I Am Mordred

After being set adrift at sea, baby Mordred is found by fisherfolk who raise him as their own. One day, a beautiful, magical lady appears to carry him back to his birth-mother's cold castle. There, alone but for his faithful dog, he comes of age and learns the horrible truth about his identity. Everyone knows Mordred as the dark, evil son who kills the noble King Arthur. But what would it be like to be born as Mordred, an unwanted child with a dreadful destiny?

This imaginative and beautifully told fantasy tale, rich with Arthurian lore, lets you finally hear Mordred's side of the age-old story. Nancy Springer is an award-winning author who has published over 30 critically-acclaimed books. This Booklist Top 10 Fantasy Novel showcases her talent for creating convincing characters and conveying their intense emotions. Narrator Steven Crossley will hold you spellbound as he brings young Mordred and his tragic predicament fully to life.

©1998 Nancy Springer (P)1999 Recorded Books, LLC

Spoiler Alert....

I loved this book! I was enchanted all the way thru and then it gets to the end and you are like.... what? What happened to the story line? It is like the writer just got tired of writing the story and wanted to hurry up and finish the damn book. So, be prepared. A good book with a good story line until the ending.

hard to get through

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

no...did not mesh with camolot story i'm familiar with.

What do you think your next listen will be?

something more fun

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes

Did I Am Mordred inspire you to do anything?

no

Any additional comments?

i put off listening to the rest of the story, it couldn't keep my interest.

Interesting prospective.

Would you try another book from Nancy Springer and/or Steven Crossley?

I'm not sure. To be honest, it kinda dragged on a bit. I don't think I have the attention-span required to try them again. Though I wouldn't shy away from works by them though.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It tied itself up well, actually. I wasn't sure where the ending might go, after all, but it went well.

Which scene was your favorite?

The knight of the white bratchet hound. :-D

Was I Am Mordred worth the listening time?

It was worth it in the end, but any dissatisfaction I had, has nothing to do with the writing or otherwise. I just wanted a more richer 'Mordred'. The scenery was so full, but I didn't feel much for the characters. But as far as Arthurian legends go, it tied in very well.

Any additional comments?

I do like action a lot. I am not saying that the author had to put in more fighting, but I wanted a bit more from the characters rather than their short and often condescending banter. I started to care for Mordred at the end, but not by much.

Not a bad book, and I'd say anyone interested in it should judge for themselves.

wonderful story

the reader did an excellent job of portraying the story.. I really feel this is pretty close to the truth of what happened

You Can't Escape Fate

This is sort of an alternate reality telling of the mythological tale of Camelot through the perspective of Mordred. While I liked the idea of changing the protagonists around, making Merlin the evil one, and casting Mordred in a good light, I found the story a little lacking. I thought the author did an alright job making you want to root for Mordred, a man desperate to prove he isn't a villain, and show casing an unjust world. A warning however, this telling does shatter the good and noble view you get from many stories involving knights in camelot. The author gives mention to gender bias, cruel knights who go around like assassins killing people without much explanation to why, and a harsh reality where a king has little freedom and must commit horrible acts for the good of the kingdom. The big problem for me in this tale was it jumped and everything was a bit rushed. Nancy Springer had a chance to make this a great story in this alternate reality and surprise us all. But it seems like no one can escape fate. Mordred spends most his time worrying about how he might change his prophesied ending where he must meet Arthur on the battle field. It would have been nice if there were a little more focus on Mordred's life and if it was not so depressing all the time. By the end years of his life were skipped through and we get a half assed ending. I guess for what it is meant to be it was alright, but I wanted more.