Written by Ian Banks | 22 February 2012

Headline Review 2012 978-0-7553-7147-1

Arthurian fiction is always in the public eye but sometimes it seems to be more prominent than others. In the last few years we’ve been blessed with several new movies and television series about the boy king. All of them have their fans and their detractors but what they really show is that these stories still matter to us. MK Hume’s King Arthur trilogy has further proved that there is still an audience for fiction that makes the effort to retell the legend with some respect and dignity, and without the additions that have made the stories so familiar to us down the centuries.

Death of an Empire is the second book in a prequel trilogy about Arthur’s advisor Merlin, or Myrddion as he is known here. In the first volume we were told of his conception and childhood. Here we are presented with Myrddion as a young man, desperate to prove himself as a healer and hoping to find his father. He sets off across Europe with Constantinople as his ultimate goal, intending to learn from the great healers there. In the course of his travels he meets a cavalcade of historical figures and takes part in the great events of the day, all centred on preserving the mighty Roman Empire.

The thing that I really enjoyed about the first series was that it presented one of the most gripping and historically true retellings of the Arthurian myth that I had read in ages. The characters did their dance through the major points of the legends, but in a way that was true to the era. You felt that there was a real threat from the invading Saxons, that the despair caused by the absence of Rome was palpable. In this series, Hume subverts that somewhat by taking the story right to the top: we get a debauched and corrupt Roman aristocracy that is intent on preserving their empire because it keeps them in the style to which they have become accustomed. There are very few of the idealistic characters we were introduced to several books ago. And, although this is Arthurian fiction, there is very little that happens in Britain; in fact, it is concerned with the life of Merlin before he became mixed up in the Matter of Britain. Dealing with this time has very little precedence in Arthurian lore.

This means that the novels really give us a glimpse into Hume’s chops as a writer, because it is here that she has to rely on her own skills to move the story along. And this is where the tale becomes interesting because here we see Myrddion developing his skills as a statesman and eminence gris as well as practising his skills of healing. This is also where he sees the decadence and collapse of the Roman Empire and the effect it has on his beliefs and ideals. While this might confuse the reader a little bit, it makes sense to the story because this is what Myrddion will be working so hard to preserve in Volume Three and beyond. It makes his machinations in the original trilogy understandable because he has seen the chaos brought by the collapse of society and wants to prevent his native land from succumbing to it. This is what a good prequel should do: add depth and resonance to its source material.

However, it does feel slightly disjointed because there are several scenes that take place in Britain that seem totally unrelated to Myrddion’s story. Presumably they will lead to a pay-off in the next book, but if you are a casual reader (or didn’t notice the big “2” on the front cover) it could be quite annoying. But that’s a rant for another day.

Overall this is an enjoyable tale of gritty history that also makes you feel a little more knowledgeable about the time period. Fans of Arthurian fiction should enjoy Hume’s take on how some characters came to be the way they are, while people who enjoy the current incarnation of blockbuster/historical/adventure/biopic novels will take a lot away from it as well.

MK Hume’s website can be found here: http://www.mkhume.com/.