Once & Future pleasantly surprised me. My relationship with Arthurian retellings is a fraught one; I’ve despised some of the Arthurian retellings I’ve read, while Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn became a new favourite earlier in the year. Blending medieval elements with a sci-fi setting could have been a disaster, but I enjoyed the first novel in this series a lot. The cast of characters had a lot to do with my enjoyment of the novel. It’s a diverse cast, featuring asexual, pansexual, gay, genderfluid and trans rep, as well as a demiguy (and that’s just the rep I can remember off of the top of my head!). All of the characters were well-crafted, and even though it was a big cast of characters they all felt necessary.

I was disappointed by the bad guy, as the Mercer Administrator doesn’t get much time on the page. The idea of the faceless corporation was more intimidating, but giving the company a leader and making him bland lowered the stakes in this story dramatically.

I will admit that I found it difficult to get into the story at the start. During the first few chapters we follow Ari before she discovers Excalibur, which means there’s no Merlin and no dual perspective. These chapters are the slowest in the entire book, and it takes a while to get the plot moving. I was tempted to DNF the book during this section, but I’m glad that I pushed through it because it really paid off. If you’re looking to read a novel which is fast-paced straight out of the gate, don’t reach for this one just yet!

My favourite section of Once & Future occurs about halfway through the story, when Ari is separated from her friends and they believe that she’s dead. I loved the exploration of grief and the way that different people respond to loss in different ways, and I thought Capetta and McCarthy did a great job of delving into the subject (albeit briefly).

I also really appreciated the conversation between the gang and Merlin when he misgenders Lam. Lam identifies as fluid and uses they/them pronouns, but Merlin explains that he’s used to presuming people’s pronouns based off of the way that they look. The gang correct him, but they forgive him for his mistake and Merlin does his best to prioritise using correct pronouns throughout the rest of the series. It’s a simple conversation to be had, but when so many people still don’t understand terms like genderfluid or non-binary, a small conversation like this can go a long way towards fostering acceptance and understanding.

A copy of this book was provided by netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Content Warnings: Genocide, mentions of sexual assault, suicide attempts

My Rating: 5 Books out of 5

Highlights:
It’s queer King Arthur in space, what’s not to like honestly?
Merlin is amazing and I love him
Such a fantastically diverse cast of characters
Who wouldn’t want to live on Lionel tbh
It’s just great

“It's true, I'm no murderer. But I do have an impulse control problem. And a sword.”

Right, let’s get it out of the way, I have never read the original King Arthur legends, or anything approaching them really. I watched the BBC show though, so I’m basically an expert, I’m pretty sure. I know the basics, but that’s about it to be honest. This book requires very little pre-existing knowledge, so I don’t want you to worry that because you’re not an Arthurian scholar, this book will be confusing.

Also I’ve been playing a lot of Mass Effect Andromeda lately, and I was craving some found family space shenanigans. If you too are feeling this craving, may I suggest this book?

Ari is an orphan and refugee, plucked from the wreckage of a spaceship by her new brother Kay and his mothers, and on the run ever since from the Mercer corporation - a company that has been slowly taking control of everything, and who is responsible for trapping Ari’s people on their planet, unable to escape. When their mothers are arrested, Ari and Kay continue living on the run and fighting to survive, a fight made all the more difficult when Ari finds a magic sword on Old Earth. The sword by itself she could cope with, but the scrawny ginger teenager claiming to be a wizard, chasing her across the universe and trying to train her to be the next King Arthur is a bit much to be honest. Then there’s the witch who keeps appearing and trying to kill her, and also the fact that she’s apparently meant to save everyone?

It’s a rough few days.

This book is AMAZINGLY diverse, there are characters who use they/them pronouns, characters who shirk gender and all its restraints to just be uncontrollably awesome, there are queer relationships aplenty, the characters aren’t a sea of white faces but are as varied and wonderful as their stories, and honestly it was fantastic. I am and will always be a big believer that ‘forced diversity’ is bullshit. Queer characters don’t need to justify their existence, just as
Queer peopledon’t need to justify our existence, and as a reader who is pretty damn gay I just find it so wonderful to open a book and know that somewhere in there is a character that young, depressed Charlotte would have wept to find in her reading material. Representation changes and saves lives, and there is representation aplenty in this book!
I never really had a moment where the book dragged at all, it’s a very fast-paced plotline and it kept me reading because I JUST HAD to know what was going to happen. There’s another book (which I WILL be reading once my TBR is wrangled into behaving, damn you and your many amazing books netgalley, you know what you did) and I personally am a huge fan of duologies. I get lost with long series sometimes, especially if I’m reading them as they come out because by the time book two is out I’ve read so many books since book one I can’t actually remember much clearly, so do I re-read or plough ahead? Two books is a good length for a series, and I am super excited to move onto book two.

Also I have to give a shout out to scrawny gay teenage Merlin battling both evil and his raging hormones, in space.

This book made me very happy, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a space adventure welcoming to all!

Once & Future is the kind of queer retelling I need more of in my life! I've always been a fan of anything Arthur & Merlin inspired since watching the BBC adapted TV show in my teens but it took me far too long to finally pick up Once & Future. I really, really enjoyed this retelling, it was such a fun, comedic take on the Arthurian legend whilst also set in space, I wasn't all that sure if it was possible to rewrite such an old classic story as a sci-fi novel but I am now pleasantly convinced that the outcome is amazing!
Our main character, Ari, the Arthur in this lifetime is pansexual, and I was already overjoyed at the prospect of a female King Arthur retelling but there is a whole cast of queer characters in the roles of the famous knights of the round table, Merlin and Guinevere (Gwen). I found the relationship between Ari and Merlin so charming, it was a very sweet friendship from the very beginning and Merlin definitely added humour to any situation. I definitely saw one of the twists in the other characters identities quite early on, but readers who aren't so familiar with the legend might find it a surprise.
I thought the story was very enjoyable, I could easily read this novel in a day as it's quite fast-paced and kept my interest throughout. Sadly there is a slight lack in character development and some scenes felt a little rushed, I think the novel could easily have been an extra 50 to 100 pages to add more depth to some scenes. However I would still definitely recommend Once & Future to any sci-fi fans as I loved reading it and could hardly put it down!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Unfortunately, I found this too contrived and didn't feel like the characters were fleshed out.

There was so much potential in this sci-fi, genderqueer rewrite of the King Arthur legend, but in the end it fell flat for me. I think it was just too literal - much of the action takes place on a planet somewhat like a medieval theme park, where knights train and joust - and I felt if the authors had just been a little bit braver in trusting the audience to get the references with the characters taken out of a quasi-medieval setting, it would have been a more interesting book. The characterisation was great, and I did invest in the story, so would certainly read something else by either author. But Once & Future wasn't for me.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. It is a quirky take on the tale of Merlin / Arthur / Camelot. This book was a very good stand alone, however I was surprised to hear that another book is on the way. There was a space theme which I love, and made the book kind of Sci-Fi like. The characters were well developed and likeable. I am always keen for retellings and this one was top on the list. This world is very well develeloped. Anyone who likes King Arthur should read this book.

This was such a romp of a book and I really enjoyed it! It tells the story of Ari, the 42nd incarnation of King Arthur, who teams up with a teenage Merlin (who is ageing backwards) in an effort to unite all of humankind and defeat the evil Mercer Corporation. There are some great and diverse characters in this book, all of whom are well fleshed out and have believable and authentic motivations and responses to action. The plot is intricate and engaging, being part a re-telling of the Arthurian legend and part a completely new tale, which I really enjoyed, given that the stories about Arthur and his knights are some of my favourites. I did have some issues with the pacing of the narrative. Things happen incredibly quickly, which makes for an exciting read, but often felt a little rushed and sometimes made the character interactions or relationships seem a little forced. This is the first book in a planned duology, but I wonder whether a trilogy would have been better as there is an awful lot of action packed into this first book. With that being said, I really enjoyed it and will definitely be reading the concluding part when it comes out.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I love Amy Rose Carpetta’s work but this just didn’t engage me in the same way. I’m not so precious about King Arthur retellings that I have an issue with it being set in space, but it just didn’t quite work for me. The structure also didn’t really work imo and jumped around a lot. And I couldn’t get a bead on the characters. I really don’t think this is a bad book and I’m certain the things that left me scratching my head will be those that make someone else love it, it just clearly wasn’t written for me.

Look what I finally finished 🙌🏼 only took me a month 🙄 I'm actually unsure as to why it took me so long to finish this book. I just kept putting it down and not picking it back up. I am happy to confirm it's a problem with me and not the book though 😁

A gender-bent retelling of King Arthur, Once & Future follows our King, Ari, on a journey to destroy Mercer and unite humankind, with the back up of her knights (brother and friends) and Merlin.

Not only is this a gender-bent retelling, but it also has fantastic representation for LGBTQI+, its set in space, there are several romances and there's a dragon, or two! I mean, what more could you possibly want?!

I loved this story! The relationships were cute but also HOT 😍 and I adored Ari's relationship with Merlin. I'm a huge King Arthur fan and I thoroughly enjoyed piecing the story together, with the knights and figuring who was who. Brilliantly written. Amy Rose and Cori nailed it!

4.5🌟 from me, highly recommend

Thank you to Rock the boat for my copy of this book via Netgalley. I loved the cover and the blurb really sucked me in so I thought I would give this book a try.

I wouldn't say I was totally up on King Arthur and his round table. I mean I know of the story and the whole sword in the stone thing but to be quite honest I had forgotten the majority of the story. I did look up some of the characters while I was part way through the book but I wouldn't say it was really necessary. The relevant characters are explained in the book.

I really loved the beginning of this book. There was good world building and explanation. The characters were really fun and there was lots of humour throughout the story. I thought that the middle dipped a little. I found it difficult to get through those chapters. I really enjoyed the end of this book. there was a lot of action and it felt like it had gone back to the same tone as the beginning.

I am looking forward to the sequel and I will read it as I'm interested to see the outcome but I don't think it will be top of my TBR pile when it does come out.

Stuff I Liked
I am so frustrated with this book, because it had so much good and so much potential in it. First of all, this is incredibly diverse and I loved every bit of it. Our main character is of Arab descent, she’s pan, there are major queer side characters, there’s a nonbinary side character… It’s full of great stuff and I really appreciated that.

I also really enjoyed Merlin’s character, although I found him a tad underdeveloped. But I did enjoy him as a flustered gay teen and I did find him to be the most layered character of all. He is fighting with his past mistakes and there’s a lot of inner turmoil he goes through, even though it wasn’t done as well as I wanted it.

On top of that, I found this book to be quite funny. There are LOTS of really great bits and dialogue moments that were genuinely funny. And I love how the elements of the original story were interwoven into this Sci-Fi romp. And you could tell that the authors were close to the original story and that definitely shines through the writing.

Stuff I Disliked
However, for me, the good stuff was really overshadowed by the stuff I had issues with this.

First of all, I found the characters to be really underdeveloped. I had a hard time trying to connect with any of them, and I find they lacked any sort of distinct personality. Maybe it’s due to the fact that this is so plot driven, but I don’t think we spent enough time with the characters, or that the authors spent enough time building them, because all of them lacked any sort of flavor beyond one single characteristic the other characters used to describe them.

On top of that, I could not even have fun with the plot of this because the writing and storytelling were incredibly erratic. Things just happened and there was no explanation of how we got from point A to point B. It felt like one of those dreams where you’re in one place, and then you’re in another, but you did not get from one place to another. I could not for the love of me immerse myself in this, because it was so confusing and disjointed. The story jumps around and it’s so frustrating, because said jumping around makes you feel so disinterested.
Also, the story never felt really high stake. I never felt like the characters were in any real danger and so everything felt a bit pointless in my head.

To Sum Up
I really was so detached from everything happening in this book. I feel like if it were written differently, it could have been awesome, but as it was, I just could not connect.

Hi everyone, I’m Merlin and I’ve been trying to sort out this whole Arthur/ Camelot mess for millennia. You know that whole aging backwards thing? Yeah, we’ll, suddenly I’m a teenager, in freaking space, and my once and future king is FEMALE! Oh, and everyone is gay. Including me.
Still with me?

75% of me is jumping up and down in sheer glee over an Own Voice, queer, female, poc Arthur, and the sheer brilliant insanity. The authors KNOW their Arthurian myth in and out. There are super clever variations on the Lady of the Lake and Morganna for instance. Plus the idea of an endless cycle of repetition is amazing. This just happens to be the 42nd time around, and poor Merlin is desperate. One more go and he may end up an actual child. While this is all amazing, I only have one problem. Ari/ Arthur is supposed to be brilliant, charismatic, amazing, a born leader. She’s meant to inspire. Only, I just didn’t like her. She came across as brattish and irritating. She is a teenager though, so I will give her another chance. The cliffhanger at the end is HUGE.

So while I can’t LOVE Once and Future, it is beautifully queer, amazingly topical, and touches on themes of consumerism, capitalism, consumerism, isolationism, racism, prejudice, and well.....genocide. Plus there is a literal wall. Need I say more!!!

4.5 for concept, 3.5 because Ari made me persnickety

I really wanted to like this book. I really did, but I just could not get into it. I attempted to read it several times, and in the end only got 40% into it before I had to admit defeat.
I am sad that I didn't like this book, because in theory it was something that I could see myself loving. Futuristic space with a King Arthur retelling twist - not to mention Arthur is a girl in this which is awesome!
Here's where it fell short for me:

Firstly, I didn't get along with the pacing whatsoever, it felt very slow and dragging to me. In fact, I think at 30% in I was just so annoyed that no real focus was made on the main plot. I knew who the 'enemy' were supposed to be yet it just felt all a bit forgotten in light of the relationships that were being portrayed.

Secondly, I really didn't feel connected to the characters at all. Merlin was probably my favourite, but what got to me about the characters was that there was such emphasis on their sexuality that it left them very one dimensional. I was really excited for the diverse rep in this book, but I don't appreciate token characters and unfortunately I felt there were a couple of those in this book (well, in what I read anyway).

This could have been a really good story had it captivated me enough to continue, but unfortunately it just wasn't one for me. Hopefully others get along with it much better than I.

This review was so hard to write because I felt really disappointed - Once & Future has been on my desperately anticipated list since November last year and all I could think about was needing to get my hands on this queer feminist retelling of a classic myth because of COURSE it would rock my world! As you can guess, that didn't work out, and I think part of the problem lay with my sky-high expectations, but I also feel that the confused tone of the book and breakneck pace didn't help. 

The story is written in a breezy, irreverent manner - that's great, I enjoy books like that! But given that Once & Future deals with heavy topics like psychological torture, systematic galactic oppression and our protagonist being an illegal refugee on the run from a corrupt corporate tyrant, the jarring switch to light-hearted hijinks threw me out. You go from our heroes facing mortal danger to a farce where Excalibur is described as 'penetrating the round table with a slick sheening sound that left the entire spaceship in postcoital silence', cue laughter. There's a painful childhood memory of Ari going through immense pain and suffering juxtaposed against Merlin using his magic to create fireworks and humming tunes by Katy Perry. Spearheading a revolution and fighting in battle cuts suddenly to two main characters making out while another protests 'Hey! We're in the middle of a battle!' only to get a dismissive wave in response. I don't know how to deal with that.

And the pacing is all over the map - being an Arthurian retelling, it's no surprise that Gwen is Ari's love interest (hurray for f/f romances!), but their relationship is given practically no development. There's a bit of delicious tension in the beginning that had me intrigued, only for it to be squandered as they rushed into a political marriage which they enthusiastically consummated off-page. That's fine, I don't need an explicitly detailed sex scene, but our protagonist has just married her crush and we get NOTHING? How are we supposed to care about this couple and their epic destined romance when their momentous first time together only gets a footnote about her brother turning off the gravity to try and stop them hooking up, only for everyone to hear the ladies moaning in ecstasy as they continue unabated? This choice relegates it to a joke, and a creepy voyeuristic one at that. 

Then I got to the abrupt time jump that comes out of nowhere and serves no real purpose except to have character dynamics change and grow without the reader witnessing them - Merlin goes from loathing Gwen to being best friends; he and Val engage in a long lingering dance of mutual attraction that we only see once they get to breaking point. I ended up skim-reading the rest of the story out of morbid curiosity to see how it all played out, not because I had any real investment in the characters or their relationships, which is a shame after I was so excited at all the promise this book held. 

Even if the characters were superficially portrayed, I could've overlooked it if the plot stepped up instead, but Ari's journey to defeat the evil Mercer corporation had very little depth and its resolution was way too easy. Plus so much of her revolution happens off-page and the outcome is relayed to us in conversation, which makes it feel unearned.

Maybe I still haven't had enough time to process and get some perspective on this, but even if I wait a week or a month, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to remember this without feeling let down. I still think it has a lot to offer in terms of diversity, which was the main attraction for me to begin with, as the authors do an amazing job with basically the entire cast of characters being LGBT+ as well as including non-binary representation. Readers who are looking for books that cater to more than the cishet norm will definitely appreciate that aspect of Once & Future, but if you pick this up, perhaps be conservative with your expectations

Once & Future, a retelling of the legend of King Arthur and set in space, is a great read, although it wasn't quite as gripping as I'd hoped. I feel this will be a book you'll either love or hate with little to no middle ground. It certainly has a lot going for it - magic, romance, love, corruption, the obligatory evil corporations and a diverse and wonderful LGBTQ+ cast. All the famous characters from the original tale are here but are given a makeover - for instance, Merlin is gay and King Arthur is a woman. There is plenty of action throughout and dramatic events around every corner. The humour interspersed throughout is a welcome part of it too.

The writing was a little clunky and problematic, though, making it more difficult to get through than is ideal. However, I did appreciate that there were twists in the tale which sets it apart from the original and adds unpredictability. That said, there were a lot of happenings throughout that felt contrived and cringy and each time I encountered one my level of enjoyment dropped. I also felt that the characters, although inclusive, required more depth of personality. I particularly liked the fact that the usual labels of gender and sexuality were no longer pertinent in this entertaining sci-fi space opera.

Many thanks to Rock the Boat for an ARC.

The initial pitch of "Once and Future" as a feminist, LGBT King Arthur had me hooked from the start. I went in with high expectations, perhaps a bit too high expectations. And there's definitely some good stuff in here. Ari is a brilliant lead character, impulsive and passionately protective of her friends. The ensemble cast of teenage rebels which she has gathered around her are just as interesting too, if not more so. I love the portrayal of Gwen as a political powerhouse to be reckoned with and Merlin soon became my favourite character in the book, because I am a sucker for any tragic backstory which involves someone failing to save multiple reincarnations of someone they care about. There were some decent twists on the traditional King Arthur story, so I couldn't exactly predict how it would play out either.

That being said, there were a lot of things which didn't quite work for me. Jordan felt the least developed of the main group of rebels and as such, I never warmed to her. The main character moment we have of her is a discussion of her sexuality, which meant that moment lost a lot of its potential impact for me, because I didn't have much reason to care about it. The plot felt like it jumped around a lot too: the timeskip didn't do much for me and I never really got the sense that the characters were a year older. The ultimate resolution and set up for the next book came a bit out of nowhere.

Then again, I definitely had high expectations from this one and there's a lot there to still recommend it to people. If you enjoy a good YA story focused on one girl bringing down a corrupt elite, there's probably a lot here that you'll enjoy.

I'm sad to say Once & Future was not for me. I did not finish this book. I was extremely excited for this 2019 release but it fell short for me.

I read halfway through the book before I unfortunately had to put it down. While there were moments I laughed out loud and really appreciated the diversity in this book I could not get through the writing itself. The writing style was so strange and felt extremely jumpy. Many of the characters just pop into existence without much background or history for the reader and its all very confusing. The romance is extremely forced and written in a way that left me cringing. It did not feel realistic or genuine at all.

The premise of an awesome sci-fi and Old Arthurian mix was the exact reason I requested this book. I love both of these things but I think the execution of the two did not work for me. I kept getting thrown out of the story and found it hard to follow because the writing was so jumpy and jarring. It did not flow and left me with more questions than understanding.

Overall it was a lot of little things that bothered me, making this book unreadable for me. The characters were forced, story hard to follow and the writing style was disruptive. I can definitely see why people would really enjoy this book but it's just not for me.

I had high hopes for this book, and I’d already seen some raving reviews before diving in myself. And I wasn’t disappointed!

This was such a funny, entertaining read, with an awesome cast of characters. I loved the refreshing take on the King Arthur legend set in space, with a genderbent Arthur and a gay Merlin, among other twists.

It was wonderfully empowering to see just how many LGBTQ+ characters there were, and just how inclusive this novel was. I don’t think I’ve seen a single straight relationship in the entire book, and there were also characters of various genders.

However, I do think the character development as well as the action sequences felt quite rushed at times. I would have liked to see a more steady pace, especially when it comes to the developing relationships.

All in all, Once & Future made for a great, fast-paced, entertaining sci-fi read, with a lot of different representations, but it could have used a little more depth.

Once and Future is action and drama packed read. It has romance, magic, evil corporations, a female King and a Benjamin Button Merlin.One of my favourite aspects of Once & Future is that people are non longer feel the need label people by gender and sexuality. As Merlin has been a sleep he has missed the evolution of it. Which cause some funny moments as he gets use this is.Once & Future is an easy read, the story flows at a good pace that meant I finished the book in 1 sitting. Cori and Amy Rose have create a great bunch of character. They have taken certain traits from the original King Arthur character but made them more interesting. I am looking forward to seeing what happened next for Ari, Merlin and the Knights of the round table. My rating for Once & Future is 4.5 out of 5.