Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this novel.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Perilous Times, an Arthurian based novel where Knights of the Round Table are seemingly immortal and come back to live when England is in "Perilous Times". Kay, the brother of King Arthur, has grown weary of coming back to battles and strife, but his heart is in the right place as he tries to give help wherever he sees a need.

This time, when he comes back, England and the planet are in trouble due to climate issues. The people are divided as to how to solve it, and the usual politicians and interest groups are fighting for their own aims instead of trying to solve problems together. He runs into Mariam, an eco terrorist who is tired of inaction.

It was a little heavy handed with the climate change, but I feel like it was pretty engrossing - although it started out somewhat slow, it picked up for me and I was interested to find out what was going to happen.

I really enjoyed the modern twist to this Arthurian retelling. As a huge fan of the BBC Merlin, I had to read this. I liked how creative the storyline was, and the urgent matter that required Kay to be brought back again.

I enjoyed the concept of this book quite a bit. I thought it was smart to combine a legend we all know with modern day issues. Environmental issues are a passion of mine so I thought it was an engaging way to stir some reflection in the reader about the issue. The writing quality was good and overall I enjoyed it.

This book was a breath of fresh air, and possibly the best one I’ve read in awhile. I’m a sucker for Arthurian legends and this was the spin I didn’t know I needed. The characters were very well written. The plot was excellent and the conflict/drama didn’t feel forced and did what it was supposed to to move the story along. 5/5 will read again

Actual Score = 5/10

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

What is it about? Whenever England faces a perilous time, the Knights of the Round Table are awoken to help England fend off the threat. In this novel, we see folks like Kay, Arthur, Lancelot, Morgan, Merlin, and others come back to face the environmental crisis among other things. It is a very interesting premise!

What did not work for me? For me, the first half of the book drags some. It feels very slow and a little bit redundant. At times, it could feel a bit preachy as well for my taste. I understood about the climate/environmental issues they were facing but I felt like I was constantly being reminded about it instead of progressing other elements of the story. The non-Arthurian characters mostly did not work for me. The main character was pretty good and the squirrel was awesome but other than that, the others blended together.

What did work for me? I found the concept to be fascinating. Arthurian legends thrown into the world and facing modern day issues. I thought the Arthurian characters were well written and it was very cool to see this different interpretation of them! The author does bring up very prevalent issues in our current world and tackles them in an intriguing way.

Overall: I was very mixed on this book. There are things that just did not click for me and others that I thought were very well explored. It is certainly not a bad debut by any means

Too bad Perilous Times couldn't be more about resurrected dragons wreaking havoc upon earth. Thus requiring the help of the knights to rescue the world. Instead I found it politically slanted toward climate activists. Though I liken them more to eco-terrorists. Especially when explosives destroy a fracking site, sending it up in flames and emitting more carbon emissions than if left alone.

Needless to say, I didn't like or enjoy the narrative. However, I did like the snarky humor. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to sway me to continue reading -- especially since the activists (terrorists) were hell-bent on destroying just about everything that stood in the way of their agenda.

Though I normally read to at least 33% or more, I just couldn't continue much further than 25%. Sadly a one star DNF.

I received a digital ARC from Random House Publishing Group through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had no idea what to expect about a book Arthuriana and immortal defenders of the realm and climate change, but I am willing to try almost anything in the realm of speculative fiction, and I am so glad I picked this one up. The premise is that the Knights of the Round Table slumber beneath magic trees across Britain and rise during—for lack of a better term—perilous times. This time, he rises in a near future timeline in which climate change has more or less completely destroyed the world, and he accidentally gets caught up with Mariam, who i a member of an environmental group (and also, maybe they are ecoterrorists?). On the other side, Lancelot rises and gets caught up with a bunch of immortal white capitalists. And there's a dragon.

I thought this was a very funny novel and it all worked surprisingly well. I have a soft spot for climate change novels but they can get so messy so fast and Lee did a really good job at capturing what leftist infighting looks like while still maintaining humor and nuance. I thought the challenges the cast faced and their relationships with one another was also delightful, and while there was some pacing that felt a little uneven and maybe some more noticeably stronger parts than others, I did really, really enjoy this and so long as you're cool with more real-world politics being present in your books it's absolutely worth a read.

Perilous Times reimagines Arthurian myth with undead knights who rise up from beneath magical trees to protect the realm in times of peril--and there is no time more perilous than the near future of climate change the book depicts.

For a book marketed as funny, this was a lot more depressing than I expected--although maybe that's a given with any book tackling a subject as heavy as climate change. Fortunately, the initial unrelenting awfulness of the book's near-future world did give way to a hopeful ending, with some lovely messages throughout. Overall I enjoyed this one--especially the second half, which did have some very funny moments as well as some wonderfully epic scenes that were worth sticking around for.

This book is a very different take on Arthurian legend. There have been a lot of books centering on the lore lately, some of them less clever and fresh than others. Perilous Times is one of the fresh ones.

It's bizarre, to be certain. The Arthurian knights are resurrected from underneath their burial trees every time Britain is in peril. They've seen a lot of wars. This time, the peril is global warming and the fallout from that, both political and social, and beyond. It's told in multiple POVs, though the knight Kay, Arthur's brother, is who I considered the main MC. I was rooting for him from the word go. Lancelot was a little harder to love, but he grew on me. Mariam is a unique non-knight perspective I enjoyed with a great character arc.

Perilous Times is an enjoyable ride, with fantasy elements you'd expect to see in an Arthurian story combined with some of the very real issues of today.

DNF Unfortunately, this book did not do anything for me. The premise seemed awesome, but I just could not get into it at all. I will try to circle back at a later date and try again, but for now I am going to take a break from it.
New review will follow if the second time around goes better for me.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for me honest opinion.

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee is a novel that takes the well loved Arthurian legends and applies their themes to modern concerns.

Between a feminist slant and climate change focus this is a book for readers who like their fiction to reflect the society around them a bit more directly than most fantasy.

Pacing is slower so I do recommend this as a book to read when the reader really has time to sit down with it,

Didn’t know what to expect starting this book, but I liked it! It’s an entertaining read. I was doubting the mix between Arthurian retelling and climate change, but the writing was very fluid. The world building didn’t feel forced at all, it just meshed all together. I loved the humor and banter of characters.

A modern telling of King Arthur and the knights of the round table

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Sir Kay and the other Knights of the Round Table have all been sleeping for the last fifteen hundred years or so, waking only when Britain is in peril and they are magically summoned to assist in protecting the realm. Kay wakes this time to find himself in a strange future — the whole earth is dying as humans continue to poison it with the waste of industry, and every faction is warring against each other to further their own radical beliefs. It's hot, swampy, and instantly dangerous, as Kay helps a young woman running from the mess she just made in the name of her all-female eco-warrior extremist group. As he spends time with her though, Kay starts to see that Mariam may have the right idea about how to help the realm. As they quest onward to Manchester, they'll come across a sort-of evil Lancelot, Christopher Marlowe (still alive, yes), a gigantic dragon, a maybe-evil sorceress, a racist squirrel, and a hippie selling magic mushrooms who looks a lot like Merlin. They're all racing to find Excalibur, whether to wake King Arthur with it or to keep him slumbering in Avalon. Arthur could be the force that turns the tide once and for all — but which way will he turn it?

This story pleasantly surprised me! It's lengthy, but the pages flew as I was sucked into the story and the characters. It is a fantastic combo of dystopian future, zombie Camelot, and Arthurian lore that I found fully irresistible. I can't believe that this is a debut novel, either! There are plenty of funny moments, as well as some sobering truths about the state of the world and the potential future we may encounter. I absolutely loved the author's rendering/reimagining of all the Camelot characters, as he took liberties with them that made them really unique and memorable for me.

I rarely say this, but I wish this book had been longer or had been extended into a duology/trilogy, because I feel like there is so much more that could have gone on with this narrative! The ending felt a bit rushed for me, but maybe that's just from my desire to live a little bit longer with these characters.

I definitely recommend this one if you're at all into Arthurian legend, because it's such a fun and distinctive take on the traditional stories and characters we're familiar with. I love the combination with dystopian sci-fi as well! Thank you to Thomas D. Lee, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

Overall good book, highly political, showing the problems of today in a dystopian near future mixed with some Arthurian fantasy elements. Although advertised as a fantasy book it’s focusing more on real life social inequality, environmental change, immigration and other political topics, sometimes subtle between the lines, sometimes straight on. Lee shows that the human race hasn’t changed in millennia, divide and conquer works still fine and the single person can despair and getting lost being confronted with the size and complexity of modern world problems, but despite this more earnest tone there are funny bits sprinkled throughout the book. My only critique is that the message of the book is contradictory in some cases and some of the side characters lack personality/ feel a bit stereotype.

I started really getting into the story line and then it took a turn and lost me. I enjoy a good King Arthur story but they lost me. I did not finish it.

Knights, King Arthur, global warming, magic, greed, Merlin and the many branches of the tree of life. You're in for a ride as the knights crawl back to life from under their tree of life to battle once again when the earth is peril. Never boring.

This is a feminist, subversive, yet very fun romp of a climate change fight with magic, Arthurian knights, dragons, and a redeemed racist talking squirrel. I really liked the take on how waiting for a hero helps absolve us of responsibility and agency. Women don’t need to wait for a bloke to save the day! They can grab the magic staff for themselves and create change!
Look, some smaller minded people are going to find this book preachy with its (very accurate) takes on climate change, capitalism, xenophobia, and rich men making things worse. But I loved it. Mariam was a great heroine. And I loved the look at Arthur as actually kind of terrible.
I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a requested copy to review. All opinions are my own.

I dove into this book solely on colorful vivid pictures of the snake cover that I saw online. A book as gorgeous as this one was intriguing to me, even though I doubted mixing Arthurian legends, dystopian futures, and humor would work. But I was wrong.

This book is five out of five stars for me on enjoyment alone! Comparable to Neil Gaimen’s “American Gods” and “Good Omens”, this story takes myths and legends, interweaving both into future times. Sir Kay wakes up in the future and runs into Mariam. Both have been busy saving the world, but both have been living in different centuries. To see centuries collide, and these two characters try to get along was priceless. It’s full of things I love the most in life - deadpan humor, villany, wit, adventure and sarcasm.

The Lady of the Lake and Merlin, two of my favorite characters in Arthurian legends were written into this story too. Seeing this all in a new light was very entertaining for me. It held my attention and kept me laughing the whole way. I would buy this book, and include it in all libraries. Many will enjoy it!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books via NetGalley for this arc. I voluntarily read it and all opinions are my own.

Perilous Times is a King Arthur retelling where Merlin enchanted the knights to rise when England is in peril. Indeed, they were summoned for many of the major conflicts in British history. At the start of this book, Sir Kay awakens to find England plagued by the impacts of global climate change, corporate greed, some of their land being sold off to China, and the army has been privatized. He stumbles upon a climate change activist named Miriam, and the two team up to help save England. (It's way more complicated than that. Politics come into play. Alliances are questioned. But you'll have to read the book to get all the layers. ;))

While I should have loved this book based on the description, in reality, it fell a bit flat for me for two reasons. 1. I love out of time books because I love the see the main protagonist acclimate and survive in a time period that's not their own. In Perilous Times, we didn't get much of that since they'd experienced the world at different points in time since their deaths. We got the barest touches, hints to changes in the past, but not the full experience that I was expecting when I read the blurb. 2. I thought the climate change warnings were too preachy. We desperately need to make dramatic changes to curb climate change, a lot of which is tied into corporate greed (see above), however people who deny it or succumbing to corporate greed are likely not to respond if they feel they're being preached at. (I realize this is totally subjective, but I'm sharing it in case others feel the same way.)

Pros:
-Clever premise
-Mentions all the big Arthur players, Arthurian lovers will enjoy seeing their names
-The dialogue was well done
-The author did a great job at world-building
-Dragon

Cons:
-A bit too slow paced
-Lacked some interactions I was hoping for
-Felt preachy at times

Overall, I think Perilous Times is a well-written book with an interesting premise, but it just wasn't for me. In fact, I DNF'd the book about halfway through. However, I'm not docking this to my DNF ratings because I can objectively see that it is a good book and my reasons for not liking it are extremely personal. If you like the Arthurian legend and are okay with a bit of preachiness, this book might be for you!

Disclosure: The publisher provided me with an arc. (Thank you!) All views expressed are my own.