Beast

Napoli, Donna Jo. Beast. 2004. 272p. 381 mins. ISBN 9780689870057. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

As the future Shah of Persia, Orasmyn has been training his entire life. He as completed the pilgrimage to Mecca, and he is dedicated to the teaching of Islam. A gentle soul, Orasmyn does not reproach his father, the Shah, the ability to hunt, but he prefers plants, especially roses. His father is thrilled because he has received a lion and lionesses from India, and he looks forward to the possibility of slaying a lion with his bare hands.

On the Feast of Sacrifices, Orasmyn makes the call to sacrifice a camel that is not pure. As a result, a vindictive Peri sentences him to die at the hands of his father the very next day, unless he can find a woman who will truly love him. Scared that he might perish in the lion hunt, Orasmyn tells his father and decides to hide for the entire day, hoping to avoid the Peri’s curse. Unfortunately, when Orasmyn awakens he has been transformed into a lion.

Still retaining his human mind, Orasmyn manages to avoid the hunters but realizes that he has in fact been killed by his father, for even if he escapes now he can never return, and his father has lost his son and heir. Learning to be a lion is difficult, and Orasmyn makes his way slowly to India, hoping to find a woman who will love him, or, at any rate, the company of other lions. But the prides do not welcome him, and he is forced to return to Persia. Along the way he remembers a conversation with a Frenchman that the roses in France are the best in the world, so he decides to make his way to France.

The trip is perilous, and it takes him years to make it to the South of France, but when he discovers an old uninhabited castle he knows it will be home forever. He plants roses, hoping to attract a woman who will love him. But when a man seeks shelter in the castle, Orasmyn discovers that he can prey on the man’s fear and force him to send his youngest daughter to him instead. Perhaps she will be the one who will love him and break the curse.

Telling the other side of the beauty and the beast story, Beast describes Orasmyn’s transition from man to beast, the depth of his despair, and the strength of his desire to regain his humanity while surviving as a lion in a foreign country with a different language and customs.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Anonymous. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. 2015. 112p. 114 minutes. Available as an eBook and an audiobook from Overdrive.

On this New Year’s Eve, everything is merry at the Round Table in Camelot. King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, the knights, and other members of the court are gathered to celebrate the arrival of a new year with an extravagant feast. The party is interrupted by the arrival of a tall and frightening knight, as big as a giant and completely clad in green. Glancing around at the cowering knights, the Green Knight issues a challenge. Whomever is brave enough to land a blow on him this New Year’s Eve will get repaid by a blow from the Green Knight the following New Year’s Eve at the Green Chapel. Dare any knight demonstrate their courage by accepting this deadly challenge?

To Arthur’s disappointment, no one initially steps forward to meet the Green Knight’s challenge. The Knight mocks the assembled crowd for their lack of bravery, claiming that what he has heard of the Round Table are nothing more than old women’s tales. Sir Gawain, the smallest knight at Court, stands up and accepts the Green Knight’s challenge. Taking the swing this year, Sir Gawain decapitates the Green Knight. The Green Knight, unfazed, picks up his head and acclaims Gawain for a great hit, then tells him to find him next year for his turn at receiving a blow.

As the New Year approaches, Sir Gawain begins his quest of finding the Chapel. Arriving at a Lord’s estate, he joins in the Christmastime festivities, and discovers that the Chapel is but a half-day away. But as the time grows close, and as temptations, both of the flesh and of the company of others increase, can Sir Gawain remain true to his deadly mission and prove to be the honest and courageous knight others believe him to be?

Anonymously written more than a thousand years ago, Sir Gawain's story is a great introduction to Arthurian legends and myths, and will be appreciated by fantasy fans.