Sword at Sunset
Rosemary Sutcliff
 The action of the novel continues that of The Lantern Bearers. Artos (Sutcliff's version of Arthur) recalls his life as he lies near death, from when he served under his uncle, the British high king Ambrosius. He has gathered a core cavalry group that will become Artos' Companions, and win a major victory. During this activity, he meets a girl who drugs and seduces him. He is unaware that the girl is his sister, and that her seduction was a deliberate plan from her mother to gain revenge against their father: Ygerna, the girl, like Artos, is Uther's child. Artos' seduction and the conception of Medraut is Ygerna's means of bringing ruin to Artos. Artos marries Guenhumara in order to bolster his forces with much needed troops, and his best friend Bedwyr (combining both the roles of Bedivere and Lancelot) eventually betrays Artos by his involvement with Artos' wife. Sutcliff presents a more realistic story than some Arthur legends, removing Merlin and many of the fantastic elements, and grounding Artos and his followers as clinging to Roman ways after Rome has left Britain to fend for itself. The battles in particular are described realistically, and show her knowledge of Roman fighting techniques.