Once and Future by the duo Cori McCarthy and AmyRose Capetta takes the King Arthur mythology, turns it on its head and then flings it into the stars. Set on the premise that the King Arthur scenario resets itself over and over and now finds itself replaying on spaceships and human-colonized planets, Once and Future flicks between the points-of-view of Merlin and Ari, the female reincarnation of Arthur. With Morgan hot on their trails, a spurned Guinevere to deal with, an evil corporation trying to dominate the galaxy, and all the other essential and myriad characters of the Arthurian legend, McCarthy and Capetta have revitalized the classic for a new generation (and maybe even an old one).
One of the biggest successes McCarthy and Capetta pull off is integrating old characters into new, modern skins. They have crafted a world of diversity: diversity of sexual orientation, of ethnicity and culture, even of planet or ship origins. But in that vast diversity, the message of unity, classic Arthurian trope, rings true. Moreover, the authors show a world in which all of this diversity is taken in stride – gender fluidity is shrugged at, racial or ethnic differences are ignored. These differences are barely noted by the characters so that the reader is flung into a mindset to seek out the true differences between people – their moral compasses.
In Once and Future, McCarthy and Capetta take on a lot of cultural morality, from discrimination to capitalism, and wind it all around a familiar mythos that continues to resonate with generation after generation. The Arthurian legend continues to be relative in their hands because they successfully pull out the message that is, at its heart, the message we all need and want to hear: We can be better, together.
If you like this book, also check out:
Sword in the Starsby Cori McCarthy and AmyRose Capetta (sequel)
The Once and FutureKing by T.H. White
The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner