However, Collum finds the king died weeks ago, leaving only a handful of misfit knights to defend Camelot and the throne of Britain from competing warlords, rivals, and the magical forces of Morgan le Fay.

[2] Grossman wrote the novel over a period of ten years, explaining in a blog post that the book was a personal and challenging project, owing to the difficulty of historical research, vulnerable themes, and writing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[3] Grossman stated in an interview that he was drawn to the idea of writing a classic Arthurian legend, but discarding the most famous heroes like Gawain or Galahad and instead placing traditionally minor characters at the center stage.

Morgan plans to conquer Britain, expel Christianity, and restore the ancient magical order that existed before Roman occupation.

Kiersten White for the New York Times wrote that the novel "resoundingly earns its place among the best of Arthurian tales" and that "this Camelot is far more diverse and thoughtful than past iterations.

"[6] For NPR, Wailin Wong wrote "I was very excited to get my hands on this book — and it did not disappoint" and "I recommend it whether you are a huge King Arthur head or not.