I really enjoyed this competent collection of short stories, centered around retellings of Arthurian legends, in the past, present and future. I do feel I didn't know the original material and characters well enough, apart from a surface knowledge of some names, to fully appreciate the reimagined versions of them, but it didn't take away from the excellent writing and potential shown herein. There were two or three stories I didn't finish as the plot just wasn't catching me, but overall this is

Actual rating: 3.5 starsLike most anthologies, this had a collection of stories that I loved, liked, and disliked. Overall though, I think this is a pretty solid collection. Admittedly, there were some stories where I wasn't quite sure what the connection was to Arthurian legend. It's broken up into past, present, and future, so we encounter different tales based on the time period as well. I thought this was a fun way to structure the anthology! The past and present both had stories I loved, th...

My formative King Arthur works were the 1963 Disney movie The Sword in the Stone, and 1975’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When I discovered Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave, as a preteen, my life as a reader of fantasy and romance was set. I’m a King Arthur enthusiast, but not a purist (except for Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 King Arthur – great cast, beautiful visuals, terrible movie that should never have been marketed as “historically accurate”). Hearing that a work is a retelling of or inspired b...

Every. single. story.Every one.There are NO duds in the collection of new musings on Arthurian legends. I am a sucker for Camelot, so this collection was calling to me from the moment I heard about it! I waited impatiently after pre-ordering, was immensely jealous of those who got early copies, and then DEVOURED mine as soon as I had it in hand. I probably pulled a quote from every other page. There are so many imaginative, delightful, hilarious, and HORNY lines in this collection- it’s impossib...

oh man... i wanted to like this but can't get into majority of the stories in this anthology. maybe i would have liked it more if i'm more familiar with arthurian legends? but it's just so disconnected.

TW: triggers included in original mythos such as nonconsensual sex and accidental incest, mentioned prejudice/racism (in "I Being Young and Foolish" and "Heartbeat"), bullying & mentioned cultural assimilation (in "Heartbeat"), AIDS & mentioned suicidal ideation (in "Jack and Brad and the Magician"), toxic friendship (in "The Quay Stone"), gun violence (in "Black Diamond")I think the concept of diverse Arthurian retellings throughout the ages is very in my wheelhouse, and I was excited for t

This anthology has a huge and varied selection of inclusive Arthurian legend retellings. I particularly loved the two Elaine stories partly because I tend to enjoy retellings from a minor character's perspective. I also quite enjoyed an earlier story by Nisi Shawl about an African woman trading magic with Merlin, as well as another one in the middle about an HIV-positive man and his partner watching a magic show in the hospital hosted by, you guessed it, Merlin. I wish I could remember who wrote...

Sword Stone Table edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington is a testament to the power of anthologies. Some of these tales are eerie, warnings about the cyclical nature of humanity; others are heartfelt moments of second chances and what it means to become a leader. All embody the beating heart of King Arthur and his Court, and what it means to turn into a living story. Several of these stand out, in particular:The Once and Future Qadi (Asuma Zehanat Khan) - One of the best Outsider POVs yo...

Sword stone table is introduced as a collection of novels of various authors bringing to life the characters and tales from the arthurian legends world with new takes on the portrayal of the heroes and their relationships and romances.Putting aside the stories from contemporary time and future who didn't hold my attention for long, i enjoyed the past stories the most. Some of them were beautifully written as some authors went down the road of lyricism and offered strong impactful lines with inte...

A pretty interesting collection of stories in and around Arthurian legends. It’s definitely interesting to see what the authors felt most compelled to use as their entry points—a lot of Merlin and Elaine/relationships to Lancelot, and I would say probably not as much on like the Sword in the Stone. I think I found the “present” stories to be the most compelling, though I did love Ausma Zehanat Khan’s “The Once and Future Qadi ” as an opener to the collection. The future ones I sort of struggled

• the once and future qadi by ausma zehanat khan / 2Rep: North African Muslim mcs• passing fair and young by roshani chokshi / 3• how, after long fighting, galehaut was overcome by lancelot yet was not slain and made great speed to yield to friendship; or, galehaut, the knight of the forfeit by daniel m lavery / 2Rep: gay mc• i being young and foolish by nisi shawl / 2Rep: albino African mc• the bladesmith queen by sarah maclean / 1• do, by all due means by sive doyle / 2.5Rep: lesbian mc, sapph...

As with any anthology of stories written by multiple authors, some of these were great, some of these were ok, and some of these were not for me. But still, overall worth 4 stars because the stories that I loved, I really loved. As a teenager, I went through a King Arthur and Camelot obsession and tried to read everything I could get my hands on. This takes those old stories I remember and reimagines them for our world. These are the stories I loved:“The Once and Future Qadi” by Ausma Zehanat Kh...

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.When I saw that Sarah MacLean was writing a story about a female bladesmith for the Sword Stone Table anthology, I requested it right away. Including 16 stories with an aim toward inclusivity and offering ‘“bent” Arthur retellings,” this intriguing anthology edited by Swapna Krishna & Jenn Northington is often moving & provocative (at least to this reader who isn’t super well-versed in Arthurian leg...

3 stars *may changeArthurian mythology is so often watered down to "that king who had a golden cup, I think, and also his best friend slept with his wife," but I don't think that's quite fair. It's more like "that king who had a golden cup, I think, and also his best friend slept with his wife and there's a wizard with a funny hat and some other people who also do things."Okay, so I don't actually know anything about Arthurian mythology, and I'm not sure if that made the reading experience bette...