This book was one of my surprise favorites from the first half of the year so far. At once a gutting near-future dystopian tale (including a very clear-eyed look at climate change) and a delightfully unexpected Arthurian “retelling”.
The distinctive and sympathetic cast of characters and the entertaining narrative voice quickly had me immersed in this story. The writing and the audio narration were both overall superb!
Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley, who supplied an ebook arc for review purposes.

I did enjoy this book though I felt as it was unnecessarily long. There was some long descriptions and fluff that I felt was not needed and dragged the story a bit. Other than that I really did like the story and I always love a Camelot story.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. I really liked the idea of this book. Arthur and his knights back to help the modern world, but the execution of the story was so slow, I kept putting the book down and reading other things.

I very much enjoyed this new perspective on King Arthur and his knights. The dark humor - Lancelot and Kay told to deal with their issues. The strong female characters. Morgan's purpose to aid women and the Earth. I loved these characters - entertaining, funny and real.
Merlin gives the knights magic stones - allowing for a sacred tree to grow upon their burial sight. When Britain is in " peril" the knights return to aid Britain.
The world is the death throes - consumed by reckless energy consumption, poor leadership, etc. Will it recover ? Or continue to be destroyed?

Not my normal read, but it was surprisingly fun! A retelling of the Knights of the Round table, the knights are to rise and protect Britain whenever it's in peril. But this time, when Kel rises, it's a Britain he doesn't recognize. Fun characters, and I'll definitely be looking for the next book!

What would happen if the Knights from Arthur’s round table woke up in today’s world? That’s exactly where Kay finds himself. He teams up with a seeming maiden in distress who is an eco-warrior. At this point in the apocalypse, anyone trying to save the failing earth must be willing to be violent in order to make a difference which, of course, as a Knight of the Round Table, is right up Kay’s alley.

I loved the premise of this story. A well-rounded novel with a dash of magic/fey, Arthurian legend and history mixed in with environmental, world-ending disaster. I love the underlying feminism and attitude of Mariam with a “fine, I’ll do it myself” attitude. The theme of actually taking action for what you believe in, overall government ineptitude, and figuring out what is right ‘side’ seemed very appropriate for today’s climate.

My only drawbacks were that sometimes the descriptiveness could be a little much and make an otherwise exciting and action-packed book drag a little bit. Also the cover did nothing to make me excited to open the book. I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley and took much longer to read it because I would pick other books with more interesting covers that drew me in.

However, as in most cases, don’t judge a book by it’s cover. I loved the story and all the different pieces that are woven together so seamlessly.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would recommend for anyone that enjoys Arthurian legend, history of England and Wales, or apocalyptic tales. There’s something for everyone!

You can't go wrong here! I loved this book! I bought and gave copies to my nephews as birthday gifts and they inhaled it.

Book Summary:

The Knights of the Round Table have faced many challenges over the years. They have been victorious more often than not, thanks to brave knights and clever leadership. But now they face a foe like nothing before.

The world is rapidly warming, and the politics around this debate are out of control. How can the knights take decisive action when nobody agrees on what that action should be?

My Review:

So if there's one thing I've learned from my latest reading stint, I need a break from certain genres/tropes. For example, I need a (long) break from Greek retellings. I also apparently need a bit of a break from Arthurian stories. As such, I probably didn't enjoy Perilous Times as much as I could have or should have. So please take my review with a grain of salt!

The best part of Perilous Times has to be the characters. They're easy to get attached to, with sympathetic and compelling plot arcs. In truth, this is probably the best representation I've seen of these characters in quite some time.

The more modern take on this retelling certainly didn't hurt, either. The idea of the Knights of the Round Table trying to deal with current dilemmas is...interesting, to say the least. It's comical and heartbreaking all in one, and I love Thomas D. Lee for putting that in my brain.

Highlights:
Debut
Modern Arthurian Tale
LGBTQ+

I want to start by saying just because this book didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. It has an intriguing premise. Kay and Lancelot are immortal due to Merlin’s magic. They sleep under the earth until they’re summoned when Britain is in peril. It takes place in the near future when the environment has been destroyed and climate change has flooded large sections of Britain.

I struggled to get through this. I enjoy stories about Camelot and its characters, retellings and reimaginings. Kay and Lancelot and others who show up- I don’t want to spoil things- are fine…except for one character who is a complete caricature. The non-Camelot characters are mostly one-dimensional, indistinguishable except for the “chosen one” who happens to be special. I had a hard time caring about any of them.

The pace is very slow, and the book beats you over the head with its message. One villain actually says he will “make Britain great again.” It’s a bleak book about a bleak future. I guess I expected more Camelot-type fantasy. So that’s on me. However, you might like it! There is a dragon. Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC.

This is not my typical style of book, but it was good. It's a modern take on an old story, and I was definitely entertained!

I'm always a fan of anything involving King Arthur. I enjoyed the writing and character development and seeing the knights in the modern world, but this book just wasn't for me.

I requested this one because of the touted basis in Arthurian legend, which is almost always my jam. This was a rare case where for many reasons I didn't connect with this story. I hope to return to it someday, but with my ARC schedule running away from me, I had to put this one on the back burner for now. It has a unique premise and I already encountered some interesting magic-system things. The characters are interesting, although I didn't connect with most of them. I have no doubt that there are a great many readers who'll love this story, but unfortunately it wasn't for me. 3 stars for here, because although I gave up on it, the story is well crafted.

A really great book. good characters and good adventure from start to finish. I enjoyed this heroines journey and look forward to more by this author.

In theory, this premise was right up my alley. Give me Arthurian legend remixed any day. In practice, however, this was a tougher sell. There was nothing inherently bad about this book, it just left a lot to be desired in my opinion.

From the slow pacing (which normally I don't mind, but in this case dragged on a little too long) to the humor not always landing, to even the plot not always landing, it just didn't end up being something I enjoyed as much I wanted to.

DNF. Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the eARC!

I enjoyed this book, incredibly witty and humorous while driving home the seriousness of climate change and what we could truly be hurtling towards. Incorporating this current day problem and giving it to King Aurthur and the Knights to solve made things that much more interesting! Would definitely recommend!

I am a sucker for anything and everything Arthurian, and this book was no exception. This one was unique, though. The story was filled with the usual characters, but they were thrust into the near future where the world was rapidly approaching its end due to the climate crisis. Unsurprisingly, the setting and general vibes of the story were bleak AF. The world was burning and drowning simultaneously, and the author did an eerily good job of making this future Earth feel doomed. Despite the gloom, there was a surprising amount of humor in the book. Here's looking at you mister racist Nazi turned repentant talking squirrel who likes to drink just a bit too much. I guess my point is that this book was a fun time despite (or maybe because of) the bleakness.

The characters in this book could be boiled down to one statement: Don't meet your heroes. They were all messy as hell and nothing like the old stories made everyone believe. Kay was a burnt out warrior who is understandably tired of all the pointless bloodshed. Although, at least he attempts to do the right thing at times. Lancelot on the other hand was a vain playboy with a drinking problem who blindly followed orders until it was almost too late to make a difference. The rest of the Arthurian characters weren't quite what you'd expect either, but I think it is best that you learn about them for yourself while reading the book. Mariam, the third POV, was a new character. She was devoted to saving the environment and doing what she could to help make Britain, and the world, a better place. I enjoyed her character arc the most because she learned how to believe in herself and her ability to make a difference.

The themes in this book were quite blatant. It definitely beat the reader over the head with them time and time again, but I was fine with it because it made sense for this story and was entertaining. It was in your face about being anti-oil, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, and pro-environment. It brilliantly illustrated the problem and likely outcome of letting wealthy corporations do what they want at the expense of the health of the world and people. It also highlighted the futility of war and the ways those in power use petty differences to keep the masses distracted while they pillage all the resources for maximal profit. Most importantly, though, this book taught the lesson that the true power lies with the people if only they would wield it. Instead of waiting for someone to come save them, it is the responsibility of each individual to take action to build a better world. That was a really powerful message that brought a thread of hope to all the doom and gloom.

I enjoyed the plot for the most part. The first half was largely a quest to find Excalibur and defeat a dragon. It introduced most of the characters along the way and set up the main conflict for the second half. Things then became a race against the clock to prevent the literal end of the world. Unfortunately, the end didn't really work for me. Everyone turned on the corporate overlords just a bit too easily, in my opinion.

Overall, this was an incredibly unique re-imagining of Arthurian lore. I had a lot of fun reading these characters because they were so different from what I've come to expect from these typically gallant figures. The ending was a bit of a hiccup, but I still really enjoyed my time with this one. Therefore, I rate this book 4.25 out of 5 stars.

Perilous Times was one of the most unique takes on the Arthurian legends that I have ever read and I am very grateful to Ballantine Books for the advanced readers copy, even if I was a little behind getting this review up.

If you were anything like me and grew up falling in love with The Once and Future King and then devouring all things Arthur and Camelot, you must read this. Also, if you look at the world and think we as a human race and our governments and our corporations need to do so much more to keep this world a home for us, you need to read this book. Perilous Times is a wonderful satirical look on the damage we've done to this world and who it might take to get us back on the right path.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Perilous Times delivered a fairly entertaining fantasy adventure.

The writing was good, but the story, was a little slow at times, it did a good job of coming together and if you enjoy fantasy, then this reimagined story might engage you, in the Era of King Arthur.

I really enjoyed it. Thank you once again, NetGalley!!

This book wasn’t my favorite, I really wanted to like it but the end of world and political aspects just didn’t do it for me. I was hoping for a more fantasy retelling of King Arthur and the knights of the round table that stuck more to the original tellings. With all the supporting characters being confusing and just not what I was hoping for. There was a few humorous lines but not enough to save this book. This was an arc and I’m voluntarily leaving this review.

This is a political and social commentary thinly disguised as a fantasy. Interestng use of Arthurian legend but I found myself racing to the end to just get it over with. I did really like Kay and found him most interesting.