The Coming of Arthur,
releasing November 9th

Susanna Clarke,

Hugo Award-winning author of
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Piranesi

"An astonishing achievement, a ballad that picks you up and sweeps you onward into adventure, solemn magic, and beauty."

Foreword by writer and mythographer Martin Shaw

In this second book of Malcolm Guite's acclaimed Merlin's Isle: An Arthuriad, travel back to craggy Tintagel to discover how it all began. Raised by Sir Ector and tutored by the wizard Merlin, young Arthur must grow into his destiny as the foretold king. He will need the aid of the perilous elves, wisdom beyond his years, and a host of virtuous knights to weather the storms to come.

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In Guite's follow-up to Galahad and the Grail, the poet loses none of his mastery of the tale-in fact, he's only just gotten started. And even while exploring well-trodden paths of the Arthurian legend, he mines his sources for fresh insight and uncovers deep corners of lore that have lain dormant for a century or more. Add to this Guite's natural facility with the form and his allusions and nods to poets and storytellers past, and the reader is left with nothing less than a royal feast of story and song.

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Foreword by Hugo Award-winning author Susanna Clarke

In this first volume of Merlin’s Isle, join the prophesied youth, Sir Galahad, and the other knights of the quest as they set out from Camelot to achieve the Holy Grail. The accomplishment of their goal will not only heal the wounded Fisher-King, but will bring about the long hoped-for healing of the land itself.

An epic ballad cycle in four volumes

Galahad and the Grail
The Coming of Arthur
Days of the Round Table (Fall 2027)
The Passing of Arthur (Spring 2028)

Here at the height of his poetic power, Malcolm Guite delivers a tale of adventure in ballad form that plumbs the depths of the human soul, carries readers through the Wasteland, and sets them upon the numinous shores of Faerie in all its mystery and meaning.

Guite follows in the epic footsteps of Spenser, Milton, Dante, and Tennyson, yet this is not poetry destined solely for the halls of academia--it's a story to be enjoyed by young and old alike, a story to be read aloud among friends and family, a story to be cherished for generations to come.

Acclaimed poet Malcolm Guite’s masterwork, a lifetime in the making
Illustrated by award-winning artist Stephen Crotts
More than 25 illustrations per volume
Full-color interior with unique illuminated capitals
Hardcover first edition and Collector’s Edition
Accessible for all ages
A true, new epic of English Literature

About the Author

Malcolm Guite is a poet, scholar, and Life Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge. He has published five collections of poetry and many other books including Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Hodder, 2017).

In 2023 he was awarded the Lanfranc Medal for Education and Scholarship by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He lives in Norfolk and travels extensively to give poetry readings and lectures and also has a popular YouTube channel he calls "A Spell in the Library."

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About the Illustrator

Stephen Crotts is an illustrator and printmaker whose work has been featured in award-winning books and albums with clients such as Andrew Peterson, Phil Wickham, and Christianity Today. He has received the ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award and two GMA Dove Award nominations for album cover art. His illustrated books include the NET Art Edition Bible and two children's books, The Sower and The Forgotten King. Stephen founded Friday Arts Project, a non-profit arts organization curating conversation and fostering craft to call forth a fully human community.

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