Cavall in Camelot: A Dog in King Arthur's Court
Series: Cavall in Camelot, Book 1
By: Audrey Mackaman / Narrated By: Derek Perkins
Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
Introduces the seamier side of Camelot but with SUCH an innocent hero… Arthur’s deerhound!
AGAIN! As an Audiobook Fanatic? With a penchant for scrolling through New Releases and going aaaaallll the way to the verrrry last pages of offerings, I found Cavall in Camelot by unknown-to-me author Audrey Mackaman -BUT- narrated by THE Derek Perkins. ALWAYS on the lookout for an Animals Pick, and so in love with Children’s stories (One of these days, I’m soooo gonna write and illustrate my own!), I tossed a credit at this audiobook and never looked back!
And what a sweet tale it is. Cavall, just a deerhound pup, is racing with his smarter, stronger, faster brother Glessic, when Glessic leaves the known yards and dashes into the Forbidden forest. Cavall stops short, having heard the tales of the woods being peopled by the Fay, an eeeeevil folk (So it’s been told to the pups) who will trap visitors, never letting them out again. Still, it’s Glessic, and so Cavall plunges into the trees. Whilst out looking, he is near trampled upon by a racing horse, ridden by the most specTACular man. EVER!
Looking kindly upon the shaken Cavall, this man, King Arthur, takes a liking to him and decides to take him as his very own. Also? The other man riding with Arthur, one Mordred, finds Glessic to be a far nobler hound, and so Gless goes with him.
Thus do we have the setup for this tale of Camelot, complete with Cavall wondering how on earth Arthur can be Mordred’s father while Queen Gwenevere is NOT his mother. And whazzis? WHY is the Uber-Creepy Morgana, she who lives in a seedy little cabin IN the woods (Why not in the castle?!), calling Mordred her son and giving him little vials of… stuff…?
See? Innocent little Cavall expresses his dismay with lowered tail and his confusion with flat ears, exACTly in Dog Speak. Mackaman doesn’t even try to have Cavall knowing human stuff, and she confronts the more consternation-inducing facets of Arthurian legend through such innocent eyes that this story is way suitable for even the youngest of listeners.
Cavall seeks out knowledge from older dogs, like Lancelot’s scent-hound, and a short and stubby, yet immensely fierce and loyal, Leader of the Hunt. They come to his aid when Cavall seeks to discover the reason for Arthur’s horrific nightmares which are causing all in the castle to question his sanity, and when Cavall DOES find out that it’s a Night Mare, the trio set off to conquer and destroy the wicked beast. ALWAYS, Mordred’s depravity is kept in mind, and tho’ this is a full tale in its own right, we’re left with no question that he’ll be up to no good in the future. It wraps up nicely, plenty of room for sequels withOUT being a SHAMELESS cliffhanger last-minute twist (Dude, I’m soooo looking at YOU, Michael J. Sullivan!), and the characters are so charming, so heroic, that there’s no doubt I’ll be hitting the next in the series.
Derek Perkins? Can the man do no wrong? I daresay he canNOT. It’s simply NOT within his power to turn in a subpar performance. Indeed, Every. SINGLE. Performance is worthy of the mightiest of huzzahs. It all seems effortless to him, and his voice for Cavall goes from innocent pup, to wanton stealer of roasted chicken, to a young dog who can consider actions, who can weigh the Unfortunate But Necessary against The Fairly Evil. Bravo, sir!!! You’ve done some of my very favorites!
What a wonderful week of Listening this week has been!
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