“Bliss & Blunder” by Victoria Gosling is a novel that intricately weaves the threads of modernity with the timeless tapestry of Arthurian legend. The book, set in the quaint Wiltshire town of Abury, unfolds the life of Gwen, a woman who seemingly has it all: wealth, beauty, a famous husband, and a legion of social media followers. Yet, beneath this veneer of perfection lies a tumultuous world of secrets, heartache, and betrayal.

Gosling’s narrative follows Gwen and her husband Arthur, who married young and rose to prominence through Arthur’s tech empire. As the founder of Britain’s most successful tech company, Arthur is revered, but his success casts long shadows over his personal life. Gwen, on the other hand, grapples with the complexities of love, loyalty, and identity. Her life is further complicated by an unstable lover, a rebellious son, and a mysterious cyberstalker known as The Invisible Knight.

The plot thickens as Morgan, Gwen’s former best friend, returns to Abury after two decades with a vendetta. Intent on exposing the town’s buried secrets and exacting revenge, Morgan’s arrival sets off a chain of events that threatens to unravel the lives of all involved.

One of the most compelling aspects of “Bliss & Blunder” is its commentary on the digital age. The juxtaposition of ancient myths with modern technology presents a unique critique of our current era, highlighting the quest for power and the illusion of connection in a world dominated by screens and superficial interactions. The author’s ability to draw parallels between the old Arthurian tales and contemporary issues is both clever and thought-provoking.

As a modern retelling of a classic myth, “Bliss & Blunder” offers a fresh perspective on familiar characters and themes. It’s a story that resonates with the struggles of today while paying homage to the legends of yore.

So damn smart! A contemporary retelling of the Arthurian legend with contemporary wit, but huge amounts of respect for the legend, Just brilliantly clever and hugely readable

I love a contemporary retelling of mythology when done well. The author needs to transplant the heart of the stories into a new world and engage the reader. I'm pleased to say this retelling pulled off its ambitious intentions. You need to focus on reading this one but it's worth it in the end.

a book that comes across as trying to go for that very in edgy satire type of storytelling but lacks oomph. the '
Arthurian' contemporary take has been done before and better.

I was very excited for this book and wanted to love it but it fell a bit short for me. The prose is excellent, it’s very clever but I just didn’t connect fully with the story. More me than the author.

Loved this book, it really delved into the bad and good in each character and kept me on the edge of my seat with the drama.

I really wanted to like this one, and it’s very cleverly written, but I think this book definitely lends itself better being read by people who have a good understanding of the Arthurian legend on which Bliss and Blunder is based.
I know the names, and some of well known aspects of the story, but I was definitely aware I was missing some nuances that come from knowing the original source material.
This is definitely a fault of mine, not the authors, and I’ll be seeking out of work of Gosling’s.

Gosling has a lot of things going for her in this book: punchy prose, an intriguing concept, and a brave attempt to take a well-known set of characters and lore and spin it.

However, I have to say that I didn’t greatly enjoy this book. I think that the plot itself stands on its own two feet without the Arthurian spin, which felt like an added extra rather than the main draw (which it should have been). In the current trend of retelling that are being published in droves at the moment, this is one of the more interesting takes I’ve seen, but as someone who has read quite a lot of the Arthurian backlist, this new entry didn’t really fit the bill for me. It took too long to get into the action, and the characters didn’t feel fully fleshed out.

Thank you for the ARC; all opinions are my own.

This was a difficult one for me - I loved Victoria Gosling's debut "Before the Ruins" and really enjoy her writing, but didn't feel particularly well placed to appreciate the Arthurian legend angle of this novel, as I'm just not particularly familiar with the original stories and don't want to feel like I have to do research to understand the parallels made in the story. Looking through other reviews I can see this seems to be a common response so I'm not alone. I still enjoyed aspects of this and would read more from the author - but I hope she writes another original novel next.

I don't know if I like it or not. I read a lot of Arthurian novels of any kind from Mary Stewart to Andrew Norton, from Lavie Tidhar to Uuliet Mckenna.
Each of those book had an original take on the massive Matter of Britain.
Problem with a modern retelling is that the Arthur, Gwen, Morgan are archetype and essentially timeless.
It was an intriguing book but it took ages to get some action. I liked the characters but they were sort of avatar more than original.
There's a lot to love and there's some part that this old grumpy lady didn't love.
I will try again.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Gosling's prose is sharp and considered. A really interesting take on an age old tale, a retelling that I never would've thought would be written!

Bliss & Blunder is marketed as a modern retelling of the stories of Arthur and the knights of the round table. In this Arthur is tech genius who owns a massive company, Gwen is his bored housewife and Lance is his friend that he trusts to look after his family when he can’t. But…after finishing this, I don’t think it needed this spin. The modern day story stands on its own merits without those links. I found it to be a very slow read until the last third. It is very unusual and the story flits between timelines incessantly - sometimes far back in the past and sometimes a week ago - whilst also weaving in voices from the past, supernatural elements and mental illness. It can be hard to stay on top of where the story currently is. Notwithstanding this, I will be thinking about it for a while.

A super modern take on Arthurian legend set in the Wiltshire countryside. I loved this! This feels really different from the rest of the very popular genre of modern retellings and is a fun, breezy read with a bit of murder chucked in. Really good.

After her debut novel Before the Ruins, a book I had immensely enjoyed in the otherwise drab weeks of the first Covid wave, Gosling returns with Bliss & Blunder, a contemporary retelling of Arthurian legend.

Set in the same Wiltshire setting of her earlier work, Gosling casts Arthur as the founder and head of an international hi-tech cyber security software company, Guinevere as Arthur’s Instagram-star wife Gwen, who is having an affair with Arthur’s friend Lance, and Mordred as Arthur and Gwen’s adopted son Mo. Other characters from the medieval epic also appear in modern-day guises, with vengeful Faye Morgan (no points to guess the character providing the inspiration) and a stalker who calls himself the Invisible Knight, introducing a sense of menace.

I must admit that my knowledge of Malory and other sources of the tales of King Arthur and his merry knights, is pretty limited. But the plot itself, a genre-bending mix of thriller, love story and coming-of-age novel, can be appreciated (with some suspension of disbelief) without any deep knowledge of the source material, even if that would add further "strata" to the novel. If you’re looking for a brainy page-turner, look no further.

this book is pushed forward by viciously moving prose -- any problems i have with it come from the source material, which means it's a little overlong and slightly incredulous and lots of the interjoining plot lines feel a little underworked, but i'm going to blame arthurian legend. this was great but i maybe wish it was a different book? one about the conditions of girlhood and queerness rather than lots of the other things it was about. but that's a taste thing.

If you pick up one book this year let it be this smart and powerful novel of friendship and betrayal.

Bliss & Blunder is marketed as a modern retelling of the stories of Arthur and the knights of the round table. In this Arthur is tech genius who owns a massive company, Gwen is his bored housewife and Lance is his friend that he trusts to look after his family when he can’t. But…after finishing this, I don’t think it needed this spin. The modern day story stands on its own merits without those links. I found it to be a very slow read until the last third. It is very unusual and the story flits between timelines incessantly - sometimes far back in the past and sometimes a week ago - whilst also weaving in voices from the past, supernatural elements and mental illness. It can be hard to stay on top of where the story currently is. Notwithstanding this, I will be thinking about it for a while. The writer is obviously very talented and addresses some very pertinent issues without being remotely preachy. I also couldn’t put it down in the final third. This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I am very glad I read it.

I found this one a little tricky. I really wanted to like it - the premise was interesting, and the reframing of the Aurthurian legend into the modern era was a good concept. I just don't know how much I enjoyed the execution. I struggled to get into it, and even though it did pick up pace, I think this came a little too late. There was a lot of content that I think the book could have done without, The story is already huge, with a vast cast of characters and different plotlines - sometimes the flash backs and dream sequences could have been significantly scaled back, and I think that would have made it a better reading experience, for me personally.

There were moments of really good stuff, like using Afghanistan to provide history for the soldiers. And Morgan's storyline was what kept me reading, she was a really well fleshed out character.

It has a lot of promise, and I think if you're someone who enjoys a lot of 'extras' along with the plot, then you'll enjoy this.

I knew I was taking a punt reading "Bliss & Blunder" by Victoria Gosling but I love Viper/Serpent's Tale as publishers. Unfortunately, I didn't gel with this book. I like historical/myth retellings/modernisation but what I have learnt is that you really need to know the original in order to appreciate the finer nuances. Sadly all I knew of the Arthurian legend is the names and not much else. As a result, I missed out greatly. My bad, not the author's.

One of the more interesting retellings I had read recently. I never thought I would read a story where Arthur was a tech bro. So I mean fair play to the author for trying something new. I found it a bit slow and lacking in places but overall it was a fun and interesting read. Definitely original!