book cover

Here Lies Arthur

by Philip Reeve

Interest age: 10+
Reading age: 11+

Published by Scholastic, 2007

  • Adventure
  • Chapter books
  • Coming-of-age
  • Historical
  • Myths and legends

About this book

The Arthur striding through storyteller-magician Myrdinn's tales is noble, a high-minded warrior dedicated to uniting war-torn Britain against the Saxons.

But servant-girl, Gwyna, rescued by Myrdinn and woven into his stories, knows another Arthur, driven by greed, power and desire. Whether serving in Arthur's war-band disguised as a boy or at his court as a girl, Gwyna's life is inextricably linked with Arthur's in an age of random violence and superstition - not nobility.

In poetic, visceral language reverberating with alliteration and internal rhymes Reeve has woven his own electrifying version of the Arthur legend.

The violence is darkly terrifying, the sense of landscape immediate and haunting and Gwyna/Gwyn's shifting gender permits Reeve to cast a unique, strikingly vivid glimpse into dark-age Britain.

About the author

Philip Reeve was born and raised in Brighton, where he wrote his first story at the tender age of five about a spaceman called Spike and his dog Spook. He is a talented illustrator and writer, and he has illustrated several titles in the Horrible Histories series. Philip is best known for his multi award-winning Mortal Engines quartet, which won the Nestlé Children's Book Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award, and the Guardian Children's Book Award. Philip has also won the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal with Here Lies Arthur.

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