It’s a good lesson in balancing your guilt with the desire to continue living because punishing yourself forever doesn’t undo the harm done anyway.Īll in all, The Excalibur Curse was an emotionally satisfying conclusion to a trilogy that’s a fresh take on the well-known story of Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot.
Guinevere’s burgeoning friendship with Fina was hilarious and it was nice to see various women supporting Guinevere and pulling her out of the mindset she has during the latter half. White is so good at writing friendships too. When Arthur compares Merlin’s expectations and presence to chainmail that you don’t realize is heavy until you shrug it off, I audibly said, “Yes!” Merlin’s a great antagonist and its wonderful that White used the actions of Merlin in Arthurian legend as a base to build her version of him on, and to critique the ways in which self-righteous men never sacrifice themselves but will always sacrifice others, especially women. I also liked that there was a moment for Arthur to process/begin processing all the hurt that Merlin has done to him over the years. I do feel a little cheated out of more Lancelot/Guinevere contemplation though despite it being there (oh boy, it IS there). I love that Guinevere really gets to reflect on her romantic relationships in The Excalibur Curse and on what her attraction and feelings towards both men says about her. However, he isn’t a perfect husband and it’s easy to see why Guinevere gravitated towards Mordred and continues to be torn about whether she can truly love a man that, at this moment and perhaps forever, will always put her second in his heart. He truly is a chivalrous man who will always put Camelot first, which makes him a perfect king in many ways. I wish we got more from Arthur because I find his personality and mindset as a king to be rather interesting. There are a couple great moments with him in the book, including one where he tells Guinevere “I am forever loving things that cannot love me back.” I found Mordred to be sweet and it was nice to see some development from him in terms of his relationship to Morgana. Love triangles will never be something I enjoy but Kiersten White does a good job injecting just enough chemistry between the two.
The first third of the book was necessary for the plot but I didn’t especially enjoy it because there was a lot of focus on Guinevere and Mordred’s relationship. On their journey, Guinevere must come to terms with her life before Merlin, whether she chooses passion with Mordred or duty with Arthur, and whether she’s worthy of a life that was so violently taken. While she heads to the Dark Queen with Mordred, Arthur heads towards a trap. Guinevere has been kidnapped by the Northerners and left Camelot with Lancelot to protect them. The Excalibur Curse is an epic and moving conclusion to Kiersten White’s Camelot Rising Trilogy Series.
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