The Wicked Day is a 1983 fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Mary Stewart

Mary Stewart

Mary Florence Elinor Stewart is a popular English novelist, best known for her Merlin series, which straddles the boundary between the historical novel and the fantasy genre.-Career:...

. The fourth in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian legend, it is preceded by The Last Enchantment

The Last Enchantment

The Last Enchantment is a 1979 fantasy novel by Mary Stewart. It is the third in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian legend, preceded by The Hollow Hills and succeeded by The Wicked Day.-Plot introduction:...

and succeeded by The Prince and the Pilgrim

The Prince and the Pilgrim

The Prince and the Pilgrim is a 1995 fantasy novel by Mary Stewart. Preceded by The Wicked Day, it is the fifth installment in a number of novels of hers covering the Arthurian legend.-Plot introduction:...

.

Plot introduction

The protagonists of this story are, Mordred

Mordred

Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...

 and his father the king, Arthur

King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...

. Lost as a youth, Mordred is raised by fisherfolk until he is returned to his birth mother Morgause

Morgause

Morgause , known in earlier works as Gwyar or Anna, is the sister or half-sister of King Arthur in the Arthurian legend. In her earliest appearance she is Arthur's full sister by Uther Pendragon and Igraine; Gwyar is her name and she is the mother of Gwalchmei...

. The novel portrays Mordred as a pawn of fate unlike many tales which paint him as the villain of the Arthurian saga.

Plot summary

The novel covers the time before Merlin

Merlin

Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...

the Enchanter's defeat.