Kingdom Come

I recently finished reading The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow. This is OwlCrate's November Adult book.

This exclusive edition features an exclusive redesigned dust jacket art by  @superstarfighter with stenciled edges designed by @superstarfighter, a reversible dust jacket by @well_dipper, a hardcover case design by  @niallcgrant, and end pages by @miaiminnis. The book is also signed by author Alix E. Harrow on an author page with an author's letter bound into the book, as well as bonus content.

**POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT**

  Rating: 4/5 stars

"Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters―but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.

Centuries later, Owen Mallory―failed soldier, struggling scholar―falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives―and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.

But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend―if they want to tell a different story--they’ll have to rewrite history itself."

Give me a weary, hard-weathered lady knight and a bumbling, anxious war hero historian any day.

Una Everlasting, hero and saint, arced through history like a bright-tailed comet. She became a legend.

Owen is a historian in awe of this legend, so when he finds himself back in time to guide and chronicle Una’s last adventure, the one he knows will kill her, he knows he must keep the legend separate from the person.

First of all, beautiful writing. Told in the second person, written to ‘you’, to Una from Owen, from Una to Owen, you can see the intimate connection and anguish. Especially when the event reoccurs again and again, and he feels himself falling apart. With a premise such as this, I was worried it would get repetitive, and it did. But Harrow always adds another layer, another outlook, nuance, detail that makes you trust the process.

This is an exploration of perception and stories. About twisting narratives for power. How can we place our value on something real, but extremely untrue?

Don’t go into this expecting any hard rules. There is time travel, but this isn’t science fiction. This is fantasy, but there is no true magic world-building.

Check out The Everlasting, and discover what happens when time travel gets complicated.

Happy Reading :)