ETERNITY'S HOPE By Mitzi Kleidon

ETERNITY'S HOPE
By Mitzi Kleidon
Xlibris Corporation - 2002
ISBN 0738856959 HB
ISBN 0738856967 PB
Fantasy (Camelot / Arthurian)

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde, MyShelf.com
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The knights of Camelot are back again for a second helping of adventure in the sequel to Rexcalibur. It is a hundred years since King Arthur's death and now Camelot is once again restored to its former glory under King Stefan and Queen Julia, but the dread Dark Army is on the march and committing atrocities wherever they arrive. Next to fall is the kingdom of Stalaran, where Sir James' father is king, and his brother the crown prince. James cannot wait a moment more and dashes off on his own to see what he can save, while back in Camelot the rest are preparing to sally forth and fight the Dark Army. This is not going to be an easy venture though as prophecy states that one person shall not return…

As with the first book, this continues to be a delightful idea, and I particularly like the choice of a lush, Malloryesque Mediaeval dreamworld. If the end of anything to go by, then the third book is going to be quite something, breaking the mold of Arthurian fiction on quite a grand scale and bringing science fiction into the mix. If this comes off, it should be something well worth reading about. One gripe about this series is the mixture of olde worlde language and more modern which creates a jarring note at times and lacks consistency, and I would have preferred some slightly more "Arthurian" names instead of the modern and rather prosaic James, Julia, John, etc. which, when paired with their surnames sound like the credits for an American TV series! But I realize that perhaps I am being unnecessarily picky here about what is a good story and has some truly impressive ideas. This is, for the main part anyway, what a lot of aficionados of the Malloryesque "Matter of Britain" have surely been wanting (and I cannot wait to read that third volume!)