This is an interesting and different take on the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur’s court. In this story, the earth is possibly past saving and evil rules. I admit there were a few times I was lost, trying to make sense of the names and places. I did enjoy the book, as it is much different from my normal reads, mostly dark, with a sliver of light.

I really liked how this book talked about the environment, and how difficult it is for people to reconcile against a common enemy because of political differences, as often fantasy ignores the infighting if it isn't the entire plot. I also enjoyed how it was a mix of fantasy and dystopia (which is one of those concepts that is a lot more commmon in arthuriana than really anywhere else), and also mentions how blind loyalty to any one thing is not always good, or even good most of the time.
However, it was not an amazing book by any means, and I have a few problems, the main one being the white supremacist redemption arc, in which he discovers that immigrants are people too and then immediately returns to his white supremacist nazi group. On a less problematic nore, some of the characters were just annoying, and there were some minor plot holes, most notably involving Lancelot's character

A quirky, darkly comedic adventure featuring the ancient figures of the Arthurian legends on an alternate, future earth, drawing parallels to and making points about the real earth of the present.
This was an enjoyable read, and at no point did I expect what was coming next. The writing is great, though sometimes the themes come across pretty heavy-handed. I don’t really like being preached at, even if the message is something I agree with. But otherwise it’s a funny, exciting and well-paced novel. There’s a lot of social and political commentary and there are some LGBT characters. This is an impressive debut novel and I’d recommend it to fans of YA, New Adult, and Adult Sci-fi/Fantasy who are looking for a fresh take on the genre.

I am very interested in British history as well as Arthurian literature, so I was excited to read this! I loved it! This book was filled with history and a mix of fantasy with humor. I really enjoyed and I appreciate having the opportunity to review this book through Netgalley. Thank you, Random House- Ballentine for the great read!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee in exchange for an honest review. I've grown up with different tellings of the Arthurian legend and so I was very interested in the plot of this book. I really enjoyed the new ideas thrown into an old legend. Very fun read and something I'd like to read more of.

An innovative twist on the King Arthur legends, Lee has created a post-apocalyptic world where the environment is doomed and our heroine Mariam is an eco-warrior. Lee matches her up with Kay, a knight of the Round Table, who has been resurrected over and over again to fight in wars from Waterloo to World War II, and is characteristically jaded about human nature.

All seriousness aside, this book is a fun read. The premise seems slightly absurd with a climate crisis and King Arthur but Lee has managed to weave all the threads together to create a commentary about the positive power of individuals and belief. I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did and this is one of my favorite reads of the year.

Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine

I love Arthurian legends, so I was really curious to read this one. It didn't disappoint. What I loved most was that it's such a genre bending book. History meets fantasy and even meets humor. Well done!

What a fascinating premise! Immortal knights of Arthur’s round table coming back from the dead whenever Britain is in peril. This time Sir Kay climbs out from under his royal oak to help a group of female eco-terrorists. Britain is in bad shape from the environment,
Lancelot also climbs out of the earth but he is working for an evil immortal group who has aligned with the Devil. Kay and Lancelot have a past grievance with each other but they both agree they do not want King Arthur back. Will they work together to prevent this or fall back into old habits?
I enjoy the idea of this novel but the future is dark and includes every political issue there is - global warming, refugees, private armies, etc.
It is well written with humor and likable characters but too political for me overall.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

DNF. 22%
I tried, repeatedly, to read this and just couldn't get into it. It's really slow and not interesting for me. I'm sorry.

I'm a huge fan of the Arthurian legends, and have been since I was really young, so I absolutely loved this contemporary retelling! I think for anyone who is tired of typical fairytale or mythic retellings, this is definitely a book to check out!

This was a good read I really enjoyed it and will definitely be looking in to the arthur more definitely recommend

I really liked the different take this story has. Dystopia meets King Arthur, but Arthur and his kingdom aren't exactly what you expect. Britain is in peril, global warming is killing the Earth quickly, and they are looking at the end of times. There is no one leadership, and everyone is fighting for control. Oh, and magic is being released into the world in the form of dragons. Some of the knights of the round table have been preserved for this purpose,
but is a hero really what is needed or the people themselves.
This book is LGBT friendly and deals with economic issues. I recommend this book to someone looking for a dystopia/ fantasy mix up.

Well I'm a sucker for Arthurian legend books, so naturally I smitten with this one. Although, I'm going to totally honest here...I think it could still do with some editing. It's a wee bit messy with characters and storylines. (Like the whole mushroom thing was cool, but seemed to be quickly abandoned.)

These are quibbles though. Overall, the premise of this book is superb. (And I LOVED that Arthur is a total douche. Yes! That tracks!) It moves very quickly, has a light breezy tone, and solid action scenes. I wanted WAY MORE of Barry the squirrel. (Favorite line: "I'm not taking life advice from a squirrel who used to be a racist!") That character didn't really DO a whole lot, but I liked the idea.

As much as I wanted this book to be centered on Miriam and the bad ass FETA women, I felt like they were pretty regularly overshadowed by the antics of the knights. Ultimately this is a feminist story, and the women save the day, but they were a little one dimensional on the page. Other than Miriam and Morgana the rest of the bunch don't have much of a personality.

The climate change stuff was a downer, but it IS a downer in real life. I guess sometimes I felt bad for having fun on this ride when the over-arching premise of the book is that we're destroying the planet, and unlike the dragons and wizards and shit, that part is totally true.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was wonderful! It tackles several different topics and the genre could fall into Fantasy, Sci-fi, Political satire, and historical fiction.

The author did a wonderful job of putting me into the headspace of all the characters immediately. While the pacing did slow down about halfway through the book, I was already deeply devoted to Kay and Mariam and did not feel like the story lost my interest.

I received this book as an arc. I am very fortunate to have read it. Everything about this book is so unique. Imagine the knights and everyone in Camelot comes back to life when Britain is in peril. They usually come back for conventional war, but now they come for the climate. Fighting in unexpected battles. People aren’t who history made them seem to be. This was a fantastic book. Definitely worth the read!

Ooh! What a fabulous book!
I love a good fantasy book and this definitely falls into that category. Our story begins with an eco warrior, Mariam, who is trying to destroy a factory that is spewing toxins into the air. The world is in a terrible condition due to global warming and more. She ends up being rescued by Kay, a knight of the round table. He and the other knights are brought back to life when the realm is in danger. What follows is quite a fun filled adventure as they try to fix the world and get rid of the evil doers. There is a wonderful cast of characters and I enjoyed this story soo much! I will definitely look for more books by this author. Do yourself a favor and read this book. You’ll have a rollicking good time!

A very solid 4.5 stars.

I was invited to read this ARC and given my very longstanding love for King Arthur I didn't stand the slightest chance of refusing. But here is the thing I did not really expect to like it very much. I love King Arthur stories, but I suppose that also means I expect a lot out of them and I thought 'oh this concept sounds too intriguing to be true and it will fall short.'

It wasn't flawless. There are some typos but I can forgive those in an ARC. I don't particularly like books written in present tense. But I was very wrong about not liking it. There is a lot here to like. What intrigued me about the premise with the Knights of the Round Table as immortal warriors rising when the Realm was in peril delivered on its promise. And it delivered on its promise in the best and most human way possible. I loved Kay, who is so rarely centered in any stories and who was so perfectly suited and depicted here. And my heart hurt for Lancelot, and found him obnoxious and yet human enough that I could warm to him.

I didn't know if I would like Mariam or the rest of the premise. I didn't know if it would -work-. But it did. There is a lot here. A dire vision of the future that I wish felt far more farfetched than it does. But there is something else too that I love in my fantasy, under this grim vision there is the thing that in my opinion makes for the best fantasy. Determination and hope. The story was interesting and satisfying, well-paced, and intriguing and the ending resolved just enough to be very satisfying while leaving ample opening for a potential sequel.

There were some things here that might not have been to my personal taste in interpretations or continuations of the story of King Arthur. But that did not stop me from liking it because they worked. In this story they were the right choices.

The characterization was satisfactory and while I might have liked a bit more elaboration on some parts of Kay and Lancelot's history or the state of the world, I felt the worldbuilding was well done, drawing on the legend without just retelling it. Carrying on in the proud tradition of adding on to this very old story. So overall 4 stars and a thank you for giving me some knights to read about. I look forward to seeing what this author does next.

So this was not a book of my choosing but instead a book recommended to me to read and review. I was a tad hesitant to take them up on the offer though had nothing currently in my backlog so thought I would take a shot. I’ll say this, the book started out with a bang. Great storyline that was super intriguing. Knights of the round table? Climate change? Totally understandable from a readers sense and seemed like it was set to be a perfect pairing. My issue was the middle. It was slow. And very confusing. Lots of additional characters and smaller storylines that I felt were a little confusing to follow. Once everything did start connecting it made a little more sense and I quite enjoyed the ending. I just think the path to get there was a tad slow. Overall it was a fun story that I think many would enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley, Thomas D. Lee, and Ballantine Books for providing me with an advanced reading copy.

4.2/5
The premise of this book was so interesting. I couldn't wait to jump in and read it. This book reads like a video game...in the best way possible. There are fantasy hijinks, humor, and twists and turns. I adore Kay and Mariam's willingness to jump into a storybook come to life. There's also subtext about modern social issues that were so refreshing to see. For a book this long, it did a great job keeping me engaged throughout and I loved the conclusion.

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

I'm a huge fan of the Arthurian legends, and have been since I was really young, so I absolutely loved this contemporary retelling! I think for anyone who is tired of typical fairytale or mythic retellings, this is definitely a book to check out!