Spear by Nicola Griffith

Content Tags: Arthurian, LGBTQIA+, Violence

Description from Storygraph:

She left all she knew to find who she could be . . .

She grows up in the wild wood, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake drift to her on the spring breeze, scented with promise. And when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she decides her future lies at his court. So, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and sets out on her bony gelding for Caer Leon.

With her stolen hunting spear and mended armour, she is an unlikely hero, not a chosen one, but one who forges her own bright path. Aflame with determination, she begins a journey of magic and mystery, love, lust and fights to death. On her adventures, she will steal the hearts of beautiful women, fight warriors and sorcerers, and make a place to call home.

The legendary author of Hild returns with an unforgettable hero and a queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era. Nicola Griffith’s Spear is a spellbinding vision of the Camelot we've longed for, a Camelot that belongs to us all.

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I read this novella based on a recommendation from Book Riot that basically described it as a Welsh, queer King Arthur re-telling. It was a pretty quick read, but didn't feel too forced or like there wasn't enough detail in the short book. At times, shorter books seem to fall... well, short... in terms of depicting or describing what was happening. There were some great lines in this book that carried a lot of meaning and purpose in not a lot of words. 

When I see the Storygraph review options to select if a book is more "character driven or plot driven" I never really know what to say. While reading this, at first I was like ah yes, this is clearly plot driven. Because the beginning was very focused on what was happening or going to happen. Then as it progressed there was a lot more character-based moments. All that to say, I still never really know if a book is character or plot driven.

I loved the queer representation (more than one queer character!) and an interesting "re-telling" of the King Arthur story. It was less about King Arthur and more about one of the secondary Arthurian characters. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't share more than that.

Book Reflection Wrap-up:

How well do you think the author built the world in the book?

Everything was very succinct seeing as this was a novella, but the world building was still really great. Nicola Griffth interspersed the details with the rest of the plot and characters so it didn't take as much time or focus away from everything else that was going on.

Was the pacing— beginning, middle, and end— done well?

The very beginning was the slowest part, but I think that was more about me getting a feel for the storytelling style. But once I got into it (which didn't take very long) the flow was nice and easy and made me want to keep reading.

Finished 12/22/2023