Review: "The Once and Future King"

 

The Once and Future King by T. H. White is actually the first four novels White wrote on King Arthur – the fifth being published separately as The Book of Merlin.

The first half of the Once and Future King is the best-known part of the series – in part due to Disney’s The Sword in the Stone.  The first half of the book deals with where Arthur came from, his training to be a king under the tutelage of Merlin, and the removal of the sword as the sign of his being the rightful king.

The second half of the book looks at the relationships among Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot – their three-way romance.  And it poses the question for the king of whether a king should be just or merciful.

White fleshes out the original Arthur stories and looks at what it really means to be a king – a ruler.  Serious questions are asked that current rulers (and those who elect them) should consider seriously.

[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com].