Spear by Nicola Griffith — New Review, Bookclub Edition

Cover: bookshop.org

Despite being a long-term fantasy fan, I’ve never gotten particularly interested in the Arthur legend. I liked First Knight as a teen (despite, as I recently discovered with Nickie, utterly forgetting the lead actress), but I was never into Merlin and I didn’t even read Le Morte d’Arthur when I should have done as part of my degree. Despite this, I have at least one other retelling of Arthur on my TBR, which says something about their popularity.

In the hazel copse she waits silent as stone for the drop of dark’s curtain.

Spear, Nicola Griffith

Nicola Griffith’s prose in Spear feels magical; every sentence is gorgeously written and yet completely clear. It’s never difficult to understand what’s happening or what characters’ motivations are. The few illustrations scattered throughout the novel are also lovely and otherworldly, just right for the kind of story being told. Peretur’s magic is never really explained, but her ability to sense particulars about things she touches or smells is expressed very lyrically.

It was fun to see the Welsh influence on the naming, as well as trying to puzzle out which characters mapped to which Arthurian counterparts. Nicola Griffith’s (excellent) author’s note highlighted the importance of showing characters from multiple class and national backgrounds, which played a particularly important role in Peretur coming from more humble origins.

Manandàn and others of the Tuath had been as gods for so long they thought mortals less worthy of care and attention than raindrops.

Spear, Nicola Griffith

Spear stands out from other novellas in being particularly well-paced. All the loose threads are neatly wrapped up, but Nicola Griffith gives that part of the story just as much time as the build-up, which makes it much more satisfying than a rushed job.

For me, Spear worked on every level, and I’ll definitely look out for more of Nicola Griffith’s work.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.