well-written but tiresome and confusing books with all the gods and demons and faeries and elementals; mysticism and visions of our industrial future; God (she) as a hermit, Lucifer as a noble exile, the 10000-year-old ladies of the lake; big-bang theory and the sleeping dragon under the earth; Furor (Odin) and Christian monks, the surprisingly civilized poet-king Wesc of the Saxons, and of course Merlin who is the demon Lailoken reborn in the womb of St somebody or other, a nun. (In effect he raped his mother and became his own father; and Morgan la Fay reincarnates the soul of HER own father King Mark into Mordred, the offspring of an incestuous union with her half-brother Arthur -- not exactly wholesome reading for the family -- you get the flavor of this series). Worth reading if you are into this sort of stuff. Stay tuned.

It is, however, beautifully written, no matter how absurd and confusing the plotting is.