"An immortal Knight of the Round Table faces his greatest challenge yet - saving the politically polarized, rapidly warming world from itself - in this slyly funny contemporary take on Arthurian legend.

Legends don't always live up to reality.

Being reborn as an immortal defender of the realm gets awfully tiring over the years - or at least that's what Sir Kay's thinking as he claws his way up from beneath the earth yet again.

Kay once rode alongside his brother, King Arthur, as a Knight of the Round Table. Since then, he has fought at Hastings and at Waterloo and in both World Wars. But now he finds himself in a strange new world where oceans have risen, the army's been privatized, and half of Britain's been sold to foreign powers. The dragon that's running amok - that he can handle. The rest? He's not so sure.

Mariam's spent her life fighting what's wrong with her country. But she's just one ordinary person, up against a hopelessly broken system. So when she meets Kay, she dares to hope that the world has finally found the savior it needs.

Yet as the two travel through this bizarre and dangerous land, they discover that a magical plot of apocalyptic proportions is underway. And Kay's too busy hunting dragons - and exchanging blows with his old enemy Lancelot - to figure out what to do about it.

In perilous times like these, the realm doesn't just need a knight. It needs a true leader.

Luckily, Excalibur lies within reach.

But who will be fit to wield it?

With a cast that includes Merlin, Morgan le Fay, the Lady of the Lake, and King Arthur himself - all reimagined in joyous, wickedly subversive fashion - Perilous Times is an Arthurian retelling that looks forward as much as it looks back...and a rollicking, deadpan-funny, surprisingly touching fantasy adventure."

You know I'm a sucker for a good Arthurian retelling.

A fun and often times funny retelling of the classic Knights of the Round Table tale. Despite being almost 600 pages it was a very quick read as the author kept the story moving.

Great plot , very interesting story and developments , got hooked right away into it. The characters are good and very well done as well, good book .

As a retelling goes this one was unexpectedly easy to read and humorous but with a serious basis in climate change. I enjoyed it.

I remain a total simp for anything Arthurian, but this book stands apart from many. This is a novel that understands the soul of its mythology. It bears the obvious legacy of Malory or T.H. White in its broad strokes - Arthur, Excalibur, Lancelot, Kay, Merlin, Morgan Le Fay and their relationships to one another. But it also shows the influence of Marion Zimmer Bradley in the complicated nuances of those relationships. It even has callbacks to Disney’s The Sword in the Stone, which tickled me!

Merlin has magicked it so the Knights of the Round Table are eternally reborn whenever “the realm is in peril,” which was a brilliant device to bring them into the perils of today. The writing strongly portrays the impact fighting the wars of powerful men for centuries had on Kay and Lancelot. I love when these well-trod characters are humanized by being given depth and fallibility, and Lee has done so here. The political aspects of the story were poignant, with a realistic portrayal of the world approaching the miserable end of the climate crisis. You know, plus dragons popping out of the ground. I didn’t expect the humor, but found myself chuckling aloud at various points.

All that said, I found the characters and plot from modern times to be less compelling than the inner thoughts and backstory of the Arthurian characters. While I enjoyed the originality of this concept and it probably feels overdone, I would also happily read a pure retelling of the Arthurian Saga if Lee wanted to write it. But regardless of what it is, I’ll be keeping my eye on his future works!

*I received a free ARC from the publisher and NetGalley, all thoughts and opinions are my own*

Perilous Times was an interesting read. I like historical fiction and it read as a modern day twist on historical fiction. I found that part enjoyable.

Overall: 3/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start off by saying the reason this book was a 3 star book for me (mostly to be honest a 2.5/5 stars) was because of the overall plot theme which drove the story. I was not totally aware this book was going to focus heavily on climate change and was an overall metaphor for save the trees- really it was kinda punny. I did not really like this as a plot element, not because I do not think we need to save our planet but because I use fantasy reads to escape from the real world. While there is a fantasy element to this story, climate change and the tress do drive the entire plot forward. So in the end it just was hard for me to stay engaged because I did not like the driving plot line.

However! I did like the way the author used the knight of the round table to drive this plot forward. It made sense, and it worked for the story. I also found Kay to be a VERY likable character. I loved his relationship with Lancelot, I liked their interactions and rivalry- very brother like. I also liked Morgan and Nimue. Mariam was ok, wasn’t terrible but she was ok.

There are some great events in this book, one involves fighting a dragon and a duel between Kay and Lancelot. The fantasy element really starts to take over after about 60% in, however for me that just was too far in. Also we get to meet Merlin and he’s something. Very kooky and dismissive to say the least.

Now there are some things that are also happening in this story such as racism which is touched on pretty early on. Kay also does his far share of killing and again it is a book about climate change. So those may be trigger warning or plots that may not make this book readable for some. However, I would recommend this book for anyone who is a large fan of knights of the Round table retellings, and someone who doesn’t mind climate change as a fantasy book plot point. The writing was good and I had no issues with how the author wrote this story or characters. My rating is purely based off it just wasn’t the plot for me overall. I believe Goldsboro is doing a special edition of this book. So you may be able to pick up a snazzy one there!

Thank you Netgalley and Random house for accepting my arc request reviewal of this book.

I was interigued by the blurb of this book, a re-imagined King Author and his knights of the round table. Sir Lance a-lot, Merlin and a Mariam, Marlowe, Nimue, and others. This centers more about whats happening now global warming and its affects. But with the characters of King Arthur and his men and leading lady Mariam. Wuite honestly i thought Inwas about to read something medival historical times. Nope. Buckle up kiddos this has nothing to do with that. Interesting twists? You betcha. Would i recommend? Sure why not. You may love it. I think its ok.

Journey back to Camelot with Lancelot and Kay and King Arthur… or in the case of this novel, journey forward. For fans of stories that are inspired by or reimagined, this one is for you! Britain in the future if we keep going the way our world is going with the environment and politics that favor the wealthy is the setting for our story. Mariam is our heroine. She fights with other women for the environment while also helping feed and clothe those in need. Much of the land is flooded and the rest is barren.

Merlin—yes THAT Merlin— used resurrection stones to “wake” the Knights of the Round Table when Britain is in peril. Certainly, she’s in peril now. Kay and Lancelot both wake and find the others haven’t. Morgan Le Fay is also here. And King Arthur…apparently he’s not the great guy stories told us he was. Magic is in the world again. Kay, Lancelot, Morgan, Mariam, and her friends are all trying to do what’s right. For them, for Britain, for the world.

GREAT story. I’d have loved more. More of the story, more ending. It was fascinating! So different from anything I’ve read. What an imagination!

A knight’s work is never done, even when that knight was supposed to have died centuries ago. In Perilous Times, a stunning reimagining of King Arthur‘s knights by Thomas D. Lee, the Knights of the Round Table made a pact with Merlin after Arthur’s death at the Battle of Camlann. The pact would resurrect the knights whenever the realm was in peril. Over the centuries, Sir Kay has arisen from under his oak tree near(ish) Manchester to fight in Britain’s wars. When he rises at the beginning of the novel, England is in more peril than it has ever been: from climate change, from out-of-control capitalism, and from idiots who want to summon Arthur back because they believe the myths about the once and future king.

Sir Kay certainly makes a splash when he rises again. He’s always equipped with his mail, sword, and shield. These relics don’t do a whole lot when Kay encounters a woman in peril and a pack of heavily armed mercenaries near his resurrection tree and Kay is, ignobly, slain almost immediately. Then he gets killed again by the woman he rescues from the peril, Mariam, in an attempt to prove he is a real, no-fooling Knight of the Round Table. Once Mariam believes Kay, she slowly lets him in on what’s happened to the realm since the last time Kay was up and around, back in the 1950s. And Kay is horrified.

Meanwhile, Kay isn’t the only knight to find themselves sky-side. Sir Lancelot pops up from under his tree near London, where an immortal (via infernal means) Christopher Marlowe is ready with a dossier and an offer of a shower. Where Kay seems to end up on the side of rebels (like the Roundheads) as often as not, Lancelot is always on the side of the institution. Via Lancelot’s perspective, we see what Mariam and her ragtag bag of feminist eco-terrorists (when they can stop arguing with each other) are up against.

There’s far too much plot in Perilous Times to sum up. It’s bedlam from page one and I loved it. I realize the above sounds dire (it is dire) but, in spite of all the possibly extinction-level peril, this book was a lot of fun to read. There are dragons. There are witches. There are lots of bickering socialists. Wales decided to have a king again. Merlin is an absolute loon. We also learn that, if a racist spends enough time as a squirrel, they can be reformed. While all this madcap action is going on and Kay and Lancelot circle each other (don’t ask about the whole Guinevere thing), we slowly learn that there’s a plot afoot to bring back King Arthur on the side of the kleptocrats and capitalists. Not only is the plot outstanding and the characters wonderfully original, Perilous Times is also anchored by emotional depth. Kay and Lancelot ponder the limits of their oaths to save the realm, wondering if it’s worth it. Mariam works her way towards important realizations about being saved versus saving oneself. On top of that, there are all the references to British history, mythology, and Le Morte d’Arthur.

I feel a bit like I’m botching this review. There is so much to talk about and so much I loved about this book that I can’t help but just gush. Please read this book, fellow bookish times, so that I have someone to talk about this book with! I plan on shoving this book into as many hands as I can manage in the meantime.

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee is an Arthurian story with a twist. The knights of the round table are constantly pulled from the grave to help Britain in times of peril. Sir Kay has been through WWI and WWII but nothing can prepare him for the battle he has risen for this time-climate change. Oh, and a dragon. Sir Kay meets up with a group of activists and together, they try to save Britain.

There is something so fun about going into a book completely blind. I didn’t know anything about this book when I started it except that it was maybe connected to Arthur. I was pleasantly surprised by how different and unique this story was. There is a lot of humor and heart. There are characters you can root for and characters that you won’t know if you can trust or not.

My only issue with this book is it felt a little long for the story. There were a few parts that just dragged a bit. Luckily, the story would pick back up but I think if this story would have been about fifty pages shorter, it would have been perfect.

I would be very interested in seeing what this author does next. This book, while completely different in subject matter, reminded me a bit of Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. So if you like those vibes, I would look into this book!

Huge thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The premise of Perilous Times seemed like it would be up my alley since I'm a big fan of King Arthur and this seemed like an interesting twist. Unfortunately the book was just not for me.

This may be the craziest book you’ll ever read, but suspend your disbelief, it’s excellent. I’m not sure if the author intended it to be funny, but the image of a worm coming out of Sir Kay’s eye almost made me put down this book minutes after I picked it up. Thankfully, I was curious about what peril in Britain could call (the Merlín enchanted) Sir Kay forth from his grave. So I was caught up in the story fairly quickly. The world is an environmental mess. Yes, even more than today. But Kay is not sure what he is being called from the grave to do.

Lee’s research is impeccable. This mishmash of history, legend and climate crisis will make you laugh but it will also make you think. I’m glad I read it on my kindle, because there were a lot of names and words I needed to look up (there’s at least one place where I would have missed a good joke if I hadn’t look up the Welsh translation). But, honestly, I feel enriched for having done so.

You have to be ready for the Arthurian legend in a fairly strange package. But if you are, this is a fascinating look at the world today through a broken kaleidoscope (or perhaps a fun house mirror). I say kudos to Lee for pulling off a complex and challenging story, a good romp with a serious message. If you didn’t get my drift so far, yes, I loved this book. I’d say it should be required reading for Congress, but I’m afraid they wouldn’t get it. You will.

Note: This is not a children’s book. The language of the characters is full of expletives. It didn’t bother me but I wouldn’t want my twelve year old reading it.

A fantastic tale of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but with a twist!

The book is centered around two main characters, Sir Kay and Miriam. Sir Kay is called forth from the earth every time he is needed. At the moment, it is in Britain with climate change bringing natural disasters and the end of our planet. Of course, it wouldn't be modern day without feuding political groups thrown into the mix. Add in Arthur and Lancelot and you've got a fast-paced gem! Recommended for those who like Arthurian legends but prefer to read a more modern retelling with the climate crisis in the forefront. (I also loved that the author dedicated this book to his high school English teacher).

Thank you to Thomas D. Lee, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

Very few things lend themselves to reinterpretation quite like the vast Arthurian mythos. Even at the height of its popularity centuries ago, writers of all stripes were putting their unique spin on the tales and populating the Round Table with their own characters. Reimaginings and reinterpretations are vital to its longevity; but with these will occasionally come some that miss the mark.

PERILOUS TIMES is a well-intentioned fable at heart: a story of the Knights of the Round returning to England when it's in peril. And in a not-too-distant future, with the climate crisis in full swing and humanity skidding down a slippery slope of its own making, Kay and Lancelot have returned. But they—and eventually the Once and Future King—are merely pawns in a greater plot: one that will benefit the engineers of this crisis and leave the world to burn. The only person left they can trust is Mariam, an eco-activist who finds herself embroiled in these legendary doings.

One of Mariam's first acts in the book is an attack on a fracking facility: one which, while well-meaning and driven by a desire to make the world better, instead unleashes a massive fire and a dragon. This early scene feels like a metaphor for PERILOUS TIMES as a whole: an explosion of enthusiasm that, rather than solving one problem, creates new ones. The novel is as full of righteous fury as it is of confused messaging. The genuinely good bits of story are brought to a halt for awkwardly on-the-nose MAGA parallels that read more like memes than insightful commentary. The choice to turn Arthur (an ethnic minority in his time), even temporarily, into a Trump analogue seems an odd choice in a sea of odd choices. (Another being conflating "Britons" with the modern-day counterparts who perpetrated their genocide.) The ending feels rushed and crowded: a sudden rally to try and fix things by steering hate crimes in a more productive direction, followed by a surprisingly insightful revelation that killing the old men didn't fix everything.

To its credit, PERILOUS TIMES has interesting world-building. The return of Camelot's knights via Merlin's mad experiments is intriguing, and the idea of them fighting and living and loving through the centuries sounds amazing. There is also fascinating magic deep in this book, especially with the dreams involving Herne and the late-stage references to Arthur's potential connections to a Gallic bear god. Much like Merlin's tree of time, one can envision a track down which this book could have blossomed beautifully; however, it feels too heavy under its own frustration to adequately preach its message.

I quickly realized this was not a book for me. Focused too much on climate change and political stuff. I read fantasy/dystopian books to escape not be preached about world issues. DNF at %28.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine books. Disclaimer: I was sent this ARC by the publisher without soliciting it. My opinion is my own and is not influenced by Random House, the author or anyone associated with them. In the interest of disclosure, I only read 25% of this book.

Long ago, I loved the Arthurian tales, but with time I became disenchanted with them. However, recently I read a couple of books that I enjoyed that took their inspiration from those tales. Thus, when RHPG sent me an invitation to review this ARC, I accepted. The concept sounded interesting: King Arthur's knights repeatedly die, but are reincarnated every time England is in dire need of their assistance. This time, the need relates to the growing problem of global warming and its negative effects.

Problems: The humor didn't quite work for me and I felt detached from the non-Arthurian characters. I also admit to having a pre-existing bias against Lancelot. He didn't win me over in this book. So between those issues and the slowness of the plot at the beginning, I couldn't bring myself to continue. If I do finish this book, I will edit this review accordingly.

I will admit I was surprised by the feminists.

I wasn't expecting it, but it was a welcome surprise. The entire book was a balanced blend of classic knights-in-shining armor heroism and dry cynicism. Such a fun time with a great cast of characters with many vital things to say.

Mariam was a great hero. We follow her and her group of friends as they try to save the realm. Her POV felt overwhelming and painful, caught between her desire to save the world and the insecurity that comes with standing up for yourself. Kay was lovely to read. His POV was a struggle between his bone-deep exhaustion and drive to save his realm. All the characters in between were distinct, their own personal struggles adding complexity to the book.

From the first page to the last, I was completely involved. Definitely, not your mother's Arthurian retelling, and I loved it.

Received as an ARC.

Though I find myself often disappointed with Arthurian retellings, I wanted to give this one a try, and I'm glad I did.
Told with a wry, snarky tone that I more than appreciated, Kay is the hero I didn't know I was looking for. Poor, tired Kay who just wants to find and eradicate whatever is causing peril so that he can rest under his tree again, though preferably, in Heaven with his lost deceased and beloved wife.
Set in a near apocalyptic times, the earth is suffering from the effects of climate change and greed. Miriam and her band of eco warriors want to fix it, but they are not really sure what to do. Kay is only one knight, well out of his depth and Lancelot seems to be recruited to the wrong side.
With a cast that includes Merlin, Arthur, Morgan and more this was an enjoyable and rich story.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The knights of the round table never really died, not truly. They come to help when Britain is in peril and have done since Merlin cast his spell at the end of Arthur’s reign - and if these knights decide to they can bring Arthur back too when they need him. Knight Kay has been woken from his most recent slumber in the near future when the earth is dying and climate change has reached a breaking point. Lancelot wakes next to find that he and Kay are the last of them, and must fight to restore order to Britain - if they can agree on what that looks like and who to follow.

To me this was about Arthurian legend as much as The Hunchback of Notre Dame was about the court of miracles. This was climate change with the knights of the round table. I thought it was a fun take and an interesting alternate history but the underlying themes were so overt that it took me out of the story a lot.