Grossman’s new novel, his first since wrapping up The Magicians trilogy, is an absolute banger. Yes, it’s another reworking of the King Arthur tale in a market saturated with Arthuriana, but like Lavie Tidhar’s By Force Alone, Grossman’s approach is subversive and self-aware (though it’s not as radical as Tidhar’s novel, there’s a distinct lack of Kung-fu Lancelots and Gangster Arthurs).

Our hero is Collum, a resident of the island of Mull who wants to be a knight of the Round Table.  When we first meet him, his face is being smooshed by the pommel of a knight’s sword. He bests the knight (Collum is tall, quick and strong) and is forced to kill the man because he refuses to yield. While not the best of starts to his adventure, Collum still has hopes that everything will turn out fine once he reaches Camelot. Expect when he arrives, he is horrified to discover that he’s too late; King Arthur is dead at the hands of his son Mordred, and all that remains of Camelot and the Round Table is a bedraggled group of knights moping around the Great Hall. Collum refuses that this is it, that the Age of Camelot is over, and so begins an epic adventure to find a new King.

This is storytelling as it’s more pure: glorious and dramatic and propulsive. The pages (close to 700) whizz by as we are confronted with angels, green knights, wizards, witches, giants, fairies and elemental forces. Throughout, Grossman delights in reshaping the source material, throwing in anachronisms as a nod to the ever-changing and malleable nature of the text. It’s a genuine thrill ride.

But the book is more than just a playful take on the King Arthur story. Each of Grossman’s surviving knights are “outsiders”. Sir Bedivere is gay. Sir Palomides is a Muslim (though he converts to Christianity), Sir Dinadan is a trans-man, and Sir Dagonet suffers from anxiety and depression. In adding a contemporary gloss to King Arthur’s tale, Grossman recasts the story as one about change: a realisation that there is no such thing as racial purity, that no culture lives in a vacuum, that generations of intermingling have influenced our traditions and beliefs. And what better evidence than a story about a British King built on the ideas of multiple Europeans that has since been co-opted across the globe, reimagined countless times over 1,400 years. Highly recommended.

The Bright Sword is out in June.