The King's Peace (The King's Peace, Book 1)
This variant of the Arthurian tales begins with Sulien apGwien's encounter with Jamish raiders, which makes her a lifelong foe of those invaders of her native Tir Tanagiri and draws her into supporting King Urdo, who rules at Caer Tanaga. He seeks to unite the squabbling nobles to drive out the invaders and restore peace. Walton writes with almost poetic skill, and the world she constructs is finely built despite the obviousness of her variations on Celtic and Norse cultures. She exercises her creativity more in realizing the Vincan empire and the local variant of Christianity. So open an adaptation of the Arthurian tales can hardly claim originality; it must stand or fall on its execution, which in this case is most worthy.Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved