Once & Future King
Once & Future King: This is a collection of five separate books, though obtaining more than just The Sword In The Stone on it's own these days is a challenge. (I bought a solo copy at the same time as this, thought I was in error and got rid of it... only to discover the collection version and solo version are slightly different. D'oh!) This difference is very clear, with each book feeling like a real change.
Overall, I really enjoyed Once & Future King. It's far more accessible than Malory and presents some good twists that keep it fresh. The more preachy political stuff that gets louder near the end, a by-product of the World War II era of it's production, is maybe the book's biggest failing - it gives us a great Mordred but starts to overtake the narrative by the last book.
If you want to read the Arthurian epic but keep in modern English, this is a great place to go. When I run Pendragon then bits and pieces of this will definitely bleed in, even if I go mostly Malory for source material.
- Book One, "The Sword In The Stone", is the most overtly child-friendly one: though even then I wouldn't be so sure about calling it a "children's book". The collected version removes Madame Mim but it's still the most overtly magical, with the various journeys into animal forms.
- Book Two, "The Witch In The Woods", is the weakest piece in my opinion. It alternates between a not especially gripping story of the war with King Lot and Lot's children, the Orkney clan, who will be bigger characters later on and so see a lot of setup here. Only the last five or so pages really produce anything special.
- Book Three, "The Ill-Made Knight", is perhaps my favourite of the whole book. Lancelot is presented in a slightly more interesting way than just "the best knight in the world" and the relationship with Guinevere and Arthur is particular good. For a man oft believed to be homosexual, or at least not much interested in women, the romance comes across particularly sweetly. The Grail Quest also occurs here and, like Malory, White is a man who wasn't super-religious in real life yet still presents it quite traditionally.
- Book Four, "The Candle In The Wind", tells the collapse of Camelot and Mordred's elevation to true villain status. It's final moments and the appearance of a young man named Thomas is something I already knew of but is still kinda cool when it occurs. Mordred as quasi-Hitler perhaps dates the book - by now the Second World War is in full swing in the real world and filling White's thoughts - but I love slimy fascist preacher Mordred.
- Book Five, "The Book Of Merlyn", is a somewhat low point to end on. The book is mainly Arthur, Merlyn and some animals speaking about humanity and war, with some final transformations into animals already included up in Book One because this version excises Madam Mim in place of them. Like book two, the final pages have some good moments, but this very quickly turns into Merlyn as White's mouthpiece for political views and the morals clunk to the ground.
Overall, I really enjoyed Once & Future King. It's far more accessible than Malory and presents some good twists that keep it fresh. The more preachy political stuff that gets louder near the end, a by-product of the World War II era of it's production, is maybe the book's biggest failing - it gives us a great Mordred but starts to overtake the narrative by the last book.
If you want to read the Arthurian epic but keep in modern English, this is a great place to go. When I run Pendragon then bits and pieces of this will definitely bleed in, even if I go mostly Malory for source material.