After being set adrift at sea, baby Mordred is found by fisherfolk who raise him as their own. One day, a beautiful, magical lady appears to carry him back to his birth-mother's cold castle. There, alone but for his faithful dog, he comes of age and learns the horrible truth about his identity. Everyone knows Mordred as the dark, evil son who kills the noble King Arthur. But what would it be like to be born as Mordred, an unwanted child with a dreadful destiny? This imaginative and beautifully told fantasy tale, rich with Arthurian lore, lets you finally hear Mordred's side of the age-old story. Nancy Springer is an award-winning author who has published over 30 critically-acclaimed books. This Booklist "Top 10" Fantasy Novel showcases her talent for creating convincing characters and conveying their intense emotions. Narrator Steven Crossley will hold you spellbound as he brings young Mordred and his tragic predicament fully to life.
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"This book was a successful journey into one of my favorite book subjects: taking a famous story and looking at it from an evil character or foe who might more or less be misunderstood. Short and sweet, but a little more bittersweet in where it is destined to go. Definitely worth a read. "
— Jessica (4 out of 5 stars)
" 3 1/2 stars. I really liked everything until the ending. It just didn't play out the way I hoped it would have, which is to say, it was kind of a cop-out. But good book overall. "
— Ariana, 1/10/2011" Although I knew that Mordred was part of the Arthurian legend, I was never sure exactly who he was. This was excellent historical fiction. "
— Linda, 7/10/2010" I really liked this, the umpteenth Arthurian novel, I have read. "
— Elizabeth, 6/28/2010" I loved this book. <br/>It showed how villians turned evil and showed that maybe they were never evil just had to follow the path chosen for them. <br/>I cried "
— Lucy, 5/24/2010" what a great view of Mordred and his growing up years "
— Dale, 12/10/2009" While it's very inaccurate from the actual tales of Camelot, it's still a pretty good book. "
— Melodie, 12/4/2009" Not half as good as I expected, from reading Springer's other work - Morgan Le Fay. <br/>Though it did solidify a few parts of Arthurian legend for me. "
— I_heart_snape, 9/16/2009" Ah...Mordred...I love this book. A really good King Arthur book! "
— Maggie, 7/21/2009" I read this a long time ago, but I remember really liking it. Dark and adventurous young adult book with roots in the Arthurian legend. "
— Molly, 6/3/2009" dull. no fun to analyze.terrible read. "
— Geoffrey, 5/28/2009" This book is a beautifully written story from a perspective not often seen in Arthurian fiction books. I highly recommend this book, even if you know nothing about the lore of King Arthur. "
— Sarah, 10/22/2008Nancy Springer is the author of more than fifty books for children and adults, including the nationally bestselling Enola Holmes series, of which The Case of the Missing Marquess was made into the hit Netflix movie Enola Holmes. Her novels have has been published in more than thirty countries and have won several awards, including the Anthony Award, two Edgar Awards, the Carolyn W. Field Award, the Hugo Award for Best Short Story, and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature for Best Novel.
Steven Crossley, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, has built a career on both sides of the Atlantic as an actor and audiobook narrator, for which he has won more than a dozen AudioFile Earphones Awards and been a nominee for the prestigious Audie Award. He is a member of the internationally renowned theater company Complicite and has appeared in numerous theater, television, film, and radio dramas.