Cursed (or blessed, depending on how you look at it) with saving Britain from peril, Kay is digging his way out of the earth when he realizes it is different. There is no birdsong, no bugs, and it is uncomfortably warm. He doesn’t understand why he has been summoned to protect Britain again until he meets Miriam. Miriam has been devoted to saving the world from climate change and impending doom. When she meets Kay, she accidentally blows up a fracking rig, blowing toxic fumes into the atmosphere. After accepting Kay’s explanation (after seeing him return to life after being killed), Miriam and Kay start a quest to help Britain. But, also resurrected is Lancelot, and he is working for the enemy. What happens when the unthinkable happens and an ancient leader is resurrected? Will Miriam and Kay be able to help Britain and the environment? Or will Lancelot and the villains succeed in their plans?

I have always been intrigued by the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I have prioritized reading anything that mentions King Arthur, the Knights, and the legend. So, when I read the Perilous Times blurb, I knew I wanted to read it. And let me tell you, I am glad that I did because this book was equally funny and heartbreaking.

Perilous Times is a fast to medium-paced book in future England. The book takes a wandering tour through various English cities and eventually ends up in Wales. The pacing suited this book. The author kept the pace fast enough for me to follow (without returning to previous pages to reread) but slowed down during crucial parts.

The plotline of Perilous Times centers around Kay, Miriam, Lancelot, and the plot to bring King Arthur back (and yes, it is a spoiler). This plot meanders all over the place but, at the same time, sticks closely to the main characters. Usually, I wouldn’t like it written like that, but in this case, it worked. It allowed for a good view of dystopian England affected by climate change and other outside influences. The author did a great job of stressing how climate change affected the lower-lying coastal areas, rivers, and other bodies of water. As for the different influences, it wasn’t a stretch to see Britain reduced to a shadow of what it was. No monarchy, Wales and Scotland were independent (honestly, I can picture this in real life), armies were privatized, and other countries bought up parts of England to help pay their debts. Again, I had no issue seeing this happening in real life.

There are trigger warnings in Perilous Times. They are:

Climate Change: England (and the rest of the world) has been ravaged by climate change. Polar caps have melted, releasing long-dormant diseases. Seas have risen because of the polar caps melting. Trees are almost all gone. Birds, worms, and insects are dying out.
Eco-Terrorism: Miriam is part of an eco-terrorist group trying their hardest to save the world. They do this through nonviolent protests. But Miriam goes off script and accidentally blows up a fracking complex.
Racism: Unfortunately, racism is alive and well in dystopian England. Kay, who is black, makes it a point to remember that his skin color wasn’t an issue until more recently (the last two to three hundred years). Kay also takes a rather drastic approach to being talked down too: he slaughters everyone in the group except Barry, who he turns into a squirrel.
Grief: Kay grieves for his wife and the past. Lancelot grieves for his lover when he discovers what happened to his tree. But Lancelot also turns that grief into a rage and exacts revenge.
If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book.

I liked Kay and understood why he was so tired of being resurrected. All he wanted was to be at peace and see his wife in Heaven. But he knew something was different when he dug out of the earth this time. The world was too warm, too wet. He meets Miriam after the fracking explosion and convinces her to take him to Manchester. But, on the way, they encounter a dragon, and Kay’s quest to get to Manchester gets sidetracked. He gets to Manchester, gets Excalibur, and starts on a quest to find Merlin. While on that quest, a whole bunch of Monty Python-like situations happens. Kay’s storyline kept me on my toes.

I liked Miriam. She was trying her hardest to do her part to save the world. She knew that the Saxon Company (a megacorporation) was behind everything that had happened to England (and the world) but didn’t know how to change things. It wasn’t until she accidentally blew up a fracking site and met Kay that her path became clear. She was a quiet but compelling leader who wasn’t afraid to get stuff done. She convinced her FETA sisters to follow her and Kay. The best part of her storyline was towards the end of the book. What she did was nothing short of amazing. All I can say is, Once and Future Queen?

Lancelot was different from who I thought he would be in Perilous Times. He was not the Lancelot from myth. In this book, Lancelot is at the beck and call of the Saxon Company and a man named Marlowe. He also was gay, which was a surprising turn for me (since he supposedly seduced King Arthur’s wife). His sexuality added extra depth to his character. I didn’t think he was terrible, but he did shady stuff like taking Kay’s wooden staff or helping Marlowe and Morgan resurrect King Arthur. But, once he realized what he did was wrong (and it was very shortly after King Arthur returned), he set about fixing things with Morgan.

As I mentioned above, King Arthur is brought back. I was not too fond of his character, but at the same time, I couldn’t stop reading. The author portrayed him as a jerk and a sexist. He was also too easily led by people and couldn’t see the truth if it was woven in front of his face. In the end, though, he did the right thing; for a secondary character, he was larger than life. He almost overshadowed the main characters at one point in the book.

The author did have Merlin make a brief appearance. Honestly, I was very disappointed in how the author portrayed his character. I thought he would have had more interactions with Kay. But after the bombshell he dropped on Kay, he jetted. I was not OK with that.

There were several other deities/gods/goddesses mentioned in Perilous Times. The fae was brought in a solitary character that sold drugs (now that did make me laugh for a minute). Herne, a Celtic forest god, communicated with Kay and Miriam through dreams. And the Lady of the Lake, Nimue, was a considerable presence towards the end of the book. She reminded me of a cranky old lady who complained about doing things but did them anyways.

The end of Perilous Times was action-packed and very interesting. I will not get more into it than others to say I agreed with how it ended. There was hope for a better future.

I would recommend Perilous Times to anyone over 21. There is language and violence, but no sexual situations. Also, see my trigger warning list.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books, NetGalley, and Thomas D. Lee for allowing me to read and review Perilous Times. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

This unbiased review is in exchange for an ebook from NetGalley.

Perilous times is a dystopian fantasy about what happens if the world is in peril from climate change and king Arthur’s knights come back to life to save it. Kay comes back to life from his tree and sets off to find out what evil he needs to defeat. He meets a young woman Mariam who is currently blowing up a site and battling the Saxons and somehow a dragon is unleashed. Together her and Kay set off to save the world and along the way we meet other characters out of legend. There are battles with magic staffs and swords, political stand offs, morally grey characters, and a satisfactory moment when someone is turned into a squirrel.

I was a little worried going in that I wasn’t the target audience for this. Sometimes books have a political agenda and end up coming across more as a lecture and less of a story. But overall this was a well written, well paced, delightful read. I’m not overly familiar with King Arthur beyond the basics, so I don’t recall any of the characters existed beyond him Merlin and Lancelot. But even seeing those parts of the myth remade were interesting. It focuses well on moving the plot along and tying up loose ends. If I had to complain I would say the end is a little too neat as they don’t pay any high price for victory. But overall a fun yet thought provoking read.

Perilous Times turns the King Arthur story we all know completely upside down. It has everything you want in an Arthurian story, Magic, Dragons, Morgana, Merlin, and the Lady of the Lake. I loved Barry the Squirrel, I laughed out loud a lot during his scenes.
We first meet Kay as he crawls out under a tree, woken because the world is in Peril. What exactly is wrong we're not sure of yet, but Kay goes forth to figure it out.

I loved Kay, he just wakes up to do his job and looks forward to going back to sleep until he's needed again. And it seems like the entire world needs help, although mostly they want him to wake up Arthur. However, to Kay, that's definitely a last resort option as he knows Arthur better than anyone and he's kind of a douche.

This is a slower-paced story but the battle scenes are very action-packed. It's full of grim dark humor, and a great cast of characters with a fun twist on the myth we're all familiar with, and I really enjoyed how it all ended.

This was such a fun book. A great combination of updated Arthurian lore, climate fiction, humor (the squirrel! The banter!), and adventure. I loved the premise of Arthurian knights being revived over the centuries to fight "peril" (perfect title, btw), and the little hints we get about how the knights have been exposed to culture at irregular intervals. I thought the characterization was well done (I swear, I was close to tears when Kay mentions his long-dead wife's honey cakes near the end) and I cared about what would happen, about who would ultimately take up the mantle of responsibility. Having visited Glastonbury, I also loved how the Glastonbury Tor is part of the ending. Overall, definitely a book I'll be recommending to others, and I'm looking forward to reading more by the author!

2.5 stars rounded up.

This book is an adult fantasy with multiple perspectives, it really focuses on a modern-day Arthur and his knights. It has magic, dragons, battles, and a desperate attempt to save the world before it's too late. This book has a very interesting concept of medieval knights returning to life when England is in peril.
It talks a lot about everything horrible that is happening in the world, global warming, government corruption, corporate greed, and lack of all types of supplies. While this book mentions all these things happening, I felt that the actual characters in the book did more arguing and walking than anything else in the story. When there was drama, action, fighting and something was revealed it was great and I loved the twists. This book was long, I thought that some parts did not need to be in there because it just made it drag on more than it needed to.
Some of the decisions that the characters made did not make sense, doing the wrong things for the right reasons, but as soon as they achieved their goal, they back tracked and this happened several times, it was super frustrating, and the logic behind it did not make any sense or how they thought there was going to be a different outcome. I think that this book had a lot going for it, but there were too many lulls in the story, and I lost interest at times.
Trigger warnings: blood, gore, burns, infection and death of an animal
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

Don't worry iff you don't remember or even know Arthurian legend- this novel is a hoot. Lee has merged the past, the present, and the future to create a hero and band of merry men out to save the world from climate destruction and xenophobia. It's not the easiest read in spots (it does sag occasionally) but it's got a big heart and it's funny. Sir Kay, who has been reincarnated multiple times to fight in wars, this times finds himself teaming up with a very different Mariam. They, along with Sir Lancelot (yes, he's made it here too) tell the story. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a good read.

Sir Kay has been reborn into our present and is looking for his next quest. What does he find? A world torn apart politically and an earth that is getting too warm. If that wasn’t enough, a dragon has gotten loose and is wreaking its own kind of havoc. Mariam has focused her life to fight against those doing wrong to the planet. When these two join forces … well, the system has something to fear. Other knights have been reborn, Excalibur is still hidden, and King Arthur is asleep. What changes are in the works for our planet?

Perilous Times is a stand-alone fantasy adventure that fans of Arthurian legends will devour. This is a longer read, but since it is a one-and-done, that makes the adventure that much more appealing. Readers will get to visit with Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, Lancelot, and others. The question is: What would happen in our present world if the Knights of the Round Table returned? Read this book to find out.

Do you like King Arthur retellings or reimaginings? Perilous Times has the Knights of the Round table as immortal protectors of Britain. Britain is in peril again and they must return to put things right. There's dragons and fey and magic. The guys are not exactly chummy together so everyone's still working through personal issues. And no one really wants to wake Arthur up.
This book moves at a very slow pace. I can appreciate an author trying to build a story around King Arthur's knights in a modern setting but the glacial pace makes it tough to enjoy.

Fans of Arthur stories might enjoy this one. Thanks to Ballantine Books for the advanced copy.

This book is so far out of my typical wheelhouse that I had no idea what to anticipate when I started it. But it truly was a breath of fresh air after reading the same old storylines. The author has a vivid imagination and I loved his narrative voice. The plot was very original, I never imagined the mash-up of climate change and Arthurian legend. I think the author threw in too many issues for just one story, but otherwise it definitely held my interest to the end.

Arthurian legend twisted and reimagined to be set in modern times. There’s guns, some reincarnated legends, and dragons. Very interesting combos, in my opinion. The first chapter did a great job at snatching the reader’s attention, full of death and even a death, though it is known that it doesn’t stick to these guys. It’s humorous. I find that I really enjoyed the tone, which was a grim dystopia paired with dark humor. The writing, though, was a bit lackluster. I wasn’t fully immersed and some of the sentences were put together strangely. There were still moments that I could clearly see what was happening in the scene. Also, dragons.

Although I didn’t particularly enjoy this book, I can see a lot of positive things about it that might lead others to like it more than I did! I think the plot itself was really unique and well-thought out, and everything magical was put together very nicely.

For me, the sticky points are in the technical quality—a lot of the book is told in short, choppy sentences without much variation, and that made it a little tedious for me to read. I would also have expected Kay and Lancelot’s dialogue to be a little more dated, at least in the beginning, since it’s been decades since they’ve been around other people, so them talking in modern English without any kind of adjustment was odd (actually, it seemed like that was one of the only things that wasn’t difficult to them when adjusting to a new era).

And even though I think the plot was very well done and that lots of people would like it, I’m more interested now in reading about the Knights’ exploits throughout the centuries than I was in reading about climate change and corporate greed in the not-too-distant future.

I'm a sucker for anything that has to do with King Arthur and this book definitely inspired me to look back into the lore. I think that the modern setting and updates problems to deal with were a really interesting way to handle it. I will say at times the pacing was a little slow, but overall pretty good!

I loved this book!! Little ashamed to say that I first liked that the setting was England for the destruction of the environment - it so often seems to be America's fault. Obviously it needed to be England for the resurrection of the knights, but still. There are a lot of funny one liners or references to the legends of Arthur. Lots of strong female characters, and Morgan not being a super "witch" for once. The squirrel was hilarious ;) I really liked that Arthur's true nature was revealed, albeit not to the world at large.

Actual Rating: 2,5 ⭐️

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Perilous Time is a retelling of King Arthur and while the premise was interesting, the execution of the book was lacking.

Plot

Following Sir Kay, a Knight of the Round Table, who is resurrected as an eternal protector of the realm and finds himself in a strange new world where oceans have risen, the army has been privatized, and half of Britain has been sold to foreign countries, the story shows how the army has changed. When Marian, a regular person, meets Kay, she believes the world has finally found its hero. They learn that a magical scheme of cataclysmic proportions is in progress, but Kay is too preoccupied with hunting dragons and sparring with Lancelot, an old foe, to consider what should be done. Excalibur is within grasp, but who will be qualified to wield it in these dangerous times when the realm desperately needs a true leader?

While the plot was interesting and different, I thought the book was unnecessary long. I found myself bored in some parts, but the author really writes about important issues in our times, like the climate change. I have to say one of my biggest problems with this book was the pacing.

Characters

I usually talk about the main characters individually, but I don't know what to say about this set of characters.

The reader has Kay, Lancelot, Merlin, Morgan, Arthur and a new characters: Mariam, but unfortunately I don't think they were really well developed.

Mariam was always whinny and was boring in some parts. I didn't like how Lancelot was portrayed in this book, he was so unlikable for the most part of the novel. I think my favorite character was Kay, Merlin could have been interesting, but he doesn't have a lot time. Arthur was a completely different version, which I liked. Most of the times, Arthur is portrayed as the perfect king, so it was nice to see him as a very flawed person.

Writing

I like the writing style of the author. if I'm not mistaken, I'm certain this is his debut novel and fir his first novel, the writing is good. I liked how he described how our future can be if we don't do anything to stop the climate change and save the environment.

World-Building

I would love to see more of Lancelot and Kay's past. The magic system here wasn't well explain and I didn't like some explanations that the author offered. I also think there was some issues where I didn't get any answer, for example what really happened with Guinevere.

Final Thoughts

Not my favorite novel about King Arthur and his knights.

This book starts out interesting enough. It gets a bit bogged down and I found my interest wandering.
I thought the premise was good but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

When Kay is brought up from under his tree he knows someone is in perril and he must help them. Once he gets his self together after resting for hundreds of years with his chainmale and shield he sets off to do just that. When he comes to a fence with the Saxton security signs on it he is amazed that after all these years the Saxtons are back. This is when he meets a girl dressed as a soldier running down the stairs and tells her he will meet her at the tree despite she has no clue who is he creates a diversion and helps her get away. After meeting at said tree her main question is “who the hell is he?“ soon however there is an explosion in while K in the anonymous girl watches all of the sudden they see a humongous dragon O rise from the smoke and fly away K is a maze by Bess and his companion thanks she is seeing things. When K tries to explain who he is and how the dragon came to be in modern day of course she doesn’t believe him. His companion who’s name turns out to be Marion doesn’t trust him she’s a part of a female environmentalist group that’s very secretive and so when they get to a secret bunker and she pulls a gun on him after he tells her if he is killed he will return until the peril is over this is when she invite him to come back and then shoot him in the chest but I was later he returns to the bunker. Closer to England another night is coming out from under ground it’s Lancelot but he has someone who is waiting for him he has transportation to bring Lancelot to a hotel where he can shower and put on modern clothes and have a stiff drink. This book is way too long to tell you all the ins and outs just know the nights due to regenerating medicine Merlin gave them back in the day can come back from the dead to help when the world is in peril and with land flooding and wars happening the world is definitely in peril China owns suffix and the rest of England is losing land due to the water impeding on neighborhoods and towns 1 million set an author bomb it also released magic ahead to take some form and then this case you guessed it it was in the form of a humongous dragon and until it is gone the nights have the work cut out for them it’s too bad they don’t like each other. This book is not only funny it is smartly done and although I found it very long due to the plot in this case it was a necessity this book is so good and although I couldn’t read it all in one setting I certainly gave it a great try but it took me three days to finish and it was so worth it I love books about nights and warriors and have never read one like this it was truly original with lots of LOL moments I can’t praise this book enough I loved it and would definitely read more with the knights in a modern setting I find this authors humor to be spot on and I think this book is a solid four star read… It is so good I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I am a fan of Arthurian Legend and the knights of the round table. This novel wove together a feeling of the knightly quest and present day issues. The book does not take place in modern times but seemingly in a not too distant future if humanity doesn’t try to clean up its act. There is quite a bit of political and environmental activism activities such as destroying a fracking operation and trying to overthrow the current regime.

To Sir Kay, the world is harsh and brutal, both similar and different to the worlds he has woken up into in the past. To Lancelot, it’s just another job and he doesn’t seem in as much of a hurry to fix things before he goes back to sleep.

I do feel like the story was kind of a slow roll build up, but I wanted to understand what was happening and I also wanted to know more about how the knights would interact with the more modern world.
There is some witty, tongue in cheek humor. It is dystopian and there is Arthurian Legend. If any of these suit your taste, this may be worth the read for you.

I give it a 4 star rating due to my own personal perspective on the book and the pacing. I read a lot of dystopian and sarcastic humor and this was a decent attempt.

I can honestly say that I have never read a book quite like this one! A King Arthur retelling that does NOT focus on him as the main character or idolize him at all, it is still a great Arthurian novel. I loved setting the story in a future Earth ravaged by capitalism and environmental crises. The twists were wonderfully done, and the story was so unique. But the story was very slow at times, and the plot sometimes got lost in a bit of a lecture about climate change and inequities. As much as I appreciated the sentiment, the setting and subtext throughout the story would have given the same messages without being as preachy. Overall a fun and unique read!

Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this! I think it's hilarious and poignant, and I especially love the attention to climate. It's in a dystopian future, which is one of the reasons I loved that Arthurian knights were coming back from the dead. This combination of a horrible future, especially concerning the climate, with the men of legends returning to save the planet, just hit really well.

Kay was the heart of this story for me. Kay is King Arthur's brother and is not completely understanding of how the world has changed, although this is one of several times he has returned throughout history. His interaction with Miriam, both of them really, just showed how kindness affects others.

I was laughing my way through this while still dreading my own future and climate change. There are magic mushrooms, a dragon, and many complications to keep any reader entertained.

Definitely recommend!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Out May 23, 2023!

The initial description was very engaging. It brought in knights of the round table and present(ish) day issues, and also the promise of a dragon. I was very much looking forward to reading this spin on King Arthur's and his knights' tales. Also, so many of the reviews were positive or mentioned the book's humor.

The first thing to talk about is the characters. The description seems to focus mostly on Kay which is fine as he is kind of the main. However, we quickly realize that this is going to be a multi-POV situation. We see only through Kay, Miriam, and Lancelot in the first few chapters. This does help bring aspects to light that might have been confusing or misunderstood. Then however as the book keeps going we also see from two other perspectives which only adds a little to the story.

As the description stated Kay is an immortal knight of the round table who is resurrected anytime the realm (Britain) is in trouble. This is also true for Lancelot as well as several other knights. Normally there is a branch of the government that handles meeting them at their trees and telling them the information about what the peril is. Kay knows something is weird this time as no one is there to greet him or give him the mission. Thus he stumbles towards the gunfire to end up saving Miriam, who promptly blows up an oil fracking site. The story continues from there as they try to save the world from the catastrophe that is global warming. Miriam's explosion is what brought the dragon to this plane, so more pollution and death by a dragon are also her fault.

The pacing of the book is slightly slow. There is a lot of talking and walking from one place to another to have more meetings. I never saw the humor in the book. Was there a few slightly funny lines, sure but overall not humorous. The book just goes on and on about climate problems and ecoterrorism.

In the end, I did not finish the book. At 75% I just couldn't keep going as it was making me very unhappy to be reading. All the plans or goals they laid out to try to find a solution went wrong. Every last one of them, even the backup plans failed. It just got to be too many wasted pages and time to continue the same cycle. It also doesn’t really make logical sense for a knight or even King Arthur to fix the too warm, flooded world when all they have are swords. Maybe I will try to finish the final book release but I'm not sure it will be that different from the ARC version. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy.