Rating: 4/5
Spoiler Alert! Sure, it's based on Arthurian legend, but there are still spoilers ahead for Ari's story.
I am an absolute sucker for Arthurian legend. The fact it's a story that still gets retold on the regular would suggest that a large portion of the world is with me on this. When I saw the words "Once & Future" on the cover (plus the beautiful simplicity of the artwork) I was instantly drawn in. Those two words can only ever be associated with one man and I was so ready to read about a futuristic reincarnation of King Arthur - especially with a genderbent twist!
We've got to start off with representation in Once & Future. Not only is Arthur reincarnated as a young woman, but she's Arab and queer to boot. In fact, most of the main characters are queer and I love it. Part of this is due to the futuristic setting; gender and sexuality have become much more understood and accepted in this world - and when I say accepted I mean not even questioned. No one ever has to come out because no one assumes anything (okay, except for Merlin, but he's been alive since the original Arthur and has some catching up to do!). This is where the world should be and I loved seeing it in this book. Being a retelling of such a famous story, a myth that lives at the core of English history, the queerness that has been tied into the fiction was a brilliant way to use a story of unification and equality in a new way.
Now, for someone who loves Arthurian legend, I'm not very pedantic over accuracy to the original story. For one, there's nothing to say which is the "true" version of the Arthurian legend. It's a legend, after all. Le Morte d'Arthur may be the most accepted version of King Arthur's life but there are way too many versions to really care too much about the way new versions tell the story.
So with that out the way, Once & Future does a fairly decent job of taking Arthurian ideas and characters to base a new story on, but fails to truly incorporate the story of Arthur. Gweniveire's betrayal, Morgana's familial relationship, and Mordred's murder of his father are all elements that are recounted in Once & Future, but to a limited degree. This book is about Ari. It's about Ari and Mercer and Ari's family; the fact she is a reincarnation of Arthur can feel like a side story rather than the motivating factor in the story.
In some ways, this was nice. It was a new story, I couldn't judge it based on other versions I know. It gave an opportunity to have Merlin be a character outside of his servitude to Arthur. At other times, it made the story feel strained. We'd follow along with Ari for a while and see something dramatic happen, and rather than dealing with it head-on, there was an awkward need to connect everything back to Arthur. This led to many less-than-good things in my opinion (*cough* the existence of Lionel *cough*).
It also made the pacing difficult. Everyone accepted that Merlin was that Merlin and Ari was a reincarnation of King Arthur rather rapidly and nonchalantly. I can excuse this as it helped get to the main action of the story - after all, as a reader, we already know she is Arthur: it's not us that must accept it. But the dialogue and mood changes all felt very weird. Serious or touching moments were frequently broken by jokes or sexual comments which felt entirely inappropriate given the circumstances.
That all sounds like a lot of complaining from someone who enjoyed the book and is rating it 4/5, I know. But at the end of the day...it was fun. There were small moments I'd change - adding a few sentences to allow moods to change more naturally and show the growth from the characters as time passes. However, I enjoyed the story. It was light-hearted (mostly) and had fun characters. The presence of magic in a sci-fi world was fun to explore, merging my love of fantasy and science fiction. Morgana was underutilised but a great presence throughout the book whilstMerlin's magic was interesting to learn the limits of.
Okay, so it's not the most incredibly well-written story and the pacing is a little off...but honestly? It was a good read. I really enjoyed Once & Future and ordered the second book in the series the same day I finished it. They're fun, they're hella queer, and they tell the story of Arthur and Merlin...I couldn't ask for a book more suited to me if I tried.