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absolutely's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
planetshannon's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this one, but not as much as The Sword in the Stone. This strongly focuses of the themes of war, which I found has it's challenges and there were also some challenging moments with witches and also hunting. All were clearly showing a moral story, some I agreed with... some I did not.
My favourite storyline in here was The Questing Beast and I really enjoyed King Pellinore, he could be my favourite character in this book save for Merlin (of course!).
Overall it was enjoyable and I might even want to re-read/skim it again before heading into the next book so I can get more grounded in the characters. There were lots introduced here, and many they came back to again but I don't remember all of them.
The version in the book I'm reading lists it as The Queen of Air and Darkness: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17878960-the-queen-of-air-and-darkness
Because they are listed as separate books in a series, I am logging both the individual titles as I complete them as also updated the bind up I'm reading them in: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2297106.The_Once_and_Future_King
My favourite storyline in here was The Questing Beast and I really enjoyed King Pellinore, he could be my favourite character in this book save for Merlin (of course!).
Overall it was enjoyable and I might even want to re-read/skim it again before heading into the next book so I can get more grounded in the characters. There were lots introduced here, and many they came back to again but I don't remember all of them.
The version in the book I'm reading lists it as The Queen of Air and Darkness: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17878960-the-queen-of-air-and-darkness
Because they are listed as separate books in a series, I am logging both the individual titles as I complete them as also updated the bind up I'm reading them in: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2297106.The_Once_and_Future_King
fairymodmother's review against another edition
5.0
Ugh. I love this book to bits. I love it in an omnibus, I love it in individual volumes. I love it on paper, I love it on audio. I've read it backwards and forwards, and every time I do I find a new element to love.
The Sword in the Stone is most well known and perhaps best beloved, for it dispenses its truths with humor and sweetness. It is whimsical and innocent. The next two, Queen of Air and Darkness/Witch in the Wood and The Ill-Made Knight are not. They are messy and cruel, bold foils of Arthur's kindly childhood. They are brutal. They are filled with wrongs, secrets, lies, and betrayals told with the same gut-wrenching insight as we got when the truths were just sweet.
These books could be melodramatic. They could be filled with the gossipy, sensational parts of the tragedy of Arthur. And it's hard to avoid all of it, of course. But instead of focusing on the brutishness of the Orkney clan and the cuckolding of Arthur, instead we see how the hurts of childhood come home to roost in the hearts of men and women. It is my unfounded contention that White saw himself in Lancelot, in a way, and I am more and more struck with the story of his life.
In short, I love these books.
CONTENT WARNING:
The Sword in the Stone is most well known and perhaps best beloved, for it dispenses its truths with humor and sweetness. It is whimsical and innocent. The next two, Queen of Air and Darkness/Witch in the Wood and The Ill-Made Knight are not. They are messy and cruel, bold foils of Arthur's kindly childhood. They are brutal. They are filled with wrongs, secrets, lies, and betrayals told with the same gut-wrenching insight as we got when the truths were just sweet.
These books could be melodramatic. They could be filled with the gossipy, sensational parts of the tragedy of Arthur. And it's hard to avoid all of it, of course. But instead of focusing on the brutishness of the Orkney clan and the cuckolding of Arthur, instead we see how the hurts of childhood come home to roost in the hearts of men and women. It is my unfounded contention that White saw himself in Lancelot, in a way, and I am more and more struck with the story of his life.
In short, I love these books.
CONTENT WARNING:
Spoiler
Animal cruelty, murder, infidelity, mild body horror, blood and gorekjgrievewriter's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
Read as The Queen of Air and Darkness
"The noise, the slaughtering and slaughtered demons black against the flames - what scenes there have been in Sherwood, where now the oak trees crowd into a shade!"
A masterful line from this tiny little entry in the series, with compelling characters and thrills nevertheless. It's essentially an extended Monty Python sketch involving the Questing Beast with a few pages of nondescript fighting at the end, but still manages to charm despite its lack of substance.
However, I really felt a lack of details with this one, in a sense; the battle scene, though grand, seems to place no narrative weight on moments like the reader seeing Arthur wield Excalibur in combat for the first time, glossing over it with a simple line like "with Excalibur dancing in his hand". This dispels the mythos a little where elsewhere White has leaned into it with great effect.
The ending, as with the first, wraps up in three pages or so in a tedious list, but, in a book a third the length of the previous entry, feels thrice as rushed.
"The noise, the slaughtering and slaughtered demons black against the flames - what scenes there have been in Sherwood, where now the oak trees crowd into a shade!"
A masterful line from this tiny little entry in the series, with compelling characters and thrills nevertheless. It's essentially an extended Monty Python sketch involving the Questing Beast with a few pages of nondescript fighting at the end, but still manages to charm despite its lack of substance.
However, I really felt a lack of details with this one, in a sense; the battle scene, though grand, seems to place no narrative weight on moments like the reader seeing Arthur wield Excalibur in combat for the first time, glossing over it with a simple line like "with Excalibur dancing in his hand". This dispels the mythos a little where elsewhere White has leaned into it with great effect.
The ending, as with the first, wraps up in three pages or so in a tedious list, but, in a book a third the length of the previous entry, feels thrice as rushed.
ketutar's review against another edition
3.0
T.H.White is an excellent author, but... this book starts with torture of a cat and ends with seduction of a boy, and in the middle is torture of donkeys and unicorns... so... no... I did not like it. But it is good.
ruthszp's review against another edition
4.0
Both are so much darker than book 1, but especially book 2. Book 3 bogged down in the middle a bit for me when all the people came home and talked endlessly about their quests. I preferred the narrator telling me what was happening.
lallie91's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
notseb's review against another edition
3.0
It's fine, just not my style - hard for me to stay interested. I read this as an audio-book and often found my attention wandering.