Camelot Burning by Kathryn Rose

Camelot Burning

by Kathryn Rose

Eighteen-year-old Vivienne lives in a world of knights and ladies, corsets and absinthe, outlaw magic and alchemical machines. By day, she is lady-in-waiting to the future queen of Camelot--Guinevere. By night, she secretly toils away in the clock tower as apprentice to Merlin, the infamous recovering magic addict. Then she meets Marcus, below her in class, destined to become a knight, and just as forbidden as her apprenticeship with Merlin. When Morgan le Fay, the king's sorceress sister, declares war on Camelot, Merlin thinks they can create a metal beast powered by steam and alchemy to defeat her. But to save the kingdom, Vivienne will have to risk everything--her secret apprenticeship, her love for Marcus, and her own life.

Reviewed by limabean74 on

4 of 5 stars

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I'm not even sure where to start, Camelot Burning by Kathryn Rose is a great book, Thought it was a fantastic story and had amazing characters I really enjoyed but it was so friggin confusing I had a really hard time keep everything straight and taking in all the information that was given.

Camelot Burning is an Arthurian retelling with Steampunk, Alchemy and Magic all mixed together. Honestly I actually felt like it should have been minus the Alchemy and just stuck with the Steampunk and Magic I thought it was just a lot and for me Alchemy is more elixir and turning metal to gold, somehow I felt confused by how this fit in or if the idea of the alchemy was different then what I thought it was suppose to be.

Now I might confuse you, as much as I thought some of the stuff going on was rather confusing and a lot of information was given to you at one time to try and process, I actually really enjoyed the story. The flow of the story was also pretty good it had its moments (the confusing or lot of info parts) but for the most part it's an enjoyable read. I was loving the world she built and the story really got my attention from the very first chapter. I am a big fan of King Author, Guinevere and Lancelot and this was just a amazing take on the entire story, a fresh and original retelling.

The Characters are very well written. The story revolves around is Vivienne, Guinevere's lady-in-waiting and her and the rest of the round table try to defeat Morgan le Fay. I adored this character and I found Marcus (her love interest) rather delightful. I love secondary characters that work and these are done very well keeping with the original story of King Arthur. There are a lot of characters and sometimes it's hard to keep them all straight most of them you will already know but it can be a bit too much at times however I loved them together and I actually loved how it ended (totally not telling).

I gave Camelot Burning by Kathryn Rose 4/5 stars. I loved the characters and the entire story regardless of my issues with the mix of elements I look forward to read the next one. I totally recommend for anyone who is looking for something a little out of the ordinary and original.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 10 March, 2014: Finished reading
  • 10 March, 2014: Reviewed