Peter David’s Arthurian Obsession Gave Tie-In Fiction a Backbone Most Writers Never Bothered to Build

Peter David spent nearly four decades returning to the same well: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The pattern shows up in his creator-owned novels, his X-Men and DC comics work, and buried inside the Star Trek tie-in fiction that most fans treat as disposable. Track the pattern across his catalog and a case forms for something rarer than a running gag. David used Arthurian structure the way other writers use outlines, and it gave his tie-in work a spine that most licensed fiction never bothers to grow.