*I received this book (Via eArc by Netgalley) for free from the Publisher ( Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine) in exchange for an honest review*
I had so much fun reading this book and it was very creative!! Arthurian legend done in the modern world was so unique and especially them also reading about what the stories that were written about them and was so confused because they didn’t happen or it was very off which I found interesting. Overall it’s a great book for those who love Arthurian legend and Merlin BBC show!! Modern but a good one

Stars: 3.25/5.0

If there is one thing to be aware of with this book: be aware of the trigger warnings. Especially the suicide/suicide attempts and the alcoholism. They are very heavy and prominent points in the story. Others include: murder, attempted murder, bodily horror, drug addiction

I was initially interested by the premise of this book: King Arthur inspired story in a near future England. The Knights of the Roundtable made a deal with Merlin in their first life that they may die but they will never pass over in the afterlife. They instead will return to their ancient oak to be resurrected when England is in peril. Now introducing Kay, a knight of the of the round table and King Arthur’s brother. Not much later, we meet Mariam, a member of an all women eco-activist group in England. She and her sisters are working for climate justice in a country dealing with the repercussions of corporate greed, climate change, and government sellout. Kay initially joins with Miriam in this mission. The third POV we eventually get is Lancelot, who offers the opportunity to see more of the workings of the corporate side of the world for the beginning.

While the story is set to follow the 3 individuals as Kay and Lancelot discover what they were raised for (and what the new world means) and Mariam as she and her sisters fight for their initiatives with their own new understanding of the world where men resurrect from the ground, the more interesting aspect in my opinion was actually the backstory of the characters. A big complaint of mine for the story is it felt like the foreshadowing was blatantly thrown into your face like a “hmmm that suspicious but I won’t look at it” *40 pages later* “ah yes that thing that was suspicious was bad”. So I became more interested in why certain dynamics were the way they were.

This book is not an easy read either. It covers a lot of contemporary issues that can weigh you down a lot as you are reading it. (And this is coming from someone who normally reads a lot of books that have contemporary issues/dark topics in it).

Overall, it was a decent book. The pacing felt right and the British humor is a good relief to some of the darkness. The foreshadowing and the overall heaviness is what brings down my rating though.

PERILOUS TIMES by Thomas D. Lee features an enchanted knight from King Arthur's roundtable bound to return when England is in peril. Unfortunately, the rendering of this mythical person is more wisecracking comic book hero whose self-agency appears more attuned to grousing about regular humans and their petty philosophies. I found the shifts in perspective jarring, the slang and old-fashioned language off-putting, and the overall story to be breathless, madcap adventure not matching the promise of the premise. I received a copy of the novel and these are my own, unbiased opinions.

3.5/5 stars

This book is a really interesting take on Arthurian legend, and ventures to answer the question: what would it look like when Arthur and his knights return to save Briton, but the threat isn’t something you can fight with swords? (Though to be fair, there’s plenty of sword fighting, and gun fighting, and lots of other fighting.)

While the book was a bit slow to start, once it picks up it’s really entertaining. We’re introduced to a fantastic, diverse cast of characters who are all messy in their own way (and a few who just suck). Even the protagonists are a bit “love them, hate them.” For the most part, I really loved this take on Arthur and his knights. They’re not what you expect, but they feel very honest and raw. After all, legend/history and reality/truth don’t always align.

The book deals with themes of climate change, racism, sexism, and xenophobia while also boasting dragons, pagan gods, and political intrigue. I loved unwinding the knot of the unfolding events, and I think the author did that brilliantly, and all with dark humor to wrap it up.

All of these great things aside, there were some ways in which I think the book could have improved. Overall it was clear that the author wanted to take a very nuanced approach to infighting between various groups. That being said, there’s a brief and hilarious redemption arc for a white supremacist that ultimately falls flat, because he doesn’t seem to truly learn anything. Is it realistic? Maybe. But I would have liked to see a different outcome.

I also would have liked to see Mariam’s friends in FETA developed more. They play a not insignificant role in Marian’s story, but they just don’t feel very three dimensional, and I had a hard time believing they actually liked each other, and I kept forgetting who was who. They just needed more development. On a similar note, the characters have these amazing personal journeys and revelations that they never share with each other, so no one is ever on the same page, and that could get tiring/annoying. I know it’s sort of ~the point~ but can the characters not have at least ONE full conversation that leads to understanding?

As you can see, complicated feelings.

Thanks to NetGalley, and to Penguin Random House for inviting me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Knights of the round table, dragons, humor, dystopian future, environmental issues, and Christopher Marlowe. It's a crazy mix that just works. It's weird and wonderful at the same time. It does drag in a few places but stick with it! It's completely unique.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Perilous Times.

I don't read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, but if a premise intrigues me, I'll give it a whirl.

I know the basics of the legend of King Arthur, and the author sure knows his stuff, and puts his own original spin on it, which I liked very much.

The characters were the best part of the narrative; Kay and I loved the FETA women, their love and support and sincere desire to do something to make the world a better place, not easy since the world's gone nuts.

What I didn't like:

The climate change dystopian world the story is set in. This was a trigger for me so readers, you've been forewarned.

I would have preferred the narrative take place in our present time, which is already a heckhole but that's just me.

There's a lot of stuff going on, subplots and so many characters, everyone in the Arthurian legend makes an appearance, which isn't too hard to follow but can be distracting.

Naturally, the big guns include Lancelot, Merlin (who is barely in the story and I wanted to see more of) and Arthur, who is a d**k though Kay does already give us a heads up on that.

I liked Kay so it was disappointing to see how his character, Lancelot and Arthur didn't turn out to be or do much.

There's some Neil Gaiman-like humor (which I enjoyed) but the narrative was long, really long, and oftentimes, slow.

I found myself putting down Perilous Times and reading something else.

Characters made crappy decisions, which is realistic in real life, but it got frustrating when they kept doing it.

Overall, good writing, original retelling of the King Arthur story, though too long for me. I think true blue fans of King Arthur would enjoy this very much.

What a ride! Arthurian legend with a queer twist mixed with social commentary about climate change/activism--the combination works surprisingly well. While it drags a little toward the end, I found this to be immensely readable because of the characters (some of whom are hilariously dumb and some of whom are bitingly sarcastic--the types balance each other out nicely) and the Pratchett-esque humor. It's entirely different from what I've been reading lately, and it's refreshingly honest and full of adventure.

I do not usually read fantasy tales, but I do love history and who can resist a story with Lancelot, Arthur and Sir Kay. Merlin provided resurrection stones to the knights of the round table. This would allow them to rise from the earth when Britain needed them. Sir Kay has fought at Waterloo, WWI and WWII. He is not sure why he has been called back this time, but when he sees a damsel in distress he goes to her rescue. That damsel is Mariam, who has just blown up a fracking site. Britain is dying. Water has risen in the streets of London, animals no longer roam the forests, there is a shortage of food and trees are disappearing. Miriam’s goal is to help the environment, but her efforts may have made things worse when the explosion releases a dragon. She hopes that Kay can find some way to help.

Thomas D. Lee has written a story that is whimsical and will frequently have you laughing out loud. He also explores the consequences of global warming, climate disasters and corporate greed. Mariam belongs to a group that provides support for women in the camps of displaced persons. While there is sometimes dissent regarding the group’s purpose, they support Mariam when she is called upon to fight a conspiracy that could result in doomsday. There is a plan to bring Arthur back to rally the people, but Kay, who was raised as his brother, warns that the Arthur that people know is a romanticized version. The real Arthur is very different and bringing him back could be disastrous. Kay’s feud with Lancelot, Merlin’s revelations regarding the resurrection stones, the appearance of Excalibur, magic and dragons will keep you engrossed from the opening scenes and Lee provides surprises throughout the story. This is a wonderful story that is highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for providing this book for my review.

A fantastical dystopian romp steeped in Arthurian legend. In the near future, Britain is dominated by rising sea levels, oil rigs, and fracking. As a result, people are forced to migrate to higher elevations, where they live in filthy camps. A group of feminist eco-terrorists is bent on destroying the corporations that are making people's lives miserable. But they're not making much progress. Sensing that the empire is in peril, Kay, one of Arthur's knights (and brother!), awakens beneath his tree. His only mission is to alleviate the peril...again. He meets feminist eco-terrorist Mariam as she runs from Saxon security guards, and both of their lives and missions change. Can they save Britain? Will Merlin help them? Do they have to bring Arthur back? Lancelot is bandying about with evil Christopher Marlowe, but where are the other knights?

This book was suggested because I enjoyed Chuck Wendig's The Wanderers. The story is similar but with Arthur, Kay, Lancelot, the round table, and Christopher Marlowe thrown into the mix. It's much more of a dystopian fantasy.

Imagine Arthurian legends in a contemporary yet dystopian setting, doing battle with not only dragons but climate change, add in a generous helping of wry humor, and you have Thomas Lee's Perilous Times. A little slow at times, and the topic of climate change could be heavy-handed, but overall still a fun read. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those books that most people are either going to love or hate, depending on your stance on the climate crisis.

Perilous Times by Thomas Lee will be available June 23, 2023.

Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Eh. It was pretty ok. The author obviously knows Arthurian mythology and the dystopian setting was an interesting choice to blend it with but it just didn’t quite work for me. Don’t get me wrong the book was okay. Parts were kind of funny in a Prachett like way. The dystopian and grimmer parts were ok too. It just didn’t quite jell for me. I’d still try a second book by this author,

3.5 rounded up

This book is such a hard book for me to rate because there are elements that I truly enjoyed and there were parts that I just could not get into.

I found the book to be a very interesting read due to the concept. The idea that Arthurian knights are reincarnated anytime Britain is in peril was SUPER FASCINATING to me. Set in the future, Britain is in peril due to climate change, xenophobia, racism, corporate greed, and many other issues that hit close to home. You name it, the issue is there in this dystopia. And there were fantasy elements too! AND the characters have a huge depth to them that is difficult to convey in multiple POVs, but the author did it well.

As someone who loves Arthurian legend, dystopian novels, fantasy, and character novels, this should have been a slam dunk for me. But unfortunately, it fell a little flat and I think the main reason for that is pretty simple: the pacing and length of this book. At almost 500 pages, this was a whopper of a book and not every part of the plot moved it along, making large parts drag and feel unnecessary or repetitive. And parts of the book I wanted more information on were overlooked or quickly resolved.

Overall, I found myself either extremely riveted by the story or sighing heavily to get through parts. There was no in between for me. I would recommend this book to those interested in dystopian and fantasy novels, retellings, social justice and environmental issues, and longer novels!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review!

If you loved the tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, then this is the book for you. I read all of those tales growing up and enjoyed this book immensely, since this is Arthur and the Knights like you never saw them. The storybook legend is that when they were needed, they would rise to defend England.

The knights are shown as heroes (eventually) but also as deeply flawed individuals. Kay, who is the narrator for a large part of the book, is my favorite. Kay broke my heart at times. Lancelot is a real jerk but became more likeable as the book went on.

This time around the Knights are resurrected from their deep sleep to save the realm again, and more than the realm. This time they need to save the entire planet from global warming, and defeat the enemy behind the corporations with more than a lance and a horse.

I received a review copy from publisher Random House Publishing/Ballentine Books via NetGalley. It was a great pleasure to voluntarily read and review this book.

DNF - I think I misunderstood what this book was going to be after reading the description, but I just couldn’t get into this book. If it was shorter, I maybe would have pushed through, but since it was quite long, I just gave up. This is probably my fault for not doing a little more research before starting this book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas D Lee for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Perilous Times coming out May 23, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Legends don’t always live up to reality. 

Being reborn as an immortal defender of the realm gets really tiring over the years—or at least that’s what Sir Kay’s feeling 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 modern world where oceans have risen, the army’s been privatized, and half of Britain’s been sold to foreign powers. There also happens to be a dragon running. He can handle that. But he’s not so sure about the rest. 

Mariam’s spent her life fighting the good fight in 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 her world has finally found a hero. 

Yet as the two journey through this weird and dangerous land, they discover that a magical plot of apocalyptic proportions is underfoot. And Kay’s too wrapped up in hunting dragons—and exchanging blows with his old enemy Lancelot—to come up with a plan. 

In perilous times, the world doesn’t just need a knight. It needs a true leader. 

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 wickedly subversive fashion—Perilous Times is an Arthurian retelling that looks forward to the future as much as it looks back to the past.

I received this directly from NetGalley. I loved it! I’m definitely a fan of the legend of King Arthur. I thought the idea of people like Lancelot, Kay, Merlin, and the gang living until modern times was unique. It felt like an epic journey for the characters. I loved Miriam’s character and thought she was a strong heroine. The story did get a little long for me at the end. I think some themes were slightly repetitive and could’ve been a little tighter. But overall, I loved the characters and the world building.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys modern stories about Camelot!

Perilous Times is the gripping futuristic retelling of Arthurian legend. It follows Sir Kay, Arthur’s brother and knight of the round table. But Arthur is dead, the planet is in a climate crisis, and Kay is summoned to help when Britain is in dire peril. Kay meets Mariam, a young activist who is attempting to save the planet. Can Kay and Mariam work together to save Britain and the planet before the damage is irreversible?

I loved how inventive and creative this book was. The magic system was fascinating and I really liked the lore behind how the knights were able to be summoned back to life if Britain was in peril. The dragons, fae realm, and deals with the devil were incredibly fun. I especially loved the inclusion of queerness and the challenging of legends that readers feel they know by heart, such as what truly happened between Lancelot and Gwen. The book really reminded me of the writing style of Good Omens (Gaiman & Pratchett), especially the excellent sense of humor.

Thomas D. Lee writes the characters with so much wit and skill. In particular, I loved his take on Merlin, Morgan, and Lancelot. Lee excels at taking a piece of the legend that readers think they know and creating something entirely new. Perilous Times is a wild ride of Arthurian knights brought back to life, fierce battles, and people trying to do the right thing for the planet. I loved it and can’t wait to see what Lee writes next! Readers who enjoy Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, and inventive Arthurian retellings need to check out Perilous Times.

Thank you to Thomas D. Lee, Ballantine Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

I’m a sucker for a King Arthur story. There have been some good ones over the years and some really bad ones, too. I am not one who has to have the stereotypical Arthur and his knights and an ancient Merlin. So I was ready for anything when it came to Perilous Times.

If you don’t believe climate change is real or don’t believe it’s as big of a problem as some say, this book is not for you. If you want your glorious King Arthur shining like a beacon of goodness and all his knights chivalrous and honest (and white), this book is not for you. If you can’t handle LGBTQ as part of the storyline, this book is not for you.

There’s a lot to like about this quirky and humorous fantasy book set in the not distant future. It turns out that Merlin cast a spell on the Knights of the Round Table that they would be resurrected any time Great Britain is in great peril. In modern times, many parts of the cities are flooded due to polar ice caps melting, the sun is burning hotter than ever, and pollution has muddied up streams. Kay, King Arthur’s brother, rises from the ground from an ancient oak tree, and starts searching for the peril; he’s been through this dozens of times before.

He meets Marian, who is fiercely independent and believes in her cause, yet at the same time lacks the self-confidence to take charge and lead the others in her fight. She doesn’t believe he could be a knight because he’s black and has dreadlocks, saying that no one looked like her in all the Arthurian legends she’s heard. Kay convinces her of his story, and they join up together to fight the bad guys, the industrialists who are mining the earth regardless of the environmental impact. Through an accident of Marian’s at a fracking site where she blows up the facility, a dragon is released from the bowels of the earth. Crazy, right? This is a fantasy, after all.

Then Lancelot comes to life. He’s almost immediately met by a man simply known as Marlowe, who can be none other than Christopher Marlowe, who appears to be his handler. He apprises Lancelot of the current situation and lets him know about Kay’s current whereabouts. It seems there’s no love lost between the two, and Marlowe’s assignment for Lancelot is to find Kay and stop him. We learn as the book goes on that the story of Lancelot and Guinevere is just that, and in reality Lancelot is gay and was in love with another knight all those years ago.

The reader follows these three people through all sorts of adventures, with all sorts of twists and turns and surprises along the way. Merlin, Nimue, and Morgan LeFay also make appearances when the ultimate happens: Arthur is brought back to life through witchcraft, and he’s anything besides the benevolent king one grew up reading about. He’s a bloodthirsty tyrant who doesn’t listen to anyone, and I’ve seen other reviewers complain he’s modeled after Trump or Boris Johnson, but I didn’t read that much into it.

Normally I don’t like fantasy books despite trying them from time to time, but the King Arthur hook had me, as well as the humor and ridiculousness of some situations. If you’re looking for something different, give it a try!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

2.5 stars. I used to love the Arthurian legend and I read many books based on it when I was younger, so I thought I would give this one a try since it was free through Netgalley. I was not expecting it to be a climate change dystopia. I don’t usually read those because I find it too depressing that our world is headed in that direction and nobody in charge is doing much about it. But since I got this book from Netgalley, I decided to keep going.

I liked the characters; they were the best part of the book. I liked the FETA sisters and their love for each other and their resolve to do something to make the world better, especially once Mariam realized that she couldn’t just rely on others to do it for them. I loved Merlin’s character and he was actually how I pictured him. However, I didn’t love how useless Kay and Lancelot and Arthur all turned out to be. Or how awful Arthur was in general. I read this because of them and it just wasn’t fun. I also didn’t understand the addition of Marlowe or how he ended up in this story.

The book was a little too long and slow. There were definitely parts that just dragged. I liked how the solution required everyone to join together to make it happen, but the ending was just cut off. I wish there had been an epilogue based sometime in the future.

Overall, this was an ok book, but not what I was hoping for when I read the summary. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

You’ve never read climate fiction like this. There really is something in here for everyone. Explosions? Check. Feminism? Check. Knights? Check. Neo-Nazis? Check. I mean it. It’s got it all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

Kay, King Arthur’s brother and one of the knights of the realm, has been summoned from under his oak tree many times over the past hundreds of years each time Britain is in peril. This time, however, it is not Nazis or another clear foe but rather environmental - with global warming, resource exploitation and the country being sold off to the highest bidder. Something has gone very wrong with the world. As few fight to fix it, Kay along with Lancelot, Miriam (your average feminist environmentalist) and others go on an adventure defeating dragons and corruption.

This novel was a creative take on a classic tale of a great king and his warriors thrown into a world where everything is environmentally a mess due to the greed and corruption of a few. Most of the time all the quirks and oddities played into the story well. Other times they seemed manufactured but didn’t distract too much from the overall story. The threads of humor balanced the serious themes and the idea that anyone can be the hero was well done. A fun, quirky read. 3+ stars.

Review based on a digital Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley. Thank you!