commotion, but Peretur heals her with the power of the bowl. With his sister Elen's death, Myrddyn dies as well. They return to Caer Leon and tell Gwenhwyfar to drink from the bowl in order to heal her infertility. In truth, they have replaced the bowl with a fake. The real one is sealed with the Stone in order to keep Arturus from producing an heir. Nimüe believes that Arturus would have spawned a line of tyrannical rulers, but allowing his lineage to die out will bring peace. Peretur holds Nimüe in her arms as they discuss whether they made the right choice. Major themes According to T.S. Miller of Strange Horizons, Peretur's childhood at first has more in common with the story of Grendel and his mother rather than many Arthurian legends; they live alone in a cave, cut off from contact with the outside world. Peretur journeys away from Elen's myths into the "real world", and then back into they mythic realm of Arthurian mythology. Griffith makes an effort to explore queerness, disability, and ethnic diversity. While many Arthurian stories are predominantly white and male-centric, Griffith explores the way in which the Roman Empire made medieval Britain " a more cosmopolitan place than most modern Arthurian adaptations imagine." For example, Llanza is her version of Lancelot; he is Asturian and walks with a limp. Peretur treats her attraction to women as a matter of fact, and there is an implied polyamorous connection between Arturus, Gwenhwyfar, and Llanza rather than the traditional love triangle. Style According to a review in Strange Horizons, the Welsh orthography of several characters' names, including Gwenhwyfar and Myrddyn, conjure a "Celtic Arthur", providing a geographic explanation for the presence of the Irish Tuath Dé. Background The idea for the book originally came about after Griffith was invited to contribute to Sword Stone Table, an anthology of Arthurian retellings from Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington. Reception A review for Chicago Review of Books called the work "an instant classic, born of classics." The review praised the novel's exploration of gender and sexuality, writing that Griffith "threads the needle" by incorporating queer and polyamorous characters without couching their identities in modern language. Writing for Locus, Gary K. Wolfe praised Griffith's research into 6th century Wales as the setting for the story. Wolfe praised the lyrical, slow-moving introduction to the novel, which allows us to familiarize ourselves