In Camelot’s Shadow

The Barnes & Noble Review
Sarah Zettel’s In Camelot’s Shadow is an enticing romantic fantasy set in Arthurian England that explores the legend of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady. When Gawain, King Arthur’s handsome and promiscuous nephew, saves a beautiful maiden from a sorcerer, will his love be able to overcome the forces of evil?

Risa of the Morelands was cursed even before she was born. While returning from King Arthur’s coronation, her father made a deal with an evil necromancer named Euberacon to save his beloved dying wife. In return for his wife’s health, the sorcerer asks for the life of the child growing inside her womb. Her father accepts the deal and thus dooms the unborn Risa to a life of unthinkable depravity.

Now a beautiful 19-year-old with red-gold hair, Risa confronts her father after another suitor is turned away. When he eventually tells her about his deal with the sorcerer, she runs away — only to be caught by Euberacon. Gawain fatefully witnesses the assault, saves Risa, and falls in love with her. But when Euberacon turns Risa into a monstrosity, will Gawain’s love be enough to defeat a sorcerer, a pagan god, and all the naysayers at Camelot?

Like many Arthurian stories, In Camelot’s Shadow is a tale about honor — its moral obligations and all its unintended consequences — but ultimately it is a story about the power of love. Lyrical, heartwarming, and engaging until the very last page, this novel is highly recommended for fans of romantic fantasy as well as Arthurian legend and lore. Paul Goat Allen