“The Knights with No Lords” by Rock Kitaro

The Knights with No Lords

Rock Kitaro
Stage in the Sky Creations (2026)
ISBN:  979-8988481522
Reviewed by Terri Stepek for Reader Views (07/2026)

Men of the sword.  Women of dark magic.  A Roman warrior who considers himself “Nero incarnate.”  Standing between them are too many innocent people who struggled to eke out their existence even before war came to their land.  Their hope, supposedly, lies in a young man who innocently pulled an old sword out of a rock.  But is he capable of leading them?  Author Rock Kitaro lays out the beginning of the Arthurian legend in a way you’ve never heard it in The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain.

The legend of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table is the very foundation for the modern fantasy trope known as sword and sorcery.  Within these lavish stories are the essence of humanity: its best and its worst, its foibles, weaknesses, strengths, and political treachery.  But Kitaro didn’t just want to sit down and refresh the story of Arthur.  He centered his story on a knight who was reluctant to join forces with him.  Sir Gawain is one of many warriors in the Welsh countryside who feels he needs no king.  He is happy to act as protector of the castle where he was raised, Tintagel, although it is not his family home.  Among the many unfortunate events in Gawain’s young life, it was the first- his birth as a bastard child- that has defined him the most.

Gawain is known as a strong, fierce warrior and a steady leader.  The allegiance of the men under his command is solid and unquestioned.  His younger brothers, Gaheris and Agravain, have also earned reputations as outstanding warriors (if perhaps a bit savage in the case of “Agravain the Terror”).  But it is Gawain to whom the wizard Merlin comes seeking assistance.  Merlin knows that Arthur Pendragon is the true king, but that he is not yet ready to lead.  He also knows that the man to prepare Arthur can only be Gawain.  Gawain, however, wants no part of it, refusing to believe that Arthur, who is only a few years younger but unfathomably innocent, is the king England has waited for.  He has no problem telling Arthur this to his face.

Ever fought in a battle?  A proper battle.  Nothing but screaming and chaos.  Where you can’t tell friend from foe, you’ve got blood and sweat and dirt in your eyes, and your commander’s yelling at you to keep pressing forward even though all you can see is a wall of spears and shields.  You ever experienced that?

Gawain has his eyes on one thing, the love of his life, the powerful caster of dark magic, Morgana le Fey.  Theirs is a perpetually stormy relationship, but Gawain has eyes for no other.  If only Morgan were as loyal.

It was surreal… the stark contrast between brother and sister.  Morgan had long dark hair, deep purple eyes, the personification of seething hate who mastered the art of brooding.  Meanwhile, Arthur was sunlight in human form.  He had more of their mother’s features… blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a contagious smile with optimism that had a way of beating back the criticisms hurled his way.  He was quick to laugh off the snide remarks and embrace everyone.

Kitaro’s work here is fabulous.  He has held to the old legends yet managed to create a modern masterpiece that can easily stand on its own.  Fans of the Arthurian legends will recognize many of the characters within Gawain’s story.  While there are times when characters discuss events that happened outside the realm of this particular story, the author assumes his readers know enough of the legends to understand the basics.  This allows Kitaro to stay within the confines of the story of Gawain without falling down rabbit holes for other characters.  The tale of Tristan and Isolde is an excellent example, as the doomed lovers are mentioned at times, but the action doesn’t stop to catch us up on their story.  Chances are good that if the reader doesn’t know about a particular character, this novel will whet their appetite for more of these tales.

I simply can’t praise this work enough.  Granted, the Arthurian legends already have good bones, so it should be easy to build upon them.  Yet we’ve probably all encountered retellings that were less than impressive.  The Knights with No Lords, however, will catapult the reader straight into medieval England at perhaps its most vulnerable moment.  Every aspect that we love about the legends is here: the pompous egos, well-honed knights, loyalty, treachery, rivalries, revenge, justice, and romance.  It’s all here, wrapped in the most glorious prose that allows us to see, hear, feel, touch, and smell it all.  The strength of this work, though, lies in the battle scenes, which are written with a precision rarely seen, helping the reader fully engage without getting lost in the haze of battle.

As if the superb writing and the swift pace weren’t enough to please, the author has taken these characters many of us have known since childhood and fleshed them out into personalities that are complex, relatable, and occasionally worthy of our sympathy.  Fans of sword and sorcery fantasies, especially those based on the Arthurian legends, will be clamoring for more from Rock Kitaro, and I am sincerely hoping there’s more to come on this front.  I will happily devour any other novel he creates in this realm as I greedily devoured The Knights with No Lords: The One Called Gawain.  Chances are, this will be the best fantasy book you read this year.

I see the fire I once feared in your father.  From this day till my last, my sword is yours.  Here.   Now.  Forever.