The Hollow Crown

Wheeler drops some knowledge at the end of his book: “I’ve really enjoyed re­spinning obscure Arthurian legends.” But Lancelot, who’s gender-flipped as the heroine of this second Kingfountain trilogy, is hardly obscure. Wheeler’s assumption of the audience’s ignorance may explain the sludgy start: more than 50 pages of backstory, given as the heroine sits playing wizr, a form of chess, or stands aside as a lady-in-waiting. She’s Tryneowy Kiskaddon, daughter of the prior trilogy’s hero, Owen. Unlike Owen, Trynne has roles to fit into, not an identity to discover. She listens. She worries about her appearance. And when she finally lays eyes on Siege Perilous and recognizes her prophesied destiny, she’s told by her own magic that she must remain silent. Her counterpart is a restless boy she calls Fallon, but whose given name is actually, in another nonobscure reference, Iago. Their story is a collection of half-digested cultural references that have little internal logic. Trynne, tediously, is defined only by her relationship to dominant male narratives—Lancelot’s, Owen’s, and the patriarchy’s as a whole. (June)