Mordred, Bastard Son

Douglas Clegg has revived Mordred. This time he's gay and instead of being the villain of the piece, he's the hero. The story begins with his mother Morgan le Fay fleeing for her life because Arthur wants to kill her before his bastard son's born. It has been foretold that this child would someday bring down Arthur's kingdom. Morgan's understandably depressed and Mordred's forced to win her back from the jaws of suicide at the same time he's struggling to find boys like himself. His best friend, Lukat, whom Mordred loves cannot return that love. Merlin, formerly Arthur's teacher in the art of sorcery, now becomes Mordred's teacher as well and demands that he postpone having the sex he craves until he has mastered that art. Clegg captures the agony of postponing sex that Mordred has to endure in order to learn his Art. But, when he does finally get to where Mordred and the hermit do indeed couple, it is well worth the wait. The description is so moving that I found myself wishing I were the hermit. Clegg introduces the reader to unfamiliar and familiar characters alike. Guinevere has to be rescued from someone who wants her dead. Near the end of the story, Mordred, his hermit, and a sleeping Guinevere are tied together with a rope in case the coming storm arrives. They won't be lost from each other if the waves overturn their boat. The hermit says to Mordred: "We are tied together by more than rope, Mordred. And whether we go to the Otherworld tonight or in some future day of reckoning, I have faith that you will be here as you are now." MORDRED, BASTARD SON is the first book in a promised trilogy, and I can hardly wait for the second.

With the help of the mighty sword Excalibur stolen from the Lady of the Lake, King Arthur has forged a mighty empire. Centered in the mighty Castle of Tintagel, his power is unsurpassed throughout Britannia. But Arthur's supremacy is threatened, the divination of the prophet-wanderer Merlin tells of a great tragedy that will befall the King. Mordred, born bastard and heathen of an incestuous coupling of the bloodline pun-Dragon and the bloodline of the Fay, conceived from the brutal rape of Arthur's half sister Morgan LeFay, will be the instrument of the King's great unmaking, perhaps even the greatest unraveling of all. Fearing for their lives, the pregnant Morgan escapes Tintagel with Merlin, finding sanctity on the Isle of Glass where Mordred is safely born. From birth, Mordred is sheltered by his aunt Morgause and great aunt Viviane, as they gather around this great son of a King, steadily casting their prayers to "the will of life," offering up to him the blessings from the Great Lady of the Lake. As Mordred grows older, he learns the secrets of the earth and lakes, and trains with Merlin in the Eastern Arts of necromancy and war. He learns of the elements, the energies of the forest, and the "magick" of the faerie realm that invade the mind through scent and the invisible boundaries existing in the world "unseen by men." It's a bucolic and tempered existence, but Mordred knows he is different: When he becomes physically attracted to his best friend Lukat, Viviane tells him he is like the "soldier-mages," those who love other men, "as some fear in this world who know not of such love." Mordred is consumed with adolescent sexual urges when one day, at the edge the desolate territory, he spies a wild hermit swimming naked in the Lake of Glass. Little does he know this man is the greatest betrayer; Viviane warns him to say away from this knight, swordsman, and best friend of Arthur. But Mordred ignores them and soon he's caught up in the alchemy of love, a mingling of confusion with flesh and soul. This hermit, this enigmatic man, once told Arthur of the sacred place beneath the lake, where the sword of Excalibur lay buried in rock. And as Mordred learns more, he falls in love but is deceived into thinking he can live a life unaffected by the machinations of the outside world. For Morgan, dreams of vengeance, and remembers how she was once hunted like a dog by her half brother, who stole the sword and the thrones of the kingdoms from her. Betrayal also comes in the form of the seemingly loyal the Morgause, who has swallowed a life of servitude to King Lot and to her sons. Now full of vengeful fury she has captured the half soul of her sister, and is intent to battle a King who has been given the sacred tools of the greatest of kings. As Mordred becomes a man, he must deal with his guilt at his crimes of passion, and his longing for the world that had begun to remake itself around him. Author Douglass Clegg beautifully skewers the

For gay men fascinated with the classics of myth and romance, there is often a certain level of gratification missing: the pleasure of reading the accounts of our own heroes and their place in the course of human history and myth. The author has successfully cast Mordred and another central character as being open to same sex love, and the tale is all the richer for it. After reading this book I couldn't imagine the story told in any other way, I FELT Mordred's longing, frustration and ultimate realisation of his special nature. His first unrequited love is recounted in a very tender and authentic manner, immediately recognisable to those of us who walked this same path in our youth. The ancient world of Arthurian legend is beautifully brought to life with numerous references to the Old Religion that will be appreciated by neo-Pagan readers. All of the original cast are included, with the addition of the author's special insight and sensitive treatment of the "gay angle". Not just a rewrite of the same old stock literary figures and synopsis, I fell in LOVE with Mordred, the person (not to mention the man he finds romantic passion with, but I won't give that away). The women in the story are healers, leaders, villains...passionate, fully-realised human portrayals of the characters we know from older works but now become believable as sisters, mothers, and priestesses in a world that humans can't always control or understand. One is often reminded that life is a mystery, there are no easy answers for any of us. Gay or straight, we all experience love and loss, pain and joy and ponder what it all means and why we're here at all. The author weaves these eternal themes skillfully into the narrative with generous doses of humour and occasionally profound sorrow. We'll have to wait for the next book, in the meantime I'll read this one again, perhaps a few times.

Douglas Cleggs take on the King Arthur theme is original and very entertaining. I have never been a fan of the King Arthur story line. I have tried on many occasions to read tales of the round table but to no avail. Finally someone has written a unique vision of the time and myth of Camelot. Mordred, the bastard son of Arthur is a compelling character that in the past has been represented as a demon sissy who in the end destroys Camelot. Not now! This Mordred is compelling, beautiful and I can hardly wait for the second book. Keep it up Douglas!

I've been a follower of Douglas Clegg's fiction from his first book, "Goat Dance." Over time, and over the many books and short stories he's written, his writing has evolved as he's taken risks, reached for greater heights. Last year, he truly outdid himself with "Priest of Blood." It's a vampire story, a fantasy story, a historical story, a romance. Whatever your pleasure, you'll find it here. Have you ever dived so deeply into a book, it's hard to get out; has a book ever become so real to you, the "real" world vanishes? This is "The Priest of Blood." And now, "Mordred, Bastard Son." Douglas Clegg continues to amaze me with his range, with his ability to step into a completely different writing "niche" and pull it off so well. "Mordred" is the fantasy novel that so many writers aspire to, but so very few reach. This is what fantasy should be: edgy complex characters, riveting action, a world drawn with such feeling, such perfect detail, it makes you feel like you're actually there, and, of course, the ultimate anti-hero. The only downside is waiting for book two! But don't put off reading book one. If you demand excellent writing, excellent story-telling, "Mordred, Bastard Son" will leave you satisfied.