#Thomas D. Lee

[ninja-muse]

You know how sometimes you read a blurb and think, "This was written for me, I'm going to love it", and then you start reading and think, "This was totally written for me, I'm going to love it", and then you get to the end and think, "Yes, loved it!"

Perilous Times isn't a perfect book but it is a blast of a debut. It's full of off-kilter Arthuriana, humour that goes from light to dark at the drop of a hat, "sure, why not" moments, and political commentary that's both funny and way too real. The main characters were either intensely lovable or relatable or the sort of folks you love to hate, and sure, I saw some of the twists coming, but not all of them, and the ride, you guys, the ride that is this book…

Please add this to your TBRs if you enjoy any of the following:

blowing up fracking facilities and accidentally releasing dragons

protagonists who want so badly to make the world better but everything's so broken, how do you even do that?

protagonists who've been around long enough everything is an "oh no, not this again"

antagonists who are certain they're the good guys

antagonists who know they're the bad guys and don't care

"Can we trust this weirdo?" "I used to kill Nazis." "Great, you're in."

man-out-of-time moments

English folklore turned on its head and occasionally used to hurt you

a funny near-future that takes climate change seriously

skewering the worst parts of political movements

the Kingdom of Wales

grab-bag world-building that shouldn't work but does

niche historical references

diverse protagonists who just are

Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch, and/or T.H. White

Like I said, though, it's not perfect. Specifically, it does the thing where characters don't "get" stuff when they maybe should so that the author can really drive the themes home. But, like, that was really the only failing for me? And it gave me resurrected Arthurian knights and a recurring dragon and wacky magic and Faustian bargains and so many more tropes that are my catnip that I'm still giving this an 8/10. (Or, well, a 7.9 if I'm going to be more honest.)

It's out May 23. Watch for it!

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote YES if you have finished the entire book.

vote NO if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[bi4bihankking]

Perilous Times Summary:

Arthurian retelling set in a near future where the planet has been ravaged by pollution. Is there even an Earth left to save, and if there is do we really want Arthur in charge of it?

Red, White and Royal Blue Summary:

A hilarious romcom about the prince of England and the first son of the United States falling in love. A sweet story with a beautiful depiction of queer love and friendships.

[rhetoricandlogic]

REVIEW: Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee

By Fiona Denton

Perilous Times is Thomas D Lee’s debut novel. It is a wickedly funny Arthurian inspired satirical fantasy novel, set in a contemporary world. In it, and the idea where the title derives from, the knights of the road table rise up from a magical sleep whenever England is in peril. This means they have been called upon to help in almost every battle in English history, from Agincourt to the Somme. In Perilous Times, the current peril resurrecting the knights is a doomsday level of climate change – mass extinction of birds and bugs, rising sea levels meaning a lot of the country is underwater, and it is twenty-five pounds a pint in the north of England. Oh, and a dragon is on the loose. Perilous times indeed. 

Now, picking up an Arthurian-inspired story, I did expect more of the big man. Arthur does appear later in the novel, but he is very different from how the legends have had us remember him. However, the knights we see the most are Kay, Arthur’s brother, and Lancelot. These, and the other Arthur-linked characters, are names that I recognised, but Lee’s presentation of them, and the others taken from the legend, feels new. Which is remarkable, given just how many Arthurian retellings there are out there. The original characters in Perilous Times are also very good creations of Lee’s, particularly one who is arguably the novel’s main character, Mariam, whom I hope other readers will love as much as I did. I think that Lee has done a stellar job in terms of representation with all of the characters, and none feel like token-inclusive gestures added to tick a box on a diversity checklist.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Perilous Times. I thought I would like it when I picked it up, thinking it would be a palate cleanser from darker novels, a jolly romp with knights of old. Which it is. But it is also so much more than that. Lee’s writing is nuanced, and he covers some serious issues in a careful and considerate way. The loss of loved ones, trying to find a sense of belonging in a world that doesn’t seem to fit you, questioning why you fight when fighting seems to get you nowhere, and hope even when hope feels foolish. Perilous Times is sometimes sarcastic and cynical but equally poignant and touching at others. So as well as being a delightful escapist fantasy, with some jolly romping with knights, Lee’s emotive writing will stick with you long after you have read the final page. A huge thank you to Thomas D Lee and the team at Orbit for sending a copy to be able to review it.

Read Perilous Times by Thomas D Lee

[bargainsleuthbooks]

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee #ARC #BookReview #KingArthur #ClimateChange #Fantasy

Imagine a time in the not-so-distant future when #ClimateChange has gotten worse and the only people that can save the world are the knights of the round table. That's the wacky premise of #PerilousTimes by #ThomasDLee. #ARC #BookReview #BallantineBooks

Legends don’t always live up to reality. Being reborn as an immortal defender of the realm gets awfully tiring over the years—or at least that’s what Sir Kay’s thinking as he claws his way up from beneath the earth yet again. Kay once rode alongside his brother, King Arthur, as a Knight of the Round Table. Since then, he has fought at Hastings and at Waterloo and in both World Wars. But now he…

[oracleofmadness]

I loved this! I think it's hilarious and poignant, and I especially love the attention to climate. It's in a dystopian future, which is one of the reasons I loved that Arthurian knights were coming back from the dead. This combination of a horrible future, especially concerning the climate, with the men of legends returning to save the planet, just hit really well.

Kay was the heart of this story for me. Kay is King Arthur's brother and is not completely understanding of how the world has changed, although this is one of several times he has returned throughout history. His interaction with Miriam, both of them really, just showed how kindness affects others.

I was laughing my way through this while still dreading my own future and climate change. There are magic mushrooms, a dragon, and many complications to keep any reader entertained.

Definitely recommend!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Out May 23, 2023!

[siriuslygrimm]

Resurrection and Restoration

#BOOKREVIEW - Resurrection and Restoration - #PerilousTimes #blog

In times of peril immortal Knights of the Round Table return from their rest to help manage the threats in Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee. Sir Kay makes his way from beneath the earth yet again to serve Britain against whatever peril now faces it, but Kay finds the resurrections to be increasingly tiring; having fought in many battles and wars throughout the past thousand or so years he’s…

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee

Author: Thomas D. LeePublisher: Ballantine BooksReleased: May 23, 2023Received: NetGalley Goodreads | More Fantasy Reviews Book Summary: The Knights of the Round Table have faced many challenges over the years. They have been victorious more often than not, thanks to brave knights and clever leadership. But now they face a foe like nothing before. The world is rapidly warming, and the…

[biblionerdreflections]

ARC Review - Perilous Times

Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee. I’ve been looking forward to reading this one for months, ever since I first saw it on NetGalley. I love Arthurian lore and am always looking for cool new takes on the story. So, this one piqued my interest immediately. Continue reading Untitled

[theoutcastrogue]

The Ravening War: Raphaniel's Leviathan

Raphaniel reminds me VERY much of a character I once made for the explicit purpose of roleplaying something I loathe. I said, what's a real life philosophy that would make sense in a d&d setting and that I hate? Ooh, I know, Hobbes in the context of the English Civil War. I'll play a champion of that then. But I won't make it a caricature, the point isn't to build a strawman and bash it (that's way too easy to be satisfying), I'll try my best to portray the character like a real person who genuinely believes all that. What would make someone believe that? And how would that someone behave, think, understand the world?

So I ended up playing a noble, a lawful evil Paladin of Tyranny (that was back in 3.5) wielding an executioner's greatsword named "Divine Right". And it was hard! I had to fight every instinct I had at every turn, it was a fucking struggle. (But interesting, illuminating, and rewarding, especially when she finally fucking died.)

this is the future Raphaniel wants

So anyway, I might be biased, but I think Raphaniel is a Hobbesian figure too. In this episode he revealed some of his political vision for Calorum, in the 2-year downtime he spent scheming:

"I will share some of the most touching parables and epistles from the Book of Leaves that have to do with unity and the uniting of people. … The clans of the Meat Lands struggle and strife, and unity, my mind dwells on unity. We long for stories to share and for songs and prayers that can unite a disparate people. It is my hope that if there is any aid I could lend you that the Meat Lands might find a common song to sing."

"Sir Drunon, as of this most recent battle, has become something of a national hero. Vegetania doesn't need heroes. Heroes give people pride. Pride on the story of their homeland, where they are from, legends that make them stand tall. Pride is the opposite of humility and obeisance. […]

I wanna drive a spike into the proto-, like, into the thing that gets under Raphaniel's skin is this burgeoning Vegetanian nationalism. This idea of civic pride which Raphaniel finds loathsome. So I think that it's a spreading through church channels always ringing the bell of like, an end to war. An end to bloodshed. Basically painting the lords of this new ascendant, like, Vegetanian rebel court as like, we still have a monarch. It's still the Lady Amangeaux. This is a love of bloodshed, and this knight's just been murdered in a house of ill repute, and this was the person you called a hero of the battle? And spreading through that area as well this idea of "had you knelt your head to the laws of the church and saw fit to include the Lady Amangeaux, we would not have returned an incredibly beloved Fructeran noble to Tomaté in his hour of needing to unify Fructera". So in other words, it's not pro-Amangeaux like, what a great lady. It's like, you're bad at politics, right?"

What do you make of this? My take is: this is an EXTREMELY authoritarian radish. His first priority is to make all people subjects (obedient, humble, without agency, never thinking of independence / self-government / self-determination, or that they deserve rights of any kind) under ONE rule.

Which rule, exactly, is not immediately clear. We know he promotes the interests of the church: he chose to dispose of Sir Drunon because he was an enemy of the church. I think he's angling for a theocracy in the long-term. But for now he's supporting a secular monarch, and he doesn't even think to rally the people to give power to the church from below. Because the people aren't supposed to rally, they're supposed to do as they're told. And until he gets the church to call the shots directly, he's happy with an absolute monarch ruling by divine right, i.e. one that he/the church can control. And until that happens, he's happy supporting the "rightful" monarch, Queen Amangeaux, NOT because she's "a great lady" (if she is, it's irrelevant!) but because she's THE queen, and y'all don't get to choose your kings and queens. [Speculation: he engineered the lack of heirs via contraceptive/abortifacient in the tea, so that the church would succeed the last heirless monarch.]

What he emphatically does NOT want in power is the rabble. And in his mind, all the classes are rabble. Even a hypothetical parliament of landlords or a council / diet of nobles would be too democratic and inclusive, and even a bunch of independent but otherwise perfectly monarchical kingdoms would be (and have been!) too chaotic. Which is why he's pushing for "unity" at every turn.

the union of temporal and spiritual power: castle + church, crown + mitre, cannon + excommunication, weapons + logic, armies + religious courts

So I think his end-goal is a sovereign with absolute authority, both secular and spiritual. In his mind, there needs to be a single State under a single "decider", a one-man (or one pope) rule, "a common power to keep them all in awe", otherwise it's "war of all against all", and everyone's doomed to the whirring teeth of death he keeps seeing in his visions: "continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

I'm telling ya, that radish is a Hobbes fanboy FOR SURE. And if the whirring teeth of death are revealed to be, as suspected, a blender or a garbage disposal, the magnificent absurdity of this setting will have given us the most batshit illustration of Hobbesian terror at the prospect of people living "without a common power to keep them all in awe":

"Darkness. Whirring, strange reflective teeth. The sound of a high-pitched whining scream, grinding lower and lower. Blood, viscera, tearing of flesh. Nothing, darkness, flesh, shadow."

And this being a prequel, we already know the levels of repressive authoritarianism such a fear can give birth to.

…Or I am making ALL of this up, because I'm biased for reasons already explained. We'll see!

[quotes in italics are Hobbes's]

[bi4bihankking]

Perilous Times Summary:

Arthurian retelling set in a near future where the planet has been ravaged by pollution. Is there even an Earth left to save, and if there is do we really want Arthur in charge of it?

The Rules of Attraction Summary:

Incisive, controversial and startlingly funny, The Rules of Attraction examines a group of affluent students at a small, self-consciously bohemian, liberal-arts college on America’s East Coast.

[cinema-winding]

O

Bütün korkularınızı yanınıza alın . Başlıyoruz Stephen King’in yazımını dört yılda tamamladığı ölümsüz başyapıtının filme aktarımı 1990 senesine ait .

Korku artık sizinle .Geçmişi kapatmak hiç bu kadar zor olmamıştı özellikle bu 7 kişi için

1960 küçük bir kasabada, sadece uyumsuz bir grup çocuğun farkedip üzerine gittikleri ve tüm benlikleriyle yaşadıkları bir dehşet hükmeder. Şehrin çocuklarını, sokak mazgallarından dışarı uzanan, palyaço şekline bürünmüş, açıklanamaz bir dehşet tek tek avlamaktadır.Pennywise ismini verdikleri bu yaratıkla yüzleşmiş ve bir şekilde hayatta kalmış altı oğlan ve bir kız çocuğu kendilerine Şanslı Yedili ismini takmışlardır. On yıllar sonra Pennywise hortladığında, şimdi 40 yaşlarında olan ve ABD’nin değişik yerlerine dağılmış yaşayan yedili, tekrar bir araya gelir. Dehşetle yüzleşip onu yenebilmeleri için kendi geçmişleriyle de yüzleşmeleri gerekecektir.Ancak, anılarının derinliklerine gömülen yaratık yıllar sonra yeniden harekete geçince, onunla bir kez daha hesaplaşmak zorunda kalırlar. Geçmişte kalan kâbuslar, şimdiki zamanda korkunç bir gerçeğe dönüşmüştür artık.

Kült Korku filmlerini sevenler için başarılı bir Stephan King uyarlaması.

7 çocuğun yaşadıkları, nasıl tanıştıkları, dostlukları, en gizli korkuları ve ortak korkuları palyaçoya karşı beraber verdikleri mücadele . Hem çocukluk hem de yetişkinlik dönemlerine detaylı bir şekilde yer alan yapım.Birden çok türü içinde barındırıyordu ve bunu gerilim dozunu hi. düşürmeden ensenizde hissettirerek yapıyor. Filmin sonu büyük bir yıkım olsa bile . Film baştan sona göz önüne alınınca sanırım palyonço bizi sonra bulmasın diye kusurları görmezden gelebiliriz :) Bu filmi kesinlikle Stephen King'in mükemmel kurgusuna saygı duruşunu temsil eder. Sıradışı bir yapım ile başbaşasınız.

[lilibetbombshell]

[beckysbook5]

Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee - Blog Tour Book Review!

Today on my blog I'm taking part in the Compulsive Readers #BlogTour for #PerilousTimes by @Thomas_D_Lee! I adored this almost post apocalyptic Arthurian re-telling. It's political, witty, diverse and extremely relevant! @Tr4cyF3nt0n @orbitbooks

Being reborn as an immortal defender of the realm gets awfully damn tiring over the years—or at least that’s what Sir Kay’s thinking as he claws his way up from beneath the earth, yet again. Kay fought at Hastings, and at Waterloo, and in both World Wars. After a thousand years, he thought he was used to dealing with a crisis. But now he finds himself in a strange new world where oceans have…

[iwriteaboutfeminism]

Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan, is the only Palestinian-American member of Congress. She was "censured" by the House on November 7th for speaking out against Israel's genocide of Palestine.

Here is a list of the 22 Democrats who voted to censure her:

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.)

Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.)

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.)

Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.)

Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.)

Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine)

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.)

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.)

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio)

Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.)

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.)

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.)

Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.)

Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.)

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.)

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.)

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.)

Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.)

Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.)

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.)

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.)

There were also 4 Republicans who voted against her censure:

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.)

John Duarte (R-Calif.)

Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)

Tom McClintock (R-Calif.)

If your Representative voted against the censure, please call to thank them! If your Representative voted for the censure, please call to say that you disagree, and that what they did does not represent what you want as their constituent.

Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121

[fandom]

Web Celebs

Minecraft streamers, Dropout stars, and D&D enthusiasts, all in one neat and tidy list.

Grian

GoodTimesWithScar

Hatsune Miku

Ryan Bergara

Shane Madej

Wilbur Soot

Brennan Lee Mulligan

Jerma

TommyInnit

Philza

Quackity

Solidarity Gaming

Crumb

EthosLab

Technoblade

TangoTek

PearlescentMoon

Ranboo

SmallishBeans

Mumbo Jumbo

Dreamwastaken

Slimecicle

Zombiecleo

BdoubleO100

Inthelittlewood

impulseSV

Tubbo

Smajor1995

Laura Bailey

Docm77

Markiplier

Marisha Ray

GeorgeNotFound

Lou Wilson

Cellbit

Amaury Guichon

BadBoyHalo

Joe Hills

GeminiTay

Skizzleman

Rendog

Maia Arson Crimew

Sam Reich

Ashley Johnson

Matthew Mercer

Jaiden Animations

Foolish Gamers

Aabria Iyengar

Zac Oyama

FalseSymmetry

Siobhan Thompson

Emily Axford 

Sam Riegel

Travis Willingham

B. Dylan Hollis

Sapnap

LDShadowLady

Alan Becker

Jacksepticeye

Brian Murphy

Taliesin Jaffe

Bigbst4tz2

Jenna Marbles

F1nn5ter

Daniel Howell

El Mariana

Thomas Sanders

Baghera Jones

AmazingPhil

Kagamine Rin

Wayneradiotv

Hbomberguy

Shubble

Tom Cardy

Sneegsnag

Isabella Roland

CrankGameplays

Chris Fleming

Niki Nihachu

TinaKitten

Aimsey

Steven Lim

Karl Jacobs

Eret

Brian David Gilbert

Jschlatt

Misstrixtin

Adrian Bliss

Jack Manifold

Awesamdude

Kagamine Len

SnapCube

Punz

Skweezy Jibbs

Megurine Luka

Aphmau

Julien Solomita

Rhett and Link

Colleen Ballinger

Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood

This is a newly-combined list! Yay!