I attended the Cymera Festival literary last year, and I happened to attend a panel where Thomas D Lee was discussing this book. At the time, I thought it sounded really interesting, but I wasn't really sure how well Arthurian legend would translate well into a novel about climate change, so it wasn't at the top of my TBR... I'm glad I got a chance to read it through NetGalley though, because it ended up being a great read! The style is very easy and comfortable to follow, and it manages to nail humour without being too ridiculous - even when really ridiculous things are happening (I particularly liked every scene with Barry the Squirrel). The messages/morals within the story were good without being too heavy handed, and I liked the ambiguous ending. Will definitely check out anything the author writes in the future.

This book is amazing for fans of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The book asks the question: how perilous do the perilous times have to be for King Arthur and his Knights to awaken to save England? And answers it with: what if King Arthur and Merlin were just some blokes? I really enjoyed this commentary on what the worst possible ending for our planet could be and what happens if the people who are supposed to be protecting it allow their morals to be sold to the highest bidder to maintain the status quo.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc ahead of the paperback release. Probably adding this to my list of favourite books for 2024

Perilous Times is an Arthurian urban fantasy about Arthur’s knights being resurrected whenever Britain is in peril. Kay is one of those knights and is reborn to find a Britain in peril not from war but from global warming, capitalism, and corruption. What’s he supposed to do about that? He encounters Mariam, a young member of a feminist ecoterrorist organization, who he decides is a damsel in distress and decides to follow her. Meanwhile, a shadowy organization with sinister plans has coopted his fellow reborn knights and is manipulating them to do their bidding.

What a super weird and strange book this was. I really just had to look past its premise and my own expectations before I got on board. I like urban fantasies, but not so much Arthurian (hated The Once and Future King) nor climate fiction. At the heart of it all is an action-packed story with some pretty offbeat humor that did get me to laugh out loud a few times with its own brand of weirdness (that one ill-timed deer scene, the talking squirrel, the awkwardness). It does get a bit preachy, but that comes with the territory and wasn’t overbearing.

I thought Kay had a lot of heart and both his sullenness and earnestness well balanced. Mariam had a brusque quality to her that occasionally grated, but somehow also always on point. I especially loved Lancelot who is jaded and actively pining for his lost lover. Although not quite a found family, I liked how dysfunctional they were and the team they ultimately haphazardly became.

Perilous Times is a weird one—a climate fiction Arthurian urban fantasy that somehow works.

Can King Arthur’s knights save modern day England from a modern ecological threat in a world under threat from climate change? Such is the premise of Perilous Times - which blends historical chivalry, dragons and eco-activists in a whimsical yet long winded adventure story.
At first there is a lot to like about this inventive and modern tale, with an interesting premise and characters creating a unique story. But then it just kind of stalls.
What should be a fun romp with a message becomes an arduous slog for a large middle section of the book.
Maybe others will find more here, but for me it felt more like a missed opportunity.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy.

3 stars

I went into it completely blind and I didn't know that climate change would be as much of a big part as it was - and this took me by surprise.

I very nearly DNF'd this book between 30 - 40% of the way in. I was just confused. Confused at the world building (which we got through drips, spread across all of the POVs that we follow) and also the plot. It felt especially slow for the first half of the book, and this combined with my confusion at the setting meant that I did struggle to understand what was happening. Due to the slower pace, I also struggled to connect to the characters.

From what I managed to gather, the world building is interesting and I would have liked to have a more concrete explaination as to what the setting was and how exactly we got there.

There's a lot of content warnings in this book, so please do look them up before reading.

I really wanted to read Perilous Times, I heard very good things about Thomas D. Lee's debut novel, and I made an effort to finish it.

The idea of the story was perfect.
Merlin did magic that summoned Arthur Knight with his sword every time Britain was in danger.
And every time, Kay came back from the dead to help people whenever England's gone shit.

SEE, it was an excellent idea, but I couldn't continue reading it. And I'm really sorry that I had to stop at the 40%.

Perhaps the story would have been more interesting if it was set during WWII, as some parts mentioned that period, or if the book didn't feature animal cruelty and I might been able to continue reading it.

Instead in this book, we have the characters who are very oddly fighting against global warming. A dragon who does shit but also is sad about human' shit. And my biggest sin of all, I didn't like the characters, none of them.

I don't know, maybe one day I'll finish this book, maybe if someone tells me the dog is okay, I'll give it another chance. I might want to read Mr. Lee's future works, but be as it is for today.

Thanks Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit via NetGalley for ARC. I have given my honest review.