don't let knowing the end put you off.
We all know the tales of King Arthur, we know any story about him is leading to fighting Medraut at Camlan.
Yet, in Bernard Cornwall's "Warlord Chronicles" it is still a genuine punch to the guts, and almost a shock/surprise, at the end, because you get to know a real, rounded human being. You can feel Derfel's agony, and pain, and the sheer horror of remembering that last battle, as he narrates it, dozens of years later as a Monk, for the Queen of Powys. And it still hurts the reader, even with fore warning.