Gifts With Hard Swords: King Arthur’s first years of rule

Now fifteen, Arthur has been crowned king, but not everyone likes it. His first task is to defeat the armies of the fearsome kings rising against him, who refuse to hand rule of the country over to a teenage boy. He has an ever-growing stable of loyal knights on his side, as well as the magic of the powerful wizard Merlin, but will it be enough to defeat armies twenty times the size of his own?

“You really feel like you know Arthur as a person—and you really like him too.”
—Serenamia21, Amazon Review

More insidious may be the forces that chip away at his mind. People he loves are injured or killed in his service. His youth and innocence drain away in the endless grind of carrying the throne. And then there is Merlin, offering power he cannot rule without, yet controlling and belittling, manipulating while empowering. And Arthur, he is increasingly aware, never asked for any of it.

“I have never related so much with Arthur’s character until now…. This Arthur is much more relatable than other versions, because in this one he is a human person, who was his own flaws.”
—Mariana, Amazon Review

An excellent place to join the series, this novel brings to vivid life the events covered in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur chapter one, while weaving back in storylines Malory left out of his shortened telling. With a psychological realism uncommon in Arthurian fiction, you will not only be there through King Arthur’s first major battles, his first meeting with Guinevere and the moment he learns who his birth parents were, you will feel what each event means to him and the ever-expanding group of unforgettable characters who surround him.

This novel also continues the series’ trademark psychological realism, digging under the heroic archetypes to reveal the humans within, with all of their fears, insecurities and emotional attachments. You will know King Arthur as a real person for the first time, as well as beloved characters like Merlin, Morgan le Fay and the Lady of the Lake.

Meet them here, as the reign of King Arthur begins—and comes very close to ending—in a novel that brings a world of distant, impenetrable literature to vivid, urgent life.

“Again Mr. Telek writes with human emotion. If it wasn’t written so well, it would be difficult to deal with Arthur’s anguish and frustration. A lesser author would have missed those feelings while trying to make Arthur a hero while Telek makes him a phenomenal human being searching for his own truth and not enjoying the journey. Much more realistic than the other “look at me, I’m the King” renditions. He’s a kid living in strange times with strange bedfellows. Now we have to wait another year to see how Scott takes the further tale to new heights.”
—Scott T., Amazon Review

“Telek’s depiction of these events does not in any way take away from the magic of Malory, but it does update the story to make it more plausible for the modern reader. I feel some modern retellings have not always respected the Arthurian legend, falling almost into parody, such as T. H. White’s The Once and the Future King, but Telek does not make fun of the characters; rather, he helps us better understand the legend and characters with the details and motivations he adds, heightening the characters’ psychology.”
—Tyler Tichelaar, Amazon Review

More about Gifts With Hard Swords

Book 6 Preview
Excerpt: Arthur’s Parentage Revealed
Author interview on ChildrenofArthur.com

Where to buy Gifts With Hard Swords

Available in:
eBook:
Amazon

Paperback:
Amazon

International editions:
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