Once & Future

By: Cory McCarthy, A. R. Capetta

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

King Arthur as you've never imagined! This bold, sizzling YA retells the popular legend with the once and future king as a teenage girl - and she has a universe to save.

I've been chased my whole life. As a fugitive refugee in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I've always had to hide who I am. Until I found Excalibur.

Now, I'm done hiding.

My name is Ari Helix. I have a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start.

When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together, they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind.

No pressure.

"All hail this worthier-than-ever, fresh, and affirming reincarnation of the legendary king and her round table of knights which dazzles with heroic flair, humor, and suspense." (Kirkus)

©2019 Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"This epic space adventure... is a must-have."—School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

"A marvelous mythology remix for teens who enjoy action-packed speculative fiction and genderqueer romance."—Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

Oh the irony…

The kind of future I expect and parts that I hope for. The irony is spot on and hilarious. Fantastic small details for all of us who watched the sword in the stone as a kid. All together it was super cute.

Creative spin on King Arthur!

This story line had so many twists and turns. It kept me engaged throughout the whole book. I truly loved the futuristic spin on a very old tale.

Favorite

Only Arthurian legend I’ve been able to enjoy, so miracles can happen with a new enough story to make me change my mind

So queer, I love it

This is the best version of the King Arthur story I’ve ever heard, I love it so much.

Wonderful Queer take on a future king Arthur

lots of nice little surprises. Sometimes it lagged just a tad, but never enough to entirely lose me. It was fun to imagine a future with so much equality based on gender and orientation, but plagued by the rise of even more capitalism.

This reads exactly like a TTRPG campaign

Everyone talks about Lord of the Rings when they talk about things like Dungeons and Dragons, but this story right here captures the EXACT kind of mood and tone that actually playing feels like.

It has everything from dumb goofy moments to corporate sponsored planetary genocide. The pacing could probably improve, but personally that just adds to the charm since it's paced exactly like a game.

Also, this book is like, extremely fucking gay. EXTREMELY.

Ari fan club

What a wonderful retelling of a classic story. I've been a fan of King Arthur and Camelot since I was a child. I'm now a 54 year old lesbian who was gifted this book by my Transgender niece. Once I started reading it I could not put it down.
I love stories with a strong female character and that's probably why my niece gave me this book and she was not wrong. I most have the sequel!

Amazing!

I adored this book. The humor was everything I loved. The scifi element was blended with the traditional Arthurian tale. What could be better than a LGBTQ lady king Arthur in space? Nothing. I recommend this book to anyone and I look forward to the next installment.

Not bad, but not good

I loved how inclusive this was and really liked alot of the characters, but most of the concepts were under developed and it reads like a fanfiction.

A Must Read-Hillarious-LGBT Pride Masterpiece

On this amazing retelling of White's _Once and Future King_ we have all the twists and moral challenges of thw Arthurian Legend taken to a galactic scale. It accurately captures life as it would be under a corporate reality tv and product marketing tie Capitalist utopia, where you every need is met before your are even aware if it, because of ubiquitous computers tracking your needs and desires.
Lots of hot LGBTQ sex scenes between main character, withoutnany religious taboo for Gwenniviere mistakingly cheating on her Ari (female arthur character). And as Merlyn grows to a younger teen, his homoerotic scenes are award winning.
This parody of the Arthurian legends is sublime, and a very enjoyable listen. The reader was outstanding.