King Arthur is cast to a supporting role in the Queens of Fate series from Natania Barron, the second installment of which was released on December 3rd. Where the first installment, Queen of None took a deep dive into Anna Pendragon, the only full blooded sister of the once and future king, Queen of Fury takes us deep into the heart of Hwyfar. Arthur’s first betrothed, sister to Gweynevere, daughter of Leodegraunce, and all over badass warrior queen. While this is the second in a series, and I heartily recommend the first book, it does work on its own two feet if you get a hold of this one first.
Barron plays with Arthurian legend with the skill of a sorceress, refocusing attention from the familiar Arthurian legends, to the female characters, and to the otherwise lesser heard voices. She includes the known quantities that we are so familiar with, Arthur, Lancelot and the like, but creates a whole new world for Hwyfar’s origins and future. Nothing is as it seems as Barron works with these characters and worlds, weaving new magic between them. In this book more than the first Arthur is cast as an almost menacing presence in the background, no longer under Merlin’s sway, the human inadequacies of the king become more apparent, his ambition and greed laid bare as he sends his knights on an errand to Hwyfar and the kingdom of Avillion.
The story focuses on Hwyfar, but is also inextricably tied to Sir Gawain who provides the second narrative voice in the book. Gawain was once Arthur’s most lauded Knight, is Arthur’s nephew, second in line to the throne of Carelon, and the son of Anna, the protagonist of the first book in the series. Honestly I usually avoid narratives with a dual narrative voice, I do not generally enjoy them, but I was drawn in very quickly by the use of this structure in Queen of Fury. The structure of the dual perspective served to beautifully underpin and elaborate the relationship between the two characters, and you would be hard pressed to write this tale from just one perspective.
Hwyfar has returned to Avillion after a long period of time spent in Carelon, where she was sent to marry King Arthur, but instead ended up as his sister-in-law, twice. Her father King Leodegraunce is ill, and she is the only surviving and eligible heir. Sir Gawain and a troop of Knights are sent from Arthur’s table to aid and spy on Hwyfar and see what comes next, as Arthur has been promised control of Avillion upon the King’s death. Nothing is as it seems however, lost people are found, the dead converse in secret pathways, and there is more magic at work than any of them ever suspected. Avillion’s mystical roots stretch far deeper than those in Carelon, and so the themes that came to light in Queen of None take pride of place in Queen of Fury.
Even with Merlin at the helm, Carelon was very much grounded in the everyday and the mundane eventually succumbing to the lure of Christianity, whereas the land of Hwyfar’s family is so much more, so much more beautiful and with loftier purpose. I especially love Barron’s mushroom depictions later in the book, it describes what Hwyfar is seeing but also the transient but stable nature of these magical worlds where distance means nothing, but everything means something. Barron crafts a truly remarkable land as she weaves between the places that make up Hwyfar’s story.
The characterizations of Gawain and Hwyfar are built up slowly in Queen of Fury, as Barron works to build on and re-write what we thought we knew about them. At a certain point they become two sides of the same coin, but it is done so subtly that it feels as if it always was. In obvious ways they are both children born to royalty but discarded in some way, both past the prime of their youth. But as their link grows, you start to see more of their connectivity in the previous story and in the ways they think of themselves. It was touching that Barron introduced the idea that both were close to Gweynevere, and both mourn intensely for her. They use a call and response that Gweynevere employed, as a way to talk through each other’s feelings.
What brings you joy, Gawain?
“Nothing brought me joy before her, Gweyn,” I said to the water. “Nothing brought me so much peace, or so much pain. I suppose you were preparing me for this all along.
Both Hwyfar and Gawain are mourning lost loves as they find each other, Gweynevere certainly, but also Nimue for Hwyfar and a lost soldier for Gawain. Of late I find myself breezing past love making scenes in my romantasy books, sometimes skimming, sometimes skipping whole pages, but Barron’s skill with character development made these scenes unskippable. It was not overloaded with imagery or detail, but bursting with emotion and descriptions that propelled the narrative not just their bodies.
As we follow our characters from Carelon to Avillion and beyond, we are exposed to a much wider world than the framework of Arthur lends itself to. Even Arthur himself is forced to admit that there is much more than he can know or handle at play here. The role of women in this narrative is especially prominent, but does a great job at addressing how women’s work oftentimes has to be hidden from the men to thrive, and by the end of the story you can see how without the women, there would be no legend at all. This story provided far more magic and intrigue than I had anticipated, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the third installment.
Natania Barron is an award-winning fantasy author and former GeekMom writer as well as a founding member. Her publications include her 2011 debut, Pilgrim of the Sky, as well as These Marvelous Beasts, a collection of novellas. In 2020, Barron’s Queen of None was hailed as “a captivating look at the intriguing figures in King Arthur’s golden realm” by Kirkus, and won the Manly Wade Wellman award the following year. You can see my review of the amazing Netherford Hall, released earlier this year, on GeekMom.
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