Classic fantasy

The Once and Future King by T. H. White

Genre: fantasy 

Publisher: Putnam and Sons edition, NY 1965

Ace edition: June 1987

ISBN: 0-441-62740-4

Pages: 639

Setting: Mythical England 

Time Period: Medieval Era

Summary: This is a story of the mythical Arthur and his court, how he grows up, is trained by the magician Merlin, and pulls the sword from the stone to become the greatest King of England. Arthur marries the beautiful Guenever and creates the famous Round Table as he gathers a group of the best and loyal knights in the land - including Lancelot, Gawain, and Galahad - to his side.

Appeals: epic story; great characterizations; wonderful world building

Tone: There are many moments that are very funny and light, but is also serious and weighty.

Pace: slow to build, then steady 

Opinion: White does a fantastic job of giving the characters depth, and the reader is given a different perspective, to possibly dislodge set preconceptions, on their actions and behaviors. He uses comparisons between these mythical beings and the real world so the reader can relate and understand. For example, when White writes about Guenever and her lot in life and offers a possible explanation for her continual attraction to Lancelot:

"People are easily dazzled by Round Tables and feats of arms...Yet Guenever could not search for the Grail. She could not vanish into the English forest for a year's adventure with the spear. It was her part to sit at home, though passionate, though real and hungry in her fierce and tender heart. For her there were no recognized diversions expect what is comparable to the ladies' bridge party of today. She could hawk with a merlin, or play blind man's buff, or pince-merille. These were the amusements of grown-up women in her time. But the great hawks, the hounds, heraldry, tournaments - these were for Lancelot. For her, unless she felt like a little spinning or embroidery, there was no occupation - except Lancelot" (473).

  

White weaves these explanations in gracefully with many of the main characters, and they do not interfere or slow down the movement of the plot - that keeps at a steady pace. The pacing is also moved forward by the huge cast of characters and all of their antics and many adventures. White's full descriptions of the time period and setting immerse the reader in Arthur's world. The Once and Future King is a book full of bravery, action, humor, quests (always the quests in fantasy!), battles, chivalry, love, honor, magic, reflection, loss and hope. Lest I forget - the love triangles, good versus evil, Christianity versus Paganism or Faery, and the mythical Camelot. It is a great work of fantasy and deserving of being called a "classic".

Read-a-likes: 

• Lady of Avalon (prequel) and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (Arthurian tales told from the women's perspective) 
•  The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (epic fantasy)
•  Knights of the Roundtable: Lancelot by Gwen Rowley (historical fantasy romance)
•  Merlin by Steven Lawhead (Arthurian tale)
• The History of the Kings of Britain or Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth translated by Lewis Thorpe (one of the first accounts of Arthur)
• Avalon High by Meg Cabot (the characters are reincarnated and are in a modern high school setting)
• The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay (first in a trilogy about 5 college students, epic Arthurian fantasy)

 

Note: If you have read any Arthurian stories, you will see references popping up in the most random places: newspaper articles, political blogs (Kennedy/Camelot), crossword puzzles, books that have nothing to do with fantasy, etc. I can only read so much of the Arthurian myths because with the majority of "romantic" or "heroic" literature before the 15th c. - or thereabouts - the story may end on a hopeful note, but not necessarily a "happily ever after" ending. And the latter are my book crack. It says something about White's writing that I fairly breezed through this lengthy book - even though I knew exactly what was coming next.