The Once and Future King by T.H. White

"The ultimate classic in Fantasy literature but it is not as thrilling or as adventurous as I was led to believe. It had its humor, it's dark parts, it's characters but in the end, it all boiled down to be rather drawn out and dull."

2 Stars

Pros: It did have its amusing parts with Merlyn/The ending was satisfying in a sad but somewhat hopeful sort of way

Cons: People are just cruel to one another/Arthur, though having good intentions, just went about it the wrong way and didn't take into account the wickedness of people.

Full Review:

Broken down into four Books, The Sword in the Stone, The Queen of Air and Darkness, The Ill-Favored Knight and The Candle in the Wind, The Once and Future King is the story of Arthur and his reign over England. He starts life as a young orphan, nicknamed Wart, whose parentage is unknown. He meets a Wizard in the woods who will become his tutor, Merlyn and teach him about life. When Uther Pendragon, the current, heirless King of England dies, its said that the person who can pull the sword from the stone is destined to be the next King of England. The circumstances in which Arthur pulls the sword from the stnoe are comical but the following tales, of his rise to power, his betrayal etc, are not as funny.

The Sword in the Stone is more or less a comedy, with the bumbling character of Merlyn and his magic to make light of situations. But once Arthur pulls out Excalibur and the story progresses into The Queen of Air and Darkness, the narrative takes a darker turn. We meet Gawaine, Agravaine, Gaheris and Gareth, four sons of the beautiful Queen Morgause. There's mystery to her and to her boys and the mystery behind Arthur's parentage is brought more into the light. The story continues with Arthur creating his Round Table, a collection of Knights devoted to chivalry and justice and the best knight of that Table, let alone the world, is Lancelot. He is Arthur's best friend, but he is also in love with Guenever, Arthur's queen. I'm sure you can all guess where I'm going with this. Suffice it to say, mistakes are made and though Arthur wants desperately for there to be peace, he's trapped under his own sense of right and wrong.

It's a complex, heavy tale and though the ending leaves off to let the reader imagine what they will, overall, it was a long, very often nonsensical, dull, tiring read which left this reader fighting to stay awake. It had its good parts and it is a milestone of the fantasy genre but, overall it wasn't as dashing or as adventurous as I was led to believe. I'm glad I read it, since I've meant to for years but now, I'm glad it's done.

Comments

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