THE FAERIE MORGANA by Louisa Morgan – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Faerie Morgana by Louisa Morgan
Published by Redhook on September 16 2025
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 528
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Louisa Morgan tackles the tale of King Arthur in this magical, imaginative, character focused retelling, perfect for fantasy fans looking for less plot-heavy stories.

Arthurian retellings aren’t really my thing, but Louisa Morgan is my thing, so of course I was excited to read The Faerie Morgana. And because she’s a pro, Morgan pulled off a rich, magical tale that grabbed me despite the subject matter. This is a slow-burn tale that follows many of the story beats you might be familiar with, but the author makes it her own by casting Morgan Le Fay as a heroine rather than the villain she’s been portrayed as in other retellings (I’m thinking of the movie Excalibur in particular). Readers who love to dissect various versions of the story and compare them to the original material will have a field day with this book.

The story is split up into roughly three sections, each following an important time period in Morgana’s life. We see her as a four-year-old, being taken from her mother Igraine by a sorcerer called the Blackbird to become an acolyte of the Lady’s Temple. There Morgana grows up aside other acolytes and the Nine Priestesses, who are revered for their magical powers of healing and seeing the future. Morgana yearns to become one of the Nine, and in fact her powers are greater than anyone else in the Temple. She has a vision of her half brother Arthur, who is destined to become the true king, and later decides to devote her life to protecting him.

Next, we follow Morgana and her handmaid Braithe as they make the voyage to Camulod to witness Arthur’s wedding to Gwenvere. It is during this time that she discovers a terrible threat and tries to stop it. 

And finally, the Blackbird tells Morgana the true story of her birth and parentage, leading to some shocking surprises and eventually, tragedy. 

The Faerie Morgana excels at character development and emotional moments, but if you’re hoping for a fast-paced plot, you won’t find it here. The story takes some time to get going, but once it does, you’ll probably find yourself as invested as I was. Morgana is a wonderful character, a woman who is dedicated to helping people and loyal to those she loves. She bears the terrible gift of sight, which means she sees tragedy before it happens. Braithe was another favorite character of mine, in fact I sort of wish Louisa Morgan would write another tale with Braithe at the center! There’s still a lot we don’t know about her by the end of the story. Braithe unfortunately falls in love with the wrong person in this story, which leads to heartache, but I loved the way she handled it, always putting others before herself.

You might guess that the Blackbird is the Merlin character in the story, and he and Morgana have a complicated relationship with lots of ups and downs. The author has tweaked most of the names you might be familiar with, and she explains at the end how her research led her to do this. My very sketchy knowledge of Arthurian legend is limited to watching Excalibur and reading The Mists of Avalon as a teenager, so I’m in awe of the research she put into her story.

The legend of King Arthur and Camelot is such a sprawling tale, and I’m amazed at how much Louisa Morgan included in only about 500 pages. The last fifty pages or so do seem a little rushed, and some events are cut out entirely and only mentioned after they happen, which felt a bit strange. But overall, Morgan did a wonderful job of focusing on the emotional highs and lows of her characters. Yes, I prefer the author’s other books, but I’m so glad I read The Faerie Morgana. I hope it brings her a bigger following, because she really is an exceptional author.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.