I finished this book a while ago and have been meaning to write a review, but life kept getting in the way. But in the meantime, I've kept recommending it to everyone I know, especially people who want more queer heroes, space action, fantasy adventure, and just plain fun. What I generally tell those folks is: "It's the future and King Arthur is reincarnated as a brown girl who's pansexual, and she still falls in love with Guinevere. And meanwhile, Merlin has aged backwards until he's a teenager...

If you aren’t someone an evil capitalistic corporation wants dead for being the on-the-run refugee who ignited a galactic revolution with the help of a cranky wizard, a mythical sword and a group of knights.... are you really living? So, what’s this book about? When Ari, a refugee from an Arab-settled planet, draws Excalibur from a tree on Old Earth and an ancient cycle shudders to life, that was only the tinder. The spark comes when Ari is dubbed the 42nd incarnation of king Arthur by Merlin,...

I'm going to preface this review by saying that I have been waiting for this exact book, a queer, genderbent, space fantasy/science fiction retelling of King Arthur for over two decades. I have wanted it so badly that I've tried to write it myself a few times. I was the key target for this book. This book is my dream book. The moment I heard about it I preordered it. And I am so disappointed to say that it was kind of a train wreck. Spoilers below. The characters were flat, filling their stereot...

Thank You Netgalley for providing me a free review copy in exchange for an honest reviewAmy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy are HUGE voices in LGBT+ YA and looking at this book from a purely objective standpoint I can appreciate what they did here. This is a Sci-Fi book that incorporates multiple sexualities and gender identities into a story without relying on the "we're all oppressed" or "it's there but in a vague sense" tropes you see in the genre. This is a wide cast of characters with their

I feel this will be more rant than review, I was so hyped for this book. I held so much hope that there was going to be a good story on Arthur and Merlin, a story I love so much, a story I've followed through books and the TV Show. Having waited for this book for a while, before the cover was even released I loved the goodreads description, going around telling everyone about this SCI-FI FANTASY. Alas we get to the book and we are already hating it within the first few chapters. We are introduce...

Ok, so this book was hilarious. I had a stupid grin on my face the entire time. I was literally laughing out loud while reading, a very rare thing for me.And maybe that was the problem?This book was extremely funny and I absolutely loved that. I also really loved the writing. I honestly didn't expect to like the authors' writing this much. It was fluid and fun and just felt good to read. Another thing I really liked was the characters, especially Merlin. Seriously though, Merlin deserves a hug.

I never knew I needed a queer feminist King Arthur retelling in space until I read this book!I only know the basics about King Arthur.  I haven't really read anything to compare this to, but this book makes me want to learn more now.  Now I worry that it won't compare though.  This book is so modern and has such amazing rep.  I don't know that  I can handle the original story now.My favorite thing about this book is the characters.  These friends who are a found family.  That's something I love

I’m not even sure how to approach writing about this book, because it is so ambitious. Once & Future is a queer, sci fi retelling of the Arthur myth, with a female Arthur. It’s somehow simultaneously dystopian, sci fi, and fantasy. Also, it's SO QUEER. Almost the entire cast is queer! m/m and f/f relationships, a non-binary character (they/them pronouns), and an asexual character! I loved this book. It is epic and feminist and queer. It’s about resistance and survival, making connections and ref...

I've put off writing this review for a long time because I feel so painfully disappointed by this book. You only have to look at my excited squeeing below to know how much I was looking forward to reading this. Seriously, a gender bent, sci-fi King Arthur reimagining should be a winning book for me so it pains me to say I was so bored I couldn't even finish reading it.To start with the positive I love what the authors were trying to do by creating such a diverse cast of characters, we people of

A super fun sci-fi retelling of the Arthurian legend! So much happens in this book; it's packed with drama, adventure, heartbreak, and battles, and I think I'll definitely be reading the sequel.- Follows Ari, a fugitive refugee from an Arab-settled planet, who pulls the sword Excalibur from a tree - and discovers that she is the 42nd reincarnation of King Arthur. - All the characters were wonderful - interesting, fun to read about, and the dynamics between them so intriguing and integral to the

DNF at page 100I'm still considering finding this on audiobook and finishing it because I didn't hate it, but my time outside of work is so limited that I don't want to spend my time on this book if I don't think I'm gonna love it. To be frank, I was making faces at it more than I was enjoying it. The plot of it is so fast and under-explained, but the writing style was funny. I just vastly preferred Merlin's chapters to Ari's, and I don't want to skim read this book for the parts I enjoy, so I g...

DNF @ page 68You know when you take a bite out of something and immediately go “ugh, I don’t like that” and pull a face? Well that’s how I’ve felt reading this. I love a good retelling and I’m all for mixing stuff up, but sometimes it’s too much. Merlin is ageing backwards so he is currently a teenager (like really? What a stupid YA thing to do), I liked the idea of Ari (a girl) being the new Arthur. But the whole Sci Fi aspect was again, just too much. I like the old story, this one messed with...

*weak laugh* the cover was pretty...?

He apologized for breaking his promise not to use magic as he took down the guard with the needle. Then another apology -- "sorry, quite sorry" -- as he zinged the one holding Hex."Why are you being so nice to them right now?" Hex asked."I'm British!" Merlin cried. It's times like this when I really wish I'd never started leaving star ratings for books because it just doesn't adequately express all that I want to say. There were some moments of comedy gold in this book, and so much wonderful

This just jumped from here to there and back again.I couldn’t keep up with the storyline beyond the basics of the legend I know and what the authors were trying to create here.Random sentimental scenes would be dropped in and then suddenly you are transported to another planet in another character’s POV that no one explains to you until you realise it’s a year later in book’s universe.The characters didn’t connect with each other - their actions and emotions made no sense chapter to chapter. You...

A Gender-bent King Arthur reimagining set in space with a cast full of LGBT+ rep, what more could we possibly need in 2019?Not a damn thing.When I received an e-mail from the publisher asking if I would be interested in a receiving a copy of this book the screech I let out would have been loud enough to send my neighbors into a panic that there was a serial killer in my house. But alas, no one was home so no need for anyone to lose their minds EXCEPT ME, because King Arthur has always been one o...

ARC provided by Hachette in exchange for an honest review. “Buried in the trunk of the thousand-year-old oak was a sword.” I have a very big soft spot in my heart for Arthurian legend and I will never turn down a retelling of the epic tale. And when I heard that we were going to get an ownvoices series, written by a couple, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist. Also, Morgana is one of my favorite villains of all time, and I actually think Once & Future is one of my favorite interpretati...

A sci-fi retelling of King Arthur where King Arthur is a GIRL?!

Do you wish BBC's MERLIN had been a lot gayer? Do you wish there were ten more seasons of Netflix's SHE-RA? Do you want a squad of LGBT+ knights to go on epic quests IN SPACE? Then this book is for YOU!A wildly entertaining LGBT twist on Arthurian myth smashes headfirst into fun, stellar science-fiction in ONCE & FUTURE.Ari is an undocumented teen on the run from the brutal galactic corporation that tore her away from her planet. When the wizard Merlin - now a teen, too - dubs her the next King

So I have the actual book but I still ended up listening to it. LMFAO - I'm evil. Or lazy.Once & Future was a pretty funny book to dive into. Which wasn't what I was expecting - yet, I thoroughly enjoyed. I absolutely loved every character that was introduced within this book - Merlin might have been my absolute favorite. Besides him, there's Ari and she was nice and all.. but Mer was my guy. Ya know those King Arthur films? Doesn't matter when they were made or nothing - I'm a total geek for th...