I can always depend upon Bradshaw for a good story grounded in history with appealing characters. If I'm not rating this higher... Well, when it comes to Arthurian works, she has really tough competition--even if you leave aside acknowledged classics of literature by Mallory and Tennyson. There are two basic approaches, the historical and pure, often anachronistic fantasy, with works often distinguishing themselves by how they mix the two. I have two favorites in the subgenre. Mary Stuart in her Merlin trilogy takes a more historical approach, although to my best recollection, it had a hint of fantasy, but more in the vein of Mary Renault where if you squint you could see rational explanations--plus, she's an outstanding, lyrical writer. My other favorite is T.H. White's The Once and Future King, and that's definitely unabashed fantasy that doesn't pretend to be set in a Dark Ages that still remembers Rome. And White's prose would please even finicky consumers of literary fiction. It's a moving, wonderfully written story (The basis for the musical Camelot and for Disney's The Sword and the Stone.)
Bradshaw's work is definitely that rare entity, the historical fantasy. There is dark magic, light magic, human sacrifice, the world of faerie, magical swords and horses. There are also references and quotations from classical works of antiquity and the dark ages and an obviously well researched attempt to create a plausible historical setting. The writing flows very smoothly--it's effortless reading, and her Gawain (Gwalchmai or "Hawk of May") is an appealing first person protagonist. Someone struggling to turn away from darkness, and to convince others he's changed as well. It was a diverting, entertaining read. But in terms of the Athurian works I've read--and I've read tons of them--its just not in the first rank. Good enough though, I'll be reading the next work in the trilogy. So I'd say this just misses a fourth star.
