misunderstood Mordred
Discover the misunderstood Mordred in a curated list of books, from Mary Stewart's *The Wicked Day* to Bernard Cornwell's *The Winter King*. Explore truly human, tragic, and complex portrayals of King Arthur's son in fantasy fiction that reimagines the classic legend.
Book
The Wicked Day
by Mary Stewart
Born of an incestuous relationship between King Arthur and his half sister, the evil sorceress Morgause, the bastard Mordred is reared in secrecy. Called to Camelot by events he cannot deny, Mordred becomes Arthur’s most trusted counselor -- a fateful act that leads to the "wicked day of destiny" when father and son must face each other in battle.
Book
The Child of the Holy Grail
by Rosalind Miles
The conclusion of the Guenevere trilogy begins with the epic quest in search of the Holy Grail and ends with the fall of Camelot and the death of Arthur.
Book
The Winter King
by Bernard Cornwell
It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur. The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant. As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.
