From Publishers Weekly
In this rousing postcript to Lawhead's bardic Pendragon Cycle (Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, Grail), such a monstrous evil stalks near-future Britain that an ancient Welsh prophecy will be fulfilled: the Thames will reverse its course, Avalon will rise again from the cold gray sea and Arthur will return. A series of Royals so rotten that the Brits can't wait to dump the whole stinking lot enables scheming Prime Minister Waring to creepAtrick by political dirty trickAtoward Magna Carta II, the abolition of the monarchy. Far in the Highlands, though, former career officer James Arthur Stuart feels destiny stir within him. He is Arthur, come again to exalt Britain and its grand old valuesAgoodness, compassion, mercy, charity and justice. Accompanied by his enigmatic adviser Embries, his boon drinking buddy Calum McKay and the lissome Jenny, James struggles to come into his own, proving his mettle against modern monsters: skinheads armed with pit bulls, the fickle hydra of the press and the redheaded "total dish" Moira, Arthur's old witchy nemesis who destroyed Camelot. By the time James ousts Moira's insidiously treacherous buffalo-wing- and pizza-chomping politicos, Lawhead makes even aristocracy-phobes want to stand up at the skirl of the pipes and cheer on the eternal virtues James represents. In revisiting nearly every romantic Arthurian clich? and playing off snappy contemporary derring-do against the powerful shining glimpses of the historical Arthur he created, Lawhead pulls off a genuinely moving parable of good and evil. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In a near-future Britain, the death of King Edward IX throws the succession into disarray until a young man named James Arthur Stewart discovers his identity as the reborn King Arthur and claims his rightful throne. Aided by his counselor Myrddin Embries, the new king seeks to restore faith in the monarchy as well as a sense of justice to a land beleaguered by despair. The author of the popular "Pendragon Cycle" takes his Arthurian interests one step further as he explores the ramifications of a legend come to life in the modern world. Infused with Christian overtones, Lawhead's latest novel should appeal to fans of Arthurian fantasy. Recommended. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Historical/futuristic Arthuriana from the author of Grail, 1997, etc. In the not-too-distant future, Britain's drunken reprobate King Edward IX blows out his brains in a villa on Madeira. He has no heirs, and was secretly helped on his way by Prime Minister Thomas Waring (an anti-monarchist nursing ambitions to become Britain's first president). The mysteriously knowledgeable old Embries, however, insists that Captain James Arthur Stuart is the rightful King of Britain. Despite documentary proof, James is reluctant to go along, until Embries forces him to recall memories of his previous lifeas King Arthur! Embries, of course, is Merlin. James's soon-to-be wife is Guinevere, and so forth. So James, proclaiming himself the true Christian King of Avalon, raises his standard against modern cynicism to battle not only the devious Waring but also the reborn witch Morgan le Fay. Pleasant but far from gripping, with the necessary inference that Lawhead's purpose is more agitprop than storytelling. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

It has been fortold: In the hour of Britain's greatest need, King Arthur will return to rescue his people.

In Portugal, the reprobate King Edward the Ninth has died by his own hand.

In England, a dark scenario conceived by the power-hungry Prime Minister, Thomas Waring, is about to be realized: the total destruction of the British monarchy in the twenty-first century.

And in the Scottish Highlands, a mystical emissary named Mr. Embries—better known as "Merlin"—informs a young captain that he is next in line to occupy the throne. For James Arthur Stuart is not the commoner he has always believed himself to be—he is Arthur, the legendary King of Summer, reborn. But the road to England's salvation is rocky and dangerous, with powerful waiting to ambush: Waring and his ruthless political machine...and the agents of an ancient, far more potent evil. For Arthur is not the only one who has returned from the mists of legend. And Merlin's magic is not the only sorcery that has survived the centuries.

FROM THE CRITICS

Carolyn Cushman - Locus

This is primarily a tale of political maneuvering, with the new Arthur's big battle a heroic charge against skinheads interfering with his speech in Hyde Park....Overall, this is a mixed effort, a very promising idea...

Publishers Weekly

In this rousing postcript to Lawhead's bardic Pendragon Cycle (Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, Grail), such a monstrous evil stalks near-future Britain that an ancient Welsh prophecy will be fulfilled: the Thames will reverse its course, Avalon will rise again from the cold gray sea and Arthur will return. A series of Royals so rotten that the Brits can't wait to dump the whole stinking lot enables scheming Prime Minister Waring to creep--trick by political dirty trick--toward Magna Carta II, the abolition of the monarchy. Far in the Highlands, though, former career officer James Arthur Stuart feels destiny stir within him. He is Arthur, come again to exalt Britain and its grand old values--goodness, compassion, mercy, charity and justice. Accompanied by his enigmatic adviser Embries, his boon drinking buddy Calum McKay and the lissome Jenny, James struggles to come into his own, proving his mettle against modern monsters: skinheads armed with pit bulls, the fickle hydra of the press and the redheaded "total dish" Moira, Arthur's old witchy nemesis who destroyed Camelot. By the time James ousts Moira's insidiously treacherous buffalo-wing- and pizza-chomping politicos, Lawhead makes even aristocracy-phobes want to stand up at the skirl of the pipes and cheer on the eternal virtues James represents. In revisiting nearly every romantic Arthurian clich and playing off snappy contemporary derring-do against the powerful shining glimpses of the historical Arthur he created, Lawhead pulls off a genuinely moving parable of good and evil. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In a near-future Britain, the death of King Edward IX throws the succession into disarray until a young man named James Arthur Stewart discovers his identity as the reborn King Arthur and claims his rightful throne. Aided by his counselor Myrddin Embries, the new king seeks to restore faith in the monarchy as well as a sense of justice to a land beleaguered by despair. The author of the popular "Pendragon Cycle" takes his Arthurian interests one step further as he explores the ramifications of a legend come to life in the modern world. Infused with Christian overtones, Lawhead's latest novel should appeal to fans of Arthurian fantasy. Recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/99.] Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Carolyn Cushman - Locus

This is primarily a tale of political maneuvering, with the new Arthur's big battle a heroic charge against skinheads interfering with his speech in Hyde Park....Overall, this is a mixed effort, a very promising idea...

Kirkus Reviews

Historical/futuristic Arthuriana from the author of Grail, 1997, etc. In the not-too-distant future, Britain's drunken reprobate King Edward IX blows out his brains in a villa on Madeira. He has no heirs, and was secretly helped on his way by Prime Minister Thomas Waring (an anti-monarchist nursing ambitions to become Britain's first president). The mysteriously knowledgeable old Embries, however, insists that Captain James Arthur Stuart is the rightful King of Britain. Despite documentary proof, James is reluctant to go along, until Embries forces him to recall memories of his previous life—as King Arthur! Embries, of course, is Merlin. James's soon-to-be wife is Guinevere, and so forth. So James, proclaiming himself the true Christian King of Avalon, raises his standard against modern cynicism to battle not only the devious Waring but also the reborn witch Morgan le Fay. Pleasant but far from gripping, with the necessary inference that Lawhead's purpose is more agitprop than storytelling.