The Winter Knight
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Arthurian legends are reborn in this upbeat queer urban fantasy with a mystery at its heart
The knights of the round table are alive in Vancouver, but when one winds up dead, it’s clear the familiar stories have taken a left turn. Hildie, a Valkyrie and the investigator assigned to the case, wants to find the killer — and maybe figure her life out while she’s at it. On her short list of suspects is Wayne, an autistic college student and the reincarnation of Sir Gawain, who these days is just trying to survive in a world that wasn’t made for him. After finding himself at the scene of the crime, Wayne is pulled deeper into his medieval family history while trying to navigate a new relationship with the dean’s charming assistant, Burt — who also happens to be a prime murder suspect. To figure out the truth, Wayne and Hildie have to connect with dangerous forces: fallen knights, tricky runesmiths, the Wyrd Sisters of Gastown. And a hungry beast that stalks Wayne’s dreams.
The Winter Knight is a propulsive urban fairy tale and detective story with queer and trans heroes that asks what it means to be a myth, who gets to star in these tales, and ultimately, how we make our stories our own.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The knights of the round table are reincarnated in modern-day Vancouver in this playful murder mystery take on the Arthurian mythos. Battis (Bleeding Out) puts a queer and neurodivergent spin on familiar characters to explore a theme of moving past others' expectations to control one's own narrative. University provost Mo Penley (a reincarnation of Mordred) is decapitated at a party hosted by university dean Morgan Arcand (aka Morgana). Wayne (Gawain), a young autistic man dragged to the party by his professor aunt Vera (Guinevere), finds the body during a flirtatious moment with Morgan's assistant Bert (the Green Knight), catapulting him to the top of the suspect list for Valkyrie investigator Hildie. To clear his name, Wayne must lean into his knightly heritage and engage the possibility that the questing beast haunting his dreams has a presence in the real world. Meanwhile, Hildie navigates an overbearing mother and a budding relationship with the youngest of the Wyrd Sisters. Battis handles the psychology of the reincarnated characters well, balancing their awareness of past lives with their present-day agendas. Weaving endearing queer coming-of-age threads throughout the mythically grounded mystery, this satisfying reimagining delivers.
