Black Friday Book Sale + Pendragon's Heir Review

Hey'a, all! It's officially Thanksgiving break, and I'm happily (almost) home. This post, however, is not about Thanksgiving but rather what comes after: Indie Christian Books' Black Friday Book Sale! This annual event allows readers to grab great Christian fiction including discounted paperbacks, books with free shipping, $0.99 ebooks, package deals, and, of course, every bookworms' favorite thing, freebies! In addition, to the sale, Indie Christian Authors is hosting a week-long Facebook party in which you can get to know the participating authors and have a chance to win some fun prizes! I, personally, have acquired many awesome books from this sale, and today I'm reviewing one I got in the sale's very first year: Pendragon's Heir by Suzannah Rowntree.

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 Let's face it: I'm almost always down for a good retelling of a legend or myth. That's especially true when the retelling focuses on King Arthur and his stories, which is just the case with Pendragon's Heir. Better still, the novel doesn't just limit itself to the most famous stories; it gets into some of the more obscure ones as well. It also takes the main focus off King Arthur himself and looks instead at Perceval, one of Knights of the Round Table, and Blanche, who . . . well, you'll find out who she is once you read the book.

Speaking of Perceval, he's a wonderful character: noble, bold, chivalrous, always doing and never content to stand by and do nothing. He has his faults, of course, and makes his share of foolish choices, but in general, he's my favorite character in the story. Blanche is less easy to like, but she and Perceval together are very sweet and highly shippable.

The book also contains very strong Christian themes. I feel like that should be a given, but the themes and messages in this book felt particularly bold and unapologetic, although they also weren't preachy. And given that message- the reminder that there can be no compromise, that battles aren't worth winning if you have to abandon that which you hold true to do so- it's a very appropriate book for our times.

My absolute favorite thing about this book, however, is the unique voice and feel. Pendragon's Heir has the flavor of a book from ages past, though not of a specific age. At points the prose and style taste of the Arthurian era; in other places, of the 1900s; still other parts, some time that can't quite be named and might be no time and all time at once. This feel does have a downside- the pacing can drag a bit at times, making the book feel as long as it is- but overall, it's a wonderful experience.

Overall, Pendragon's Heir is a unique retelling of the King Arthur legends, conveyed in a beautiful, timeless voice. Though not without its flaws, I would certainly recommend it to anyone who loves or loved the Arthurian legends and Christian historical fantasy.

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Do you think Pendragon's Heir sounds like your kind of book? Are you excited for the Black Friday sale? Please tell me in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

A note on the Ebooks Only page. Many of the books are listed as "Sold Out." This is because we aren’t selling those directly through our site. Please click onto the product pages to find descriptions and links to discounted or free ebooks.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Leah E. Good and Kendra E. Ardnek for their work organizing this sale, and Hannah Mills for her fantastic design work on the website graphics. Hannah can be contacted at hmills(at)omorecollege(dot)edu for more information about her design services.