Elaine is a pre-teen living in Camelot under the thumb of her mother, who is also an oracle, but she forces Elaine to suppress her powers and controls her every move. Enter Morgana, Prince Arthur's magic-wielding older half-sister, who comes to Camelot in a blur of wild black hair and excitement and sets Elaine's world on fire, a little bit literally. She encourages El to break out from her mother's control and invites her to move to Avalon with her, an island largely populated by the fey, who were sent to live there by the King following the Druid War some years back. There, she meets the rest of the gang that would influence her life from then on out.
She hones her Seeing craft with Nimue, the current Lady of the Lake, and spends the rest of her time frolicking in the woods and meadows with her friends. Arthur is deeply infatuated with Gwen, Lancelot loves all the girls that he can, while Morgana just rolls her eyes at the rest of them. As Elaine learns to use her powers, she sees both good and horrible futures for her group of friends, but the group of them have been trained from an early age that Arthur must be king and they must support him in every way as he is the hope of a forged treaty between the humans and the fey. As Elaine soon learns, sometimes knowing a potential future could taint ones actions and unknowingly push them towards that future even more.
The bulk of the stories follows the group in their 20's once Arthur's father has died and they all leave Avalon to claim his throne in Camelot. Unfortunately, upon arrival, they find that Merlin the sorcerer is about to crown Mordred, Arthur's bastard brother, as king and Mordred has also married Morgause, his own half-sister and Morgana's evil sister, who looks just like her. Since Arthur was sent away as an infant and thought possibly dead, Merlin presents 3 tasks that Arthur must perform to prove himself worthy, not the least of which is pulling Excalibur from an enchanted stone, a task no one has ever done before. Accomplishing these tasks will prove difficult and may seem impossible, while the friends' and lovers' relationships will be tested in ways they never could have imagined. Can they work together to put Arthur on the throne or are they all doomed to ruin? Elaine has seen nearly every possible outcome, whether she wants to or not.
Personally, I have some familiarity with the Arthurian legend, but I am definitely not well versed in it. I fall more into the Disney realm rather than Lord Tennyson, but I at least know who most of the players are. I thoroughly enjoyed this story as it jumped between the characters' childhoods, their time on Avalon, the present as they are trying to get Arthur on the throne, and their often very dark futures. It was a bit confusing, since it jumped around in time, but it played perfectly with the lead character, Elaine, as she is an oracle and saw different timelines, while also remembering events of the past. This wasn't a book I tore through because there is a lot of meat to it, but as the group traveled across the country of Albion working to accomplish the tasks set out by Merlin, I found myself completely enthralled. If you have any interest in the Arthurian legend, I suggest reading this book. Although told from Elaine's perspective, it doesn't in any way take away from the other characters. Instead, she is the fabric that binds them all together. Highly recommended.
