Book
The Wicked Day
First published 1983
Mordred grows up in Orkney under the shadow of a prophecy that names him as Arthur’s destroyer. When he learns that Arthur is his father, he enters the royal household determined to understand the king and find a place within the order Arthur has built, rather than automatically fulfil the role assigned to him by legend.
Court rivalry, family vengeance and political miscalculation gradually close the alternatives available to both father and son. By telling the catastrophe largely through Mordred, Stewart replaces the conventional traitor with an intelligent and conflicted prince, making Camlann the result of human fear and divided loyalty as much as destiny.
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