72. (November 2018) Sword at Sunset — The Tabletop Roleplayers' Book Club

Sword at Sunset: Question Two

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 22:55:55 +0000

There are a number of minor characters surrounding Artos, some more developed than others. Did any particularly stand out for you? Did the ones standing out prove vital in any of the major plot events? And when it came to the mounting tragedy at the end, did any of the deaths hit you in particular?

Sword at Sunset: Question Ten

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 23:39:34 +0000

And... the roleplaying question. You're running or playing a roleplaying game based on Arthurian myth or the general background, or incorporating some elements. What do you want to see included? What don't you want to see included?

Sword at Sunset: Question Eight

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 23:35:54 +0000

The book for me did a fine job of bringing across the feel of different landscapes. How did the use of landscape affect the moods of the book, and its themes?

Sword at Sunset: Question Three

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 22:58:09 +0000

The book's major theme (right there in the title) is that of a struggle which will ultimately fail, but is still necessary. And maybe there's a glimmer of hope as the struggle goes on. Does this theme appeal? Are there any major themes you picked out?

The Holy Grail

Apocryphal — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 20:22:12 +0000

I'm not far enough into Sword at Sunset to learn if she manages to work the holy grail into the story, but this thread on RPG.net has some really interesting ideas for working the Holy Grail into a gaming environment, so I thought I'd share:

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/the-holy-grail-and-sin.835507/

Sword at Sunset: Question Seven

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 23:34:05 +0000

What other takes on Arthurian myth have you come across? How did Sword at Sunset compare? Do you have any particular favourites?

Sword at Sunset: Question Eleven (formerly Question Five)

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 23:19:47 +0000

Rosemary Sutcliff used a wheelchair for most of her life. Gwalchmai and ultimately Bedwyr are disabled, but find ways to work around their disabilities, and that's something often found in Rosemary Sutcliff's fiction. What other books have you come across with disabled protagonists?

November Book: Sword at Sunset

dr_mitch — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 17:40:59 +0000

Announcing Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff, 1963 as the November pick for the Tabletop Roleplayer's Book Club. The plan is to read this book in November, and discuss in December. We're delaying things by a month because of the change of venue.

I should probably say a few things about this book and this month before starting. The plan this month was to talk about something Arthurian, and I guess the reason I'm managing this is because I've written some published Arthurian RPG material (Age of Arthur, and the Logres supplement on Saxons for Mythic Britain). My take moves closer to a dark-ages post-Roman world than the invented Late Medievalism of some of the myths (exemplified in terms of novels by T.H.White's Once and Future King sequence, though such arguably goes back to Mallory).

One part of my research was reading a few novels. It's a tough job. There's some great partially historical takes on Arthur out there...for example Mary Stewart's Merlin novels, beginning with the Crystal Cave, and Bernard Cornwell's trilogy, beginning with Winter King.

But Sword at Sunset is self-contained rather than part of a trilogy or series, and a rare foray for the author into an adult historical novel rather than one aimed at children (though I do love her novels on Roman Britain, beginning with Eagle of the Ninth, which are aimed at younger readers). I also haven't read Sword at Sunset for ages, so I'm looking forward to it.

Sword at Sunset: Question Nine

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 23:37:46 +0000

Rosemary Sutcliff is best known as a children's author. Have you read any of her works for younger readers? If so, how does Sword at Sunset feel more adult?

Also, there was a bowdlerised edition published for younger readers, though I've not read that. Do you have any thoughts there?

Sword at Sunset: Question Six

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 23:32:36 +0000

So, sex. Artos is almost impotent after his run-in with Ygerna (which although he never calls it that, is rape). There are the lovers Gault and Levin in Artos' warband- and the book was published in the UK at the time of the debate on decriminalising homosexuality. And of course there's Guenhumara's and Bedwyr's affair.

I'm not sure I've got a definite question here, but...discuss.

Sword at Sunset: Question Five

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 23:06:22 +0000

So there were lots of elements of Arthurian legend, and legendary history incorporated into the book:

Arthur being the illegitimate child of Uther.
Mordred, the child of Arthur's inadvertent incest with his half sister, being his doom.
The big name Saxons- Hengest and Horsa, Aelle, Cerdic (and I really loved the take on Cerdic).
Vortigern and the Night of the Long Knives.
The decisive Battle of Badon.
The Mallory take that King Arthur was crowned Roman Emperor.
Guinevere cheating on Arthur with the most prominent of his knights.

And there are other parts missing, the main ones being.

Merlin
The Holy Grail

What did you think of this take on the King Arthur story, the use of the Arthurian elements, and what was "left out"?

Sword at Sunset: Question One

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 22:51:22 +0000

The progression of the book was essentially a series of big events, mixed at the start with scenes with the purpose to introduce major characters. Did any of these events particularly strike you? Which ones?

Sword at Sunset: Question Four

dr_mitch — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 23:00:47 +0000

The little people. A stand in for faeries, still felt to me fantastic, and made the book feel as much fantastic as historical. I basically liked the take on them though, and the firmness of Artos' allying to them, as well as the fear most people had for them.

How did you find the little people?