28. Once and Future King

By:  T. H. White
Rated 5+ so far. (In progress)
Audiobook
Read by: Neville Jason

I am through the first two book of Once and Future King,The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Queen of Air and Darkness--first published as The Witch in the Wood (1939),The Ill-Made Knight (1940), and The Candle in the Wind (published in the composite volume, 1958)  There is a 6th book involved that was added later on, The Death of Merlin (1988) which, according to a reviewer is regarded as an "anti-war rant."  This is OK with me because I do a pretty good anti-war rant myself.

I am loving this book and wondering why I have never read it before.  Probably because it's fantasy and I am very much a fantasy lite reader.  But once in a while one comes along that really grabs me.  I am not so sure I would be enjoying this one as much if I were reading it from the printed page as the reader Neville Jason is giving an absolutely brilliant performance of reading it in the gently ironic, tongue in cheek style that the Brits are so good at.

I am having to take it in small bites though.  While tempted to "start at the beginning and go straight through until the end" I start experiencing sensory overload after about 3/4 of one book.  So this one is going to take me a while.

Publisher's Summary

The complete "box set" of T. H. White's epic fantasy novel of the Arthurian legend. The novel is made up of five parts: "The Sword in the Stone", "The Witch in the Wood", "The Ill-Made Knight", "The Candle in the Wind", and "The Book of Merlyn".

Merlyn instructs the Wart (Arthur) and his brother, Sir Kay, in the ways of the world. One of them will need it: the king has died, leaving no heir, and a rightful one must be found by pulling a sword from an anvil resting on a stone. In the second and third parts of the novel, Arthur has become king and the kingdom is threatened from the north. In the final two books, the ageing king faces his greatest challenge, when his own son threatens to overthrow him. In "The Book of Merlyn", Arthur's tutor Merlyn reappears and teaches him that, even in the face of apparent ruin, there is hope.

Public Domain (P)2008 Naxos Audiobooks