Once & Future

Starred review from February 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-An interstellar science fiction/fantasy adventure story that offers readers a futuristic plot-driven King Arthur retelling. Ari Helix is a fugitive refugee who is on the run in Mercer controlled territory and crashlands on Old Earth. She is thrust out of hiding when she pulls the Sword Excalibur out of its old resting place in a willow tree and becomes the 42nd reincarnation of King Arthur. Ari teams up with a diverse cast of friends, including the backwards-aging teenage Merlin the Wizard and Queen Guinevere, as well as her stepbrother Kay and her adoptive mothers. Together they start a revolution to free the galaxy from the evil Mercer corporation's tyrannical rule. This epic space adventure features a teen character who must complete all three stages of a cycle: train Arthur, defeat the greatest evil in the universe, and unite all of mankind, in order to break the curse that brings the Arthur legend alive throughout time. A stimulating retelling that is adapted from T.H. White's The Once and Future King. Recommended to fans of Avalon High by Meg Cabot and Damar by Robin McKinley. VERDICT Capetta and McCarthy take the British legend and lore of King Arthur in a retelling that is a must-have for young adult collections.-Angelina Bair, Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, OH

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 1, 2019
A girl with a sword and an impulse problem embarks on a perilous quest to save her family and free the galaxy from the clutches of a power-hungry corporation.When Ari, an on-the-run refugee from planet Ketch, pulls Excalibur from a tree on Old Earth, she sets a centuries-old cycle into motion. By claiming the sword, she unknowingly attracts the enchantress Morgana and awakens the backward-aging magician Merlin, both of whom are doomed to an eternity of reliving the same story of King Arthur's rise and fall. Honest to the core and averse to pageantry, Ari rejects her destiny as "the one true king" until she discovers her connection to the Arthur cycle may help her raise a resistance against the Mercer Company, who imprisoned her mothers and are threatening everyone Ari loves. In this intergalactic reimagining of Arthurian legend, a racially diverse queer and trans ensemble of characters leads the battle against the tyranny of capitalism. Capetta (The Brilliant Death, 2018, etc.) and McCarthy (Now a Major Motion Picture, 2018, etc.) develop complex conflicts on multiple fronts, including a passionate, whirlwind romance between Ari and her Gweneviere. The women in the story grow together through their challenges with one another and learn from their differences.All hail this worthier-than-ever, fresh, and affirming reincarnation of the legendary king and her round table of knights which dazzles with heroic flair, humor, and suspense. (Science Fiction/Fantasy. 14-adult)

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March 1, 2019
Grades 8-12 Joining the recent spate of classics retold in space, this sf King Arthur takes full advantage of its galactic setting and modern perspective. Capetta and McCarthy's hero is Ari, an impulsive teen girl (yes, girl!) living a Firefly-esque existence with her adoptive brother, Kay. When a run-in with Mercer?the giant corporate power governing the universe?leads Ari to pull Excalibur from an ancient tree, Merlin awakens as a scrawny, embarrassingly beardless teen, who sets off to find his latest Arthur?number 42, thus far. Capetta and McCarthy cleverly use details from T. H. White's The Once and Future King, such as how Merlin ages backward, to seamlessly transpose the legend to a YA sphere. The characters represent a glorious spectrum of sexual and gender identities (Merlin, Ari, and Gwen are all queer), and even Ari's space-rat knights are interestingly complex. Like White's book, this manages to be exciting, earnest, and funny, and Capetta and McCarthy unapologetically take jabs at our current political climate. Unique twists and a message of unity through diversity result in a meaningful, utterly fun read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)