This week, on 18th February, King Arthur's Death - the Alliterative Morte Arthure - is officially launchd in the book trade, which means that the book you kindly helped to fund is now officially launched across the land!
Thank you!
This update is by way of a personal thank you for enabling this to happen. These days, getting any book published is incredibly difficult and the Unbound model helps overcome many of the obstacles by building an army of supporters able, willing and passionate enough to bring a project to fruition.
A fourteenth century book for today
This particular telling of the Arthur story reveals an astonishing political subtext which has a profound relevance to today. As I've said many times along the way, King Arthur's Death is more than a mediaeval story, it is a reflection on political pride and vanity gone wrong - and the consequences of such for leaders led astray by what they see in their own mirror.
Nationhood, a transitory wraith of unbridled caprice, is shown as an unreliable and poisonous political bedfellow. Too late Arthur realises that in the pursuit of glory, he has split his land, lost those closest to him and ends up being mortally wounded by his own sword of state. The illusion of nationalism, as King Arthur's Death reveals, so often brings a painful downfall where the abused and manipulated dreams of the many are destroyed for a cause so wrongfully twisted by the few. But there's no telling some folk, happy to hide behind its banner at any cost.
Written at a time of great national turmoil and with various powers seeking influence in the land, King Arthur's Death possesses an astonishing historical prescience. Despite its battles, cruelty and violent elements, the book asks of its readers to find a gentler, better path than one which only leads to heartbreak, impoverishment and distrust.
(Above: three books only possible with the help of your support - for which I am truly grateful)
Please support book number three - a message of positivity for a world in so much anguish
Thank you for helping me bring this book to a new audience and I hope you have found much in it to enjoy. With this in mind, my third book with Unbound, William and the Werewolf is now well on its way with 162 backers and 38% funded - but there's still a long way to go and every supporter is needed to help it happen.
ACT NOW! If you've not supported it yet, please do so if you can. It can only happen with your help - pledge for William here.
A gentler story which reflects on justice, compassion, mutual support and the need for forgiveness, William and the Werewolf is the perfect follow on to Arthur - a book of positivity for a world emerging from the pandemic, and a sign of a better world to live in, where people come together and are not riven by false deeds.
Thank you again for all your support in letting old words from older minds shine on our deeds today.
Michael Smith
Translator, Printmaker
PS.Follow this link to find the Spring edition of Unbound's catalogue -check out page 14 for more on King Arthur, and check through the rest for other wonderful titles from the publisher!