Every now and then a new book comes along that really sets the world alight for me – I’ve lost count of the dozens of excellent books based on the Arthurian legends, and only a couple of months ago I was singing the praises of the BBC TV series MERLIN and the books that accompany it.   Then, quite suddenly, out of nowhere, I discovered M K Hume’s magnificent trilogy about King Arthur, or ARTOREX, as she calls him, and this month the trilogy comes to a close with THE BLOODY CUP.  Hume takes the legend and bases her story on the latest version , the one on which most people now agree – about Arthur being a Romano-British war chief. Bernard Cornwell gave us his version of a Dark Ages Arthur a while ago, and absolutely brilliant it is too.

The thing about Marilyn Hume’s King Arthur is that she is unknown – Cornwell and Lawhead were already established writers when they tackled the Arthurian legends, and for a long time I thought Lawhead’s was the definitive account;  then I read Bernard Cornwell, and regular readers of  BOOKS MONTHLY will know that Bernard Cornwell is one of my absolute favourites.  I don’t think he can be beaten for Dark Ages history, and his Arthur trilogy is also spectacularly good, as I’ve just mentioned.  But the tale doesn’t pale with retelling by a different author.  Marilyn Hume’s Arthur owes more to Conn Iggulden’s CAESAR epic than to Cornwell – it’s different enough to grab my attention, and it’s kept me engrossed over several days and nights during the exceptionally cold March  here in North Norfolk.  It’s a set of books I cannot recommend highly enough.  If I had to choose one trilogy on Arthur, I really think it would have to be this one – and I cannot wait to find out what the author will tackle next!    www.booksmonthly.co.uk

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I discovered this trilogy by accident, but I’m so glad I did – it’s an altogether totally original version of the Arthur legend, owing more to Cornwell and Iggulden than to Mallory, with a sense of reality pervading it that keeps you interested. As the author says, it doesn’t need myth and magic to keep the legend fresh and vibrant, and she’s right – this Arthur is a king of Britain who we could well do with right now in these troubled times, someone to unite the peoples of this country. There’s an overwhelming sense of late Roman Britain throughout, and the references to the evil practices that went on are well-searched and described, but it’s the characters who stand out in this fantastic story of how his arch-enemies sought to bring about the demise of the man who united Britain at the very beginning of the Dark Ages. It’s a slice of history that’s totally, utterly believable. Magnificent. Read them all.

www.booksmonthly.co.uk

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The latest book from my Arthurian trilogy, King Arthur: The Bloody Cup, is now available for purchase on-line through Amazon and Fantasy Fiction. It is also available through your favourite booksellers.

This is the third volume of the trilogy and follows King Arthur: Dragon’s Child and King Arthur: Warrior of the West.

The next book in the sequence is Volume One of the Merlin Trilogy, Merlin: Dicing with Demons, which will be released by my publishers in October of this year. Those readers who have proof-read the manuscript describe it as the greatest read yet, which does marvels for my ego. I hope you like it when it comes out, so please let me know your thoughts on it.

Read more about The Bloody Cup.

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I have just returned from Istanbul (Constantinople) in Turkey and the United Kingdom where I have been researching the second volume of the upcoming Merlin trilogy. The Golden Horn (the stretch of water off the coast of Turkey) is remarkably beautiful. I found that St Sophia, the Roman basilicas and the great walls of Constantinople are still there, exactly as they were in 500ad when Merlin visited this great city.

I also went to Troy, or Illion, as the Turks call it. What a remarkable experience! And Merlin would also have gone there during his visit. As I walked through the archeological excavations, including the remnants of a huge Roman temple, I tried to imagine Merlin as a working-tourist, just like me.

The first volume of the Merlin trilogy will be released worldwide in October of 2010, and the next two volumes will be published at six-monthly intervals after that.

In the first volume, Merlin is a boy, then a youth, and eventually grows into manhood. Vortigern, the High King of the Britons, tries to sacrifice the young boy to appease his gods and stop them from destroying his fortress at Dinas Emrys. He is unsuccessful and the boy becomes a healer of note.

In the second volume, Merlin travels from Celtic Britain to Rome, Athens, Alexandria and Constantinople in a search for knowledge and information about his parentage. Believed to be the scion of a demon, Merlin desperately desires to learn the truth as to the identity of his Roman father.

In the third volume, Merlin returns to his homeland where he becomes the strong right arm of Uther Pendragon, High King of the Britons, who is destined to become the father of King Arthur. He presides over Arthur’s conception and tries to protect the unborn babe from Uther’s malice.

I am having the best of times writing this trilogy and I especially enjoy the huge amount of research that goes into a project such as this. I just know that this volume of Merlin will be a very satisfying work. I am excited by it, and am halfway through the draft of the second manuscript.

I am very proud of it already, although the project is still in its infancy.

Wish me luck!!!

M.K. Hume.

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The latest book from my Arthurian trilogy, King Arthur: Warrior of the West, is now available for purchase on-line through Amazon. This is the second volume of the trilogy and follows King Arthur: Dragon’s Child.

Read the reviews or you can purchase direct from Amazon if you wish.

Twelve long, blood-soaked years, have passed since Artor fulfilled his destiny and was crowned the High King of the Britons. Against all odds, Artor has united Celtic Britain and with a last great campaign, has banished the Saxon scourge. The legend of Camlann has begun. But even as Artor’s kingdom is at its zenith, even as he has succeeded in conquering all external threats to his rule, his kingdom is being undermined from within… read more

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