This is one of a set
of re-tellings of the stories of the Mabinogion – medieval Welsh
myths with an ancient origin.
It took a little
while to warm to this, written as the dialogue between the 2 key
characters or their internal monologues you have to tune in compared
with most novels.
However once I got
into it I was completely emerged in it – I will admit to being
uncultured and so I am not familiar with the Mabinogion in its
standard form – which might be an advantage I took this on its
merit, but maybe I was missing some of the play and interpretation of
the original text.
Set in a space ship
this had the feel of C. S. Lewis Cosmic Trilogy – the interplay of
sci-fi and mythology was key to the character of those books. Maybe
in such a technological age it is easier to play our myths forward to
a sci-fi future than it is to engage with them in their “native”
pre-industrial setting.
While there the plot
is fanciful the drivers are some very original human emotions and
there is great power in putting them in a new context in order to
look at them afresh.
Out of this success
I am now keen to read the rest of the re-interpretations of the
Mabinogion ...
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