The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King, #1-5) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Nov 30, 2007 Tracey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: libraryread, alt-history

Started 20 May 2008; finished 7 Jun 2008

What a thoroughly entertaining version of the Arthurian legends! The historical background is detailed without being terribly dry, and the authorial asides are a hoot!

The first segment "The Sword and the Stone" would make wonderful bedtime reading to elementary-aged kids, while the middle segments should appeal to romantic teens. The last segment is perhaps best read from the perspective of adulthood. ...more

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Aug 03, 2007 Lorena rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arthurian, desert_island, fantasy

One of my favorite books of all time. Funny and heart-breaking and captivating all the way through.

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Sep 30, 2007 Carl marked it as to-read

Shelves: fantasysci-fi

I loved the disney version when I was a kid (who wouldn't want to become a squirrel? For some reason the whole shape-shifting sequence fascinated me), and I bought the book some time ago, but haven't been able to get around to it. The fact that I tend to have 20 different books going at a time may be to blame for that. I rarely finish anything these days. I'll get to this one day-- though to be honest, my heart still belongs to Lawhead's down and dirty early celtic version of arthurian legend, r ...more

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Nov 19, 2008 emily rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, owned-physical, classics, young-adult, arthuriana-medieval, the-movie-is-pretty-good-actually, 2007-and-earlier

Let's just get this right out in the open-- I'm very partial to Disney's 'The Sword in the Stone'. I loved it as a young child, and probably half the reason I eventually picked up this book was knowing the movie was based on the first part of it. But unfortunately the rest of it is denser, and not nearly as much fun, as the first part. Maybe I'd think differently now than I did twelve or fifteen years ago, but I've read a lot of Arthuriana in my time and this has never been one of my favorites. ...more

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Sep 22, 2007 Jen rated it really liked it

Four books comprise this epic of the life of King Arthur, from his childhood, when Merlyn was teaching him to gain other perspectives by transforming him into animals (Disney had a field day with that one) to dark witches and family dynamics and his betrayal by Lancelot and Guinevere. White has a dry sense of humor and many wonderful insights into human nature, as well as a deep understanding of the theory of swordsmanship and chivalry to imbue the adventures with a sense of historical accuracy. ...more

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