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The Idylls of the Queen A Tale of Queen Guenevere Phyllis Ann Karr 9781587150128 Books

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The Idylls of the Queen A Tale of Queen Guenevere Phyllis Ann Karr 9781587150128 Books

This is an interesting approach to the Arthurian legend, though it's title is somewhat misleading, and I don't know that it's wholly successful. First, although it's title suggests that it's about Guenevere, she is mostly a motivating force than an actual character. The story is told by Sir Kay, Arthur's foster brother and seneschal, and he is devoted to the queen, who, at the start of the tale, is accused of poisoning Sir Patrise at a banquet. After the initial scenes, during which Guenevere is either horrified/hysterical, she disappears until the very end of the novel. Her character is more discussed than established, which makes it hard to sympathize with Kay's worship and his praise of her (as the person who keeps Arthur's kingdom running smoothly). I think the Guenevere Kay describes could be interesting (we see hints of her in the final scene); I just wish I had met her.

Second, the plot device is a murder mystery--Sir Patrise's poisoning and the motivation for the crime--but the novel is really an exploration of certain incidents, characters, and feuds in La Morte d'Arthur. I like what Karr does with many of these events and characters--the deaths of Lot, Pellinore, Morgause, and Lamorak; the prophecy concerning Mordred and his betrayal of Arthur; the history of Morgan Le Fay, to name a few--but these excursions sap the tension from the murder investigation (such as it is).

There are some things I really liked about this book, including how the investigation is conducted. This is, after all, a world of necromancers. There aren't forensics--there is magical sleuthing. Kay's worldview is depicted pretty effectively, I think. For example, there's a really good passage in which Kay reflects on how he's mocked for the way he treated Gareth (Beaumains), but he remembers all the other would-be knights who masquerade as scullions and don't have either the talent or a patron such as Lancelot to support their pretensions. I also like her version of Mordred, a man whose world is shaken by prophecy and who suffers (truly, suffers) from a streak of fatalism.

She tells a tale of Camelot from the perspective of the "unpopular" kids--such as Kay and Mordred--and, thus, paints a picture of Arthur's court that is often cynical. I'm fine with how that impacts Lancelot's depiction, as he is a character whose depiction is critical for whether I am sympathetic to him (I don't particularly care for Malory's Lancelot; I'm intrigued and moved by White's). I am less persuaded by Arthur's characterization, but that has a lot to do with my bias in favor of a strong, sympathetic, and compassionate Arthur (Mary Stewart's characterization may be my favorite). I can see the validity of Karr's approach--I just wish I didn't.

Karr clearly knows her Arthuriana. She mixes elements of the Vulgate with Malory (who is clearly the dominant influence). On the one hand, the details intrigued me enough that I will now search out the Vulgate to read. The problem is that they are mostly brief references, so the reader's ability to appreciate what they add to the story is dependent on a knowledge of the Vulgate.

All in all, I'm glad I read this, and, after re-reading Malory and reading the Vulgate, I plan to come back to this.


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The Idylls of the Queen A Tale of Queen Guenevere Phyllis Ann Karr 9781587150128 Books Reviews

Do not judge this book by its cover. I was worried about the quality of writing because the cover art looked poor. I could not have been more wrong. Well written, good pacing, intriguing characters, and the point of view from an underrated, clever, and sarcastic Arthurian knight.
Great fun for those who took the 19th English lit survey course
Phyllis Ann Karr has done all Arthurian fans a big favor by writing this book. "The Idylls of the Queen" is basically a murder mystery set in Camelot, with all the familiar knights and ladies as suspects when Sir Patrise is inexplicably murdered at a small dinner hosted by Queen Guenevere. Sir Mador accuses the Queen of the murder, and a race against time ensues to discover the truth. The usual knightly quest becomes a hunt for the killer--whoever that may be. Along the way Karr treats us to some very unique interpretations of the Arthurian cast, including Sir Gareth, Sir Bors, Sir Gawaine (more like the title character of "Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight") Morgan le Fay, and Sir Lancelot himself. Told in the first person by Sir Kay, King Arthur's foster brother and seneschal, usually noted by other writers solely for his comedic boorishness or ignored entirely, the novel clearly demonstrates that there is a lot more to Kay than he's usually given credit for--as was the case in the earliest Arthurain legends, where the sarcastic boor of later years is replaced by a loyal, courtly knight. Karr's version of Kay is still a fountainhead of caustic wit, but even so he's likeable and clearly indispensible to the well-being of Camelot.
A fast, suspenseful novel that should stand up to multiple readings, "The Idylls of the Queen" is an ingenious work that should please all fans of Arthurian literature.
Reviewed here [...]...

Thoroughly enjoyable Arthurian mystery, treating the same episode in Malory as Dark Jenny, which I reviewed for Ideomancer. That is, the poisoning of Sir Patrise and the false accusation against Guenevere, which makes for a good mystery framework. The authors take rather different approaches, though– Dark Jenny features an original character from an ongoing series, while Idylls of the Queen rehabilitates the Sir Kay, Arthur’s foster-brother, making him a hero in his own right.

I picked up this book to scratch my “sympathetic Mordred” itch– my copy of The Winter Prince is out of state. Mordred is a major supporting character, like Kay trying to solve the mystery of who poisoned Sir Patrise, as it is suspected that the poison was aimed at his brother Gawain. This Mordred is sarcastic, infuriating, sharp-witted enough, loyal to his mother, and tormented by the knowledge that he is prophesied to be the downfall of Camelot. This makes him suicidal, but as by medieval standards a suicide damned his soul, he mostly tries to get other people to kill him. His humor, and Kay’s skeptical narration, stop his character from being weighed down by angst.

So it scratched the Mordred itch, but this book also dug up my Gawain feelings from way back when I read Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight– which is clearly an influence on this portrayal of Gawain. He’s far from perfect, but he’s honorable to a fault.

And what of Kay, the main character? He’s pragmatic, being a seneschal and not much of a fighter (in fact, he loses the climactic fight with the bad guy). He’s the guy who makes sure everyone gets fed, not the guy who goes off on quests, and he has a cynical attitude towards glory-seeking. Oh, and he’s desperately in love with Guenevere– which accounts for his bitterness towards Lancelot, who is Sir Not Appearing in this Book. Kay’s a fun narrator, but I found my sympathies more deeply engaged by the Orkney brothers. The emotional climax of the book is when Kay gathers the brothers together and makes them face some unpleasant truths.

The book bogs down for a bit in the middle, when they’re visiting Morgan le Fay, and also the villains tend to be unsympathetic from the get-go– both sanctimonious in different ways. But those are minor flaws, as the novel picks up towards the end and repays the investment. At the end of the book, I was only sad there wasn’t more.
This is an interesting approach to the Arthurian legend, though it's title is somewhat misleading, and I don't know that it's wholly successful. First, although it's title suggests that it's about Guenevere, she is mostly a motivating force than an actual character. The story is told by Sir Kay, Arthur's foster brother and seneschal, and he is devoted to the queen, who, at the start of the tale, is accused of poisoning Sir Patrise at a banquet. After the initial scenes, during which Guenevere is either horrified/hysterical, she disappears until the very end of the novel. Her character is more discussed than established, which makes it hard to sympathize with Kay's worship and his praise of her (as the person who keeps Arthur's kingdom running smoothly). I think the Guenevere Kay describes could be interesting (we see hints of her in the final scene); I just wish I had met her.

Second, the plot device is a murder mystery--Sir Patrise's poisoning and the motivation for the crime--but the novel is really an exploration of certain incidents, characters, and feuds in La Morte d'Arthur. I like what Karr does with many of these events and characters--the deaths of Lot, Pellinore, Morgause, and Lamorak; the prophecy concerning Mordred and his betrayal of Arthur; the history of Morgan Le Fay, to name a few--but these excursions sap the tension from the murder investigation (such as it is).

There are some things I really liked about this book, including how the investigation is conducted. This is, after all, a world of necromancers. There aren't forensics--there is magical sleuthing. Kay's worldview is depicted pretty effectively, I think. For example, there's a really good passage in which Kay reflects on how he's mocked for the way he treated Gareth (Beaumains), but he remembers all the other would-be knights who masquerade as scullions and don't have either the talent or a patron such as Lancelot to support their pretensions. I also like her version of Mordred, a man whose world is shaken by prophecy and who suffers (truly, suffers) from a streak of fatalism.

She tells a tale of Camelot from the perspective of the "unpopular" kids--such as Kay and Mordred--and, thus, paints a picture of Arthur's court that is often cynical. I'm fine with how that impacts Lancelot's depiction, as he is a character whose depiction is critical for whether I am sympathetic to him (I don't particularly care for Malory's Lancelot; I'm intrigued and moved by White's). I am less persuaded by Arthur's characterization, but that has a lot to do with my bias in favor of a strong, sympathetic, and compassionate Arthur (Mary Stewart's characterization may be my favorite). I can see the validity of Karr's approach--I just wish I didn't.

Karr clearly knows her Arthuriana. She mixes elements of the Vulgate with Malory (who is clearly the dominant influence). On the one hand, the details intrigued me enough that I will now search out the Vulgate to read. The problem is that they are mostly brief references, so the reader's ability to appreciate what they add to the story is dependent on a knowledge of the Vulgate.

All in all, I'm glad I read this, and, after re-reading Malory and reading the Vulgate, I plan to come back to this.