The first book in Malcolm's four book 'Merlin’s Isle: An Arthuriad' series explores Galahad's quest in beautifully written poetic verse, which for me, makes it stand out on its own from other Arthurian retellings I've encountered.
Broken down into five parts; a Prelude, three smaller 'book' parts and an Epilogue; this gave the whole book a sense of structure and made it easy to follow, without getting lost, the tale of the main narrative of the prophesied Galahad on his adventures for the Holy relic, travelling through strange lands and meeting equally mysterious people along the way, along with stories with Lancelot, Percivale and Bors.
With the story in the form of a delightful sing-song ballad, it wasn't just a straight up 'Hero's Journey' tale either, which would've been easy to do, although we do get a version of that, but there were also the trials and tribulations of the knights who embarked on the quest. The emotional burdens of the quest and pasts and the struggles to overcome them, all the while sticking to their chivalrous and pious codes (which the book does focus on, with heavy Christian themes woven throughout, but considering what they were searching for, the Holy Grail itself, it was not unexpected), and having to deal with whatever cross their paths along the way as well.
Malcolm also expands on some of the minor characters and stories, adding additional naratives that flesh out lore, but at the same time doesn't feel forced or overwelming to the main story, not bogging or slowing down things at all but feeling like it actually added more depth to the adventures. He does also go in depth in the appendices at the end of the book about his sources and influences, which was also an interesting read.
The illustrations by Stephen Crotts compliment the prose too. Depicted in beautiful woodcut style, along with wonderfully illustrated and coloured illuminated capitals at the beginning of each Stave (Chapter), they make it feel like you are reading an actual medieval tome from the time of Camelot, drawing you into the Arthurian ballad even more!
I like my folklore, myths and legends, and Arthuriana is very much a part of that. 'Galahad And The Grail' was an enjoyable read, retold in a style that I'm unfamilar with, along with some lore that I was also not so familiar with.
If you enjoy the tales of Arthurian knights and want to indulge in the lore in the form of an epic poem, apparently the first multi-volume epic poem retelling of Arthurian legend since Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s 'Idylls of the King' in 1859, then I'd definitely recommend this.
I was provided with an ARC copy for review.
