Hall, Joan Upton
ARTURO EL REY
Joan Upton Hall
Zumaya Publications 2003
Pb 373 pages
ISBN#
10 1-55410-258-8; & 13 978-1-55410-258-7
Want a surprise in your fantasy read? This one surprised me because it wasn’t cliché. Also because it is well put together. The author is an English teacher who listened to her students and understood them. Thus ARTURO EL REY is a mix of modern culture and Arthurian fantasy set in a plausible post-apocalyptic Texas.
Art Reyes is a half-breed Mexican-American who is released early from the Marines because so many people have died from a world war-induced plague that there remains no one in command. Art Reyes goes home to Texas where surviving means either hiding or joining up with a gang to scrounge the empty countryside for food and supplies. Art leads a group of motorcyclists who protect the disadvantaged they come across. There are other “good” gangs and some “bad” ones too, and the bad ones take whatever they can get. One bad gang tries to take several young women from a fortified camp. Art saves a princess type who has been sheltered by a well-meaning father who is too rigid with the rules he sets regarding those under his protection. But, how else to survive? Outside that encampment, gang wars are deadly business. Many people want Art Reyes to settle in one place and become king because they trust and need his leadership skills.
ARTURO EL REY alludes to King Arthur and hints at reincarnation, but this is done lightly enough that the reader doesn’t gag on improbabilities. The plotting is fresh and did not lead where I expected. The editing, world-building, and characterization are all well done. Indeed, this was a delightful surprise.
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