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The Once and Future King
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 33 hrs
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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.
Critic reviews
AudioFile Earphones Award, 2009
"For those who have never read these five books, prepare to be surprised by their adultness, their laugh-out-loud humor and tongue-in-cheek commentary on modern life; for those who know them well, prepare to be delighted with Neville Jason's transcendent reading. The lovely timbre of his narrative voice, his rhythmic, easy pacing and host of individual characterizations transport listeners into White's weird and wonderful otherworld as quickly as Alice slipped through the looking glass. This long production is so entrancing that one wishes it would never end." (AudioFile)
Featured Article: The top 100 fantasy listens of all time
When compiling our list of the best fantasy listening out there, we immediately came up against the age-old question: Is this fantasy or science fiction? The distinction is not as clear as you may think. Dragons, elves, and wizards are definitely fantasy, but what about wizards that also fly space ships? (Looking at you, Star Wars.) For the sake of fantasy purity, the top 100 fantasy listens include the best audio works in all manner of fantasy subgenres.
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The Doones are a clan of murdering thieves, and among their victims is John Ridd's father. The strong, noble Ridd determines to avenge his father's death; but his plans are complicated when he falls in love with one of the hated family - the beautiful Lorna. Lorna is promised against her will to another; and that other will not let her go lightly. Set amid the political turmoils of the late 17th century, Lorna Doone brings West Country history and legends alive with wonderfully imaginative fiction.
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I fell in love with this book
- By Linda on 11-20-12
By: R. D. Blackmore
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Taliesin
- The Pendragon Cycle, Book 1
- By: Stephen R. Lawhead
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 19 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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It was a time of legend, as the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror faded from the captured Isle of Britain. Meanwhile, across a vast sea, bloody war shattered a peace that had flourished for 2,000 years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis. This is the remarkable adventure of Charis, the courageous princess from Atlantis who escapes the terrible devastation of her land, and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. It is a story of an incomparable love that joins two astonishing worlds....
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A Classic interpretation of a Classic tale
- By John on 08-11-03
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Suldrun’s Garden
- Lyonesse: Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The Elder Isles, located in what is now the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Old Gaul, are made up of 10 contending kingdoms, all vying with each other for control. At the centre of much of the intrigue is Casmir, the ruthless and ambitious king of Lyonnesse. His beautiful but otherworldly daughter, Suldrun, is part of his plans. He intends to cement an alliance or two by marrying her well. But Suldrun is as determined as he and defies him.
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Not my cup of tea
- By Ann on 01-10-11
By: Jack Vance
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The Dragon Waiting
- By: John M. Ford
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In a snowbound inn high in the Alps, four people meet who will alter fate. A noble Byzantine mercenary.... A female Florentine physician.... An ageless Welsh wizard.... And Sforza, the uncanny duke. Together they will wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester - and make him Richard III.
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Read not listen.
- By Anna Marie on 08-08-21
By: John M. Ford
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Death and the Maiden
- Mistress of the Art of Death
- By: Samantha Norman, Ariana Franklin
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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England. 1191. After the death of her friend and patron, King Henry II, Adelia Aguilar, England's vaunted Mistress of the Art of Death, is living comfortably in retirement and training her daughter, Allie, to carry on her craft—sharing the practical knowledge of anatomy, forensics, and sleuthing that catches murderers. Allie is already a skilled healer, with a particular gift for treating animals. But the young woman is nearly twenty, and her father, Rowley, Bishop of Saint Albans, and his patron, the Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, have plans to marry Allie to an influential husband.
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Wanted to love it
- By Jeffrey J. on 02-15-21
By: Samantha Norman, and others
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Heart of the Moors
- An Original Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Novel (The Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Series, Book 1)
- By: Holly Black
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Ruling a kingdom is challenging under any circumstances. But Aurora - queen of Perceforest and queen of the Moors - is reigning under the weight of two crowns. Caught between the prejudices that divide her kingdom and eager to establish lasting peace, Aurora is determined to sign a treaty to unify the humans and the Fair Folk. But as spiky dark flowers grow fiercely around Perceforest’s borders and a stable boy mysteriously disappears, tensions between humans and faeries are at a dangerous high.
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Fantastic exploration of the characters&universe
- By Kcow on 11-05-21
By: Holly Black
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The Last Unicorn
- By: Peter S. Beagle, Patrick Rothfuss
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy, Joshua Kane
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
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The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone...so she ventured out from the safety of the enchanted forest on a quest for others of her kind. Joined along the way by the bumbling magician Schmendrick and the indomitable Molly Grue, the unicorn learns all about the joys and sorrows of life and love before meeting her destiny in the castle of a despondent monarch—and confronting the creature that would drive her kind to extinction....
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Wonderful story given mediocre treatment in audio
- By David A. Howarth on 08-23-22
By: Peter S. Beagle, and others
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Far from the Madding Crowd
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Far from the Madding Crowd, which first appeared in Cornhill Magazine in monthly installments back in the late 19th century, features the love life of the young Bathsheba Everdene who is as poor as she is beautiful. Fortunately, Bathsheba's uncle leaves her his farm, which she goes to manage in the small town of Weatherbury. Before she leaves, however, she has an interesting encounter with a young farmer, Gabriel Oak, for whom she does a tremendous favor ,and he becomes indebted to her....
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Loved this delightful listening experience !!!
- By Robin Wardle on 07-15-16
By: Thomas Hardy
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The Road to Jerusalem
- Crusades Trilogy Series, Book 1
- By: Jan Guillou
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in 1150 to a noble Swedish family and coming of age at a monastery under the tutelage of a Cistercian monk and a former Knight Templar, young Arn Magnusson is sent to fulfill his destiny beyond the cloister walls. But the world awaiting him is a place at odds with his monastic ways. And when the murder of a king engulfs Western Götaland into a whirlwind of intrigue and ruthless power plays, headstrong and naive Arn is forced to leave the woman he loves behind and take up arms to battle infidels in the Holy Land.
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Went looking for trashy historical fiction...
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-22
By: Jan Guillou
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A Wayside Tavern
- By: Norah Lofts
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A Wayside Tavern tells the story of a Suffolk drinking place from the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, until the present day. The Roman veteran, crippled and left behind, worshipped Mithras, so the place became known as the One Bull and down through the centuries it became a clearing house for contraband, a miniature Hell Fire Club, a fashionable hotel, a mere pub. Across the yard, was the church of St Cerdic, king and martyr, who fought the Danes and was famous for the miracles performed at his shrine.
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An enjoyable tale
- By Gordon on 10-07-11
By: Norah Lofts
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Figures of Earth
- A Comedy of Appearances
- By: James Branch Cabell
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Figures of Earth, subtitled "A Comedy of Appearances", follows the vicissitudes of Dom Manuel the Redeemer from his lowly swineherd origins through his unlikely elevation to the Count of Poictesme, and beyond. Published in 1921, it was the second volume of “The Biography of Manuel”, Cabell’s great work about an imaginary land that also managed to skewer the world of his upbringing as a Southern Gentleman of Virginia, and nearly everything else, besides!
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The Narrator’s breathing is unbearable!!!
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Prince Lyov Nikolayevitch Myshkin is one of the great characters in Russian literature. Is he a saint or just naïve? Is he an idealist or, as many in General Epanchin's society feel, an "idiot"? Certainly his return to St. Petersburg after years in a Swiss clinic has a dramatic effect on the beautiful Aglaia, youngest of the Epanchin daughters, and on the charismatic but willful Nastasya Filippovna. As he paints a vivid picture of Russian society, Dostoyevsky shows how principles conflict with emotions - with tragic results.
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Le Morte d'Arthur
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Of all the legends of Western civilization, perhaps the glorious adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are the best known. The Quest for the Holy Grail, and the undying illicit love between Sir Launcelot and Queen Guenevere, have provided inspiration for storytellers and poets down the ages, and sparked so many films and books of our own time.
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In this, the first prose history in European civilization, Herodotus describes the growth of the Persian Empire with force, authority, and style. Perhaps most famously, the book tells the heroic tale of the Greeks' resistance to the vast invading force assembled by Xerxes, king of Persia. Here are not only the great battles - Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis - but also penetrating human insight and a powerful sense of epic destiny at work.
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The Emperor's Wolves
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Multiple races carefully navigate the City of Elantra under the Dragon Emperor’s wing. His Imperial Wolves are executioners, the smallest group to serve in the Halls of Law. The populace calls them assassins. Every wolf candidate must consent to a full examination by the Tha’alani, one of the most feared and distrusted races in Elantra for their ability to read minds. Most candidates don’t finish their job interviews.
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Excellent and long waited for
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1066: The Year That Changed Everything
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With this exciting and historically rich six-lecture course, experience for yourself the drama of this dynamic year in medieval history, centered on the landmark Norman Conquest. Taking you from the shores of Scandinavia and France to the battlefields of the English countryside, these lectures will plunge you into a world of fierce Viking warriors, powerful noble families, politically charged marriages, tense succession crises, epic military invasions, and much more.
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What listeners say about The Once and Future King
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Robert
- 12-13-12
My favorite book this year.
When I read reviewers write, “the best book I have ever read,” I thought yeah right! ‘must not have read many books. Well, I have read a fair bit myself and this is definitely one of the best written books I have ever read. I believe it is a book that one can read and reread and enjoy over and over and find something new in each reading of it. Not to be redundant, it is also one of the most fun and funniest I have ever read. It is a scholarly and even literary work, if you will. And yet, at the same time, the book is totally enchanting, witty and charming.
The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table arose in the early Middle Ages, when England was just beginning to come under the influence of Christianity. When anyone retells the story, the author brings his own perspective to the tale of chivalry. Here T.H. White often appears to use the education of the young king Wart by Merlyn to educate the reader. While not in so many words, or maybe it is that: Merlin is a time-traveler. Not so much in the context of some science fiction novel but in his memory. Merlin is aware of past, present and the future. Certainly the author is aware of those times and uses those temporal events to tell his story. The book is in many ways a critique of mid-twentieth-century British culture. At first, things seem somewhat anachronistic but then we see that the narrator regularly references events and people in modern times to help tell his tale even more effectively.
Both T.H. White’s The Once and Future King and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings were written in the shadow of World War II, and both reflect that context to some extent:
“No. There is one fairly good reason for fighting - and that is, if the other man starts it. You see, wars are a wickedness, perhaps the greatest wickedness of a wicked species. They are so wicked that they must not be allowed. When you can be perfectly certain that the other man started them, then is the time when you might have a sort of duty to stop him.” (Merlyn)
Not only is T.H. White’s The Once and Future King full of anachronistic references to places and events of modern times, but it also plays fast and loose with time within the framework of the novel itself. Given the references to the death of Uther Pendragon in 1216 and the appearance of Thomas Malory at the end of the story, Arthur would have lived from 1201-1485. In effect, what White does is telescope almost three hundred years of English history and social development into the backdrop of a single narrative.
The book is long. But multiple versions of the story of King Arthur are considered within its covers so how short can it be? No, this is the best of several interpretations of the legend and it is not too long. While much of the book’s ending dwells on allegory, philosophy and social commentary, it is done with and eloquence and prose that is hard to compare with.
One of the young reviewers of this book that I found tried to figure out the audience for for whom the author intended and concluded there were many. I agree:
For children and young adults-
“I have been thinking ... about Might and Right. I don’t think things ought to be done because you are able to do them. I think they should be done because you ought to do them.” (Arthur). One of the central themes of the book is War: Right and Might.
On one level, both Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and T.H.
White’s The Once and Future King are children’s stories, yet both novels contain very
serious social commentary clearly intended for adults. Who could argue though that the social satire found in these novels detracts too much from the ability of children to enjoy them. Could a child appreciate all that is contained within TOaFK? Certainly not. However, there are many stories in this legend and many that target the child in all of us. One need not read this entire book though I am sure a lust will always remain to do so.
No reviewer could possibly do justice to this book. How about some more of the author’s own words:
On Wisdom-
“The best thing for being sad ... is to learn something. That is the only thing that never
fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then - to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.” (Merlyn)
This is a story about great compassion-
“If I were made a knight ..., I should insist on doing my vigil by myself, a Hob does with
his hawks, and I should pray to God to let me encounter all the evil in the world in my own person, so that if I conquered there would be none left, and, if I were defeated, I would be the one to suffer for it.” (Wart)
The author writes a great deal about the evolution of man-
“Here, all you embryos, come here with your beaks and whatnots to look upon Our first
Man. He is the only one who has guessed Our riddle, out of all of you, and We have great pleasure in conferring upon him the Order of Dominion over the Fowls of the Air, and the Beasts of the Earth, and the Fishes of the Sea. Now let the rest of you get along, and love and multiply, for it is time to knock off for the weekend. As for you, Man, you will be a naked tool all your life, though a user of tools. You will look like an embryo till they bury you, but all the others will be embryos before your might. Eternally undeveloped, you will always remain potential in Our image, able to see some of Our sorrows and to feel some of Our joys. We are partly sorry for you, Man, but partly hopeful.” (Badger)
Much is written about human morality-
“Morals ... are a form of insanity. Give me a moral man who insists on doing the right
things all the time, and I will show you a tangle which an angel couldn’t get out of.” (Lionel)
This title actually includes Books 1-5 of T.H. White’s magnum opus. It is not so much about world-building per se though there is enough of that. The book is more about us as humans and our nature... our intellectual, psychological, social and even political nature. The book is philosophical, satirical with even a little theology thrown in. Not too much; just the right amount. If it is action that ye seek, knockdown, drag out fighting, best look elsewhere. This is one more about relationships and different kinds of heroes.
This is brilliant storytelling brilliantly read and performed. The narration by Neville Jason is as good as it gets. I could not recommend a book more highly.
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- Jefferson
- 12-17-11
A Modern Classic Epic Flawed by One Book Too Many
I eagerly purchased this audiobook of T. H. White's complete The Once and Future King, because for a long time Audible only had the individual books available. And I loved the first four books, which begin with the halcyon fantasy of The Sword in the Stone, in which the boy Arthur ("Wart") is educated by an anachronistic Merlyn. The scenes describing the daily life of a medieval castle during different seasons are vivid and beautiful, while those recounting Wart's fantastic adventures and transformations into various animals are imaginative, suspenseful, and humorous. White loved and respected flora and fauna (even snakes), and this first book is encyclopedic and fantastic, dense and rich, absorbing and moving.
From the second book, The Queen of Air and Darkness, which opens in the cold north as Queen Morgause boils a black cat alive while her four sons are telling the story of their grandmother's rape by Arthur's father, begins the increasingly dark movement of the novel, centered on the tragedy caused by Arthur's family history and the romantic triangle between himself, Guenevere, and Lancelot (The Ill-Made Knight). In the 2nd through 4th books White most closely follows Malory, though he also moves the era forward from the 11th to the 15th century and empathically imagines how medieval men and women felt and thought with modern psychological insight. At the same time, he writes plenty of joie de vivre, questing and combating knights, and fascinating details about medieval life (food, fashion, feudalism, etc.).
The novel really concludes with the 4th book (The Candle in the Wind) as the last battle between Arthur and Mordred is about to begin, but this audiobook then adds The Book of Merlyn, which may be good for completists, but which I found disappointing, as on the eve of the last battle Merlyn takes his former pupil off for a night of anachronistic political and philosophical debate with Badger and company about why humans wage war and what might be done to prevent it. Apart from Arthur changing into an ant and a goose to experience two different social systems, there is little "story" in this last book: too little Arthurian Matter and too much Whiteian Musing.
Jason Neville does a marvelous job reading the long work, effortlessly giving different characters distinctive voices and personalities without over doing it (so that, for example, his female characters sound like human beings rather than like a man imitating "women"). And his King Pellinore reminds me of John Gielgud.
I recommend this audiobook for anyone interested in the Matter of Britain or philosophical and well-written fantasy.
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- Jim "The Impatient"
- 05-07-13
People Who Say They are No Good are Always the
Good Ones.
Since you can get these five books for one credit, go ahead and get it, instead of one book at a time. Believe me if you buy the first book, you are going to want the second and if you buy the second, etc. Since this is five books I will go over each, in case you buy one at a time. I will try an be brief. I mean if if takes you as long to read the review as the book, why not just get the book.
1, The Sword and The Stone (1938). This is the best of the five and is mostly a fantasy. Wart/Arthur is turned into several animals to learn about life. There is also an interesting part on boar hunting. Did you know on a boar spear there is a cross piece to keep the animal from running up the spear to get to you.
2.The Witch In the Wood (1939) This is shorter, darker and not as funny, nor as good as the book before and after, but necessary as it explains the origin of the Round Table.
3. The Ill-Made Knight (1940) This is all about Lancelot. You really get to know his character, matter of fact there is more character building in this book then the others. This is the longest of the books and actually goes on about three hours longer then it should have. Did you know that Lancelot was extremely ugly? This is one of the reasons he became such a great Knight. It is such a big part of his character I can't believe so many movies chose to make him some stupid Handsome Hunk. He is a lot more complicated as an Ugly Man. You are introduced to the tragic character Elaine, who starts out as a trickster, but who you end up feeling strongly sorry for. Guinvere turns out to be one horny queen.
4. The Candle in The Wind (1958) Does Might Mean Right is the common theme in all these books. It is especially in this one and the book has several long speeches. I myself as a child never understood why John Wayne won ever fight he was in. Until True Grit, John Wayne strongly believed he should never be killed in a movie. Heroes don't die and never lose fights. King Arthur's mother dies at the age of 70, in bed with a young man she seduced. In the original "Once and Future King" this was the last book, as it should have stayed.
5.The Book of Merlyn (1977) This was published after T.H. White's death. He wanted it in the original (Once and Future King), but the editor would not allow it. That was one smart editor. This book brought the whole series down from Five stars to Four. This book has no plot and is 97% anti-war speeches. There is a part where the King is turned into a ant and then into a goose. Those parts and the end which explains what finally happens to everybody are the only good parts to the book. This is mostly a debate where White argues both sides. I also am aniti-war, but no explanation is given about what to do about people like Hitler. White seems to say let him keep murdering Jews.
All in all this is very well written, is very entertaining and if you are a fan of the Legend of Arthur, then it is a must read.
The narrator is excellent.
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- Bookoholics Anon
- 08-28-11
Fabulous reading, epic story and a new chapter!
I first read this book in 1963, and it was always a great favorite; the layers of Arthurian myth with White's dry wit and time-bending sensibilities as if Camelot were set in circa WWI Great Britain. This version is an admirable reading, Neville Jason provides finely-honed voices and the perfect slightly-ironic intonation that catches the tongue-in-cheek nature of this book. There is a chapter new to me, actually two. The "Mrs Mim" section was absolutely not in my edition, and features a wizard's duel between Mrs Mim and Merlyn. Reminds me of some other book about wizards I've read recently, can't think which one, though. And the Book of Merlyn is at the end, an addition to the version I read, advice to the king from his departing tutor. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this for the most enjoyable listening.
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- january
- 05-08-12
Wordy Schmerdy! Don't be a quitter!
This is a wonderful book, full of knights, chivalry and magic. What I didn't expect is how funny it is. It made me giggle several times.
I'm not satisfied to be a passive listener. I want to get everything I can from any book I read. So I did a little research into the life of T.H. White. He was an English scholar and writer. He left Britain for Ireland during World War 2. He strongly objected to the war and didn't want to be involved in it. So, where other reviewers see wordiness, I see a window into the writer's mind. The first 4 books are wonderfully detailed and captivating. The fifth requires a little more patience and thought. It's as if White set up characters to have a dialog that he was having with himself. Why do men kill each other? How can we stop it? Should we, or can we, stop it?
Give it a chance. You'll love it.
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- Darwin8u
- 01-29-14
One of the Greatest Fantasy Novels EVER!
*** First a preamble:
Just so you know, this audiobook contains Books 1 -4 of The Once and Future King AND Book #5 (The Book of Merlin). I didn't know #5 was included, but was thrilled to discover it came with the rest.
*** OK, preambulations are done, on with the real review:
I loved it and my two brats (11 & 13) absolutely enjoyed it, even if many of the jokes, the funky anachronistic blending of the Medieval with the Modern, might have floated a bit over their tiny wee heads.
Anyway, I think White perfectly captured the magic, power, fears and the joy of both youth and myth with this retelling of early Arthurian legend. White's theme of power and justice ("Might Makes Right") seem to perfectly capture the political Zeitgiest of now. Perhaps, White like Merlin was just writing through time backwards and wanted to capture the queer contradictions of Imperial Democracy in the global 21st century, but wanted to write it in the 1930s so Disney would be around to animate it (ugh) in the 60s and thus make his point resonate better in the early 21st century.
You might think a novel that basically focuses on a love-triangle (a quadrilateral if you include God), several affairs, a man's struggle between his love for a woman, love for God, love for his best friend, would not hold the interest of a 13 and an 11-year old for long, but this is T.H. White. The characters are so human, so filled with frailties, heroics, and insecurities that White could have written about cooking for 300 pages and my kids would have been rapt from page 1 to the end.
The story turns, about half-way through, solidly to Lancelot. It is impossible to understand Lancelot without looking at Arthur, Guinevere, Elaine & Galahad. And White digresses throughout TO&FK to capture these stories. The middle of the book pivots as Camelot, under Arthur's leadership, undergoes a change from physical quests (Round Table v. Might makes Right) to spiritual ones (Round Table > Grail quest). This change captures/mirrors the dynamic of Lancelot's own story (the vacillation between the physical and spiritual).
Finally, the weight of the conspiracies, the betrayals, the killings, and the expulsions are all there pushing against the King (I love when T.H. White calls Arthur - England) and his faith in man and justice. It just isn't to be. Do I need to hide the ending? Am I going to spoil the book for you? Come now, we are all mostly adults here. Camelot fails, but T.H. White explores the failure almost as beautifully as he does the magic of Camelot. He captures the magic of Camelot by focusing on the humanity of the people. He isn't satisfied with making (or keeping rather) Lancelot, King A, Guinevere, and even Mordred locked up in the stale symbols they often become. The trite shadows of type is not T.H. White's jam. He wants to humanize everybody. He wants to show the motives, the nuances of character that makes the reader LOVE these figures not because they symbolize things like bravery, chivalry, or justice ... but because they remind the reader of elements, times, moods and flaws found buried within. T.H. White started with a fantasy novel, but ended with an exploration of war, humanity, love, and hope.
Look, I'm skeptical of fantasy novels. They aren't my thing. I want literature. I want something that pushes you against the wall of your own head and dares you to think bigger. I think T.H. White was aiming for that -- and holy anachronisms - he nailed it.
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- John
- 07-18-17
Five Books, Four Stars
Ben Webster plays “Autumn Leaves” differently than Miles Davis. Botticelli paints Our Blessed Mother differently than a Jan van Eyck. And T. H. White tells the story of Arthur differently from Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, Chretien de Troyes or Sir Thomas Mallory. In all three cases, we are perfectly familiar with the subject matter. The delight is in seeing how each artist makes the familiar material new. The only question is, do they succeed?
T. H. White does, in high style, through the first four of his five novels that run about as long as the book on which they are loosely based, Mallory’s Morte d’Arthur. He is a supreme craftsman of the language; his descriptions of human feelings, or pieces of armor, or birds and beasts and landscapes—especially birds and beasts and landscapes—can be astounding in their precision and clarity. Of course, that’s T. H. White the Naturalist at work. He also has a lot of fun with time: Wart, Sir Ector, Lancelot and Guinevere are living forwards through time as Merlyn is living backwards, but even that is not strictly adhered to. Merlyn knows about microbes, yet Sir Pelinor wears spectacles behind his visor. At one point Merlyn asks for his hat and plucks from the air a black topper, circa 1890, which he throws back into the void, calling it an anachronism. But what constitutes an anachronism in a story where the future King Arthur (6th Century) meets “Robin Wood” (12th Century)? It took me some chapters to settle down into willing-suspension-of-disbelief. Once I did I enjoyed the ride very much—especially White’s telling defense of the Middle Ages against our Modern condescension.
The first volume, The Sword in the Stone, is a charming children’s book. With the second volume, The Witch in the Wood, things start getting psychologically complex and deeply insightful. This passage from chapter 11 of the fourth novel, The Candle in the Wind, is a fine example:
“People write tragedies in which fatal blondes betray their paramours to ruin, in which Cressidas, Cleopatras, Delilahs, and sometimes even naughty daughters like Jessica bring their lovers or their parents to distress: but these are not the heart of tragedy. They are fripperies to the soul of man. What does it matter if Antony did fall upon his sword? It only killed him. It is the mother's not the lover's lust that rots the mind. It is that which condemns the tragic character to his walking death. It is Jocasta, not Juliet, who dwells in the inner chamber. It is Gertrude, not the silly Ophelia, who sends Hamlet to his madness. The heart of tragedy does not lie in stealing or taking away. Any feather-pated girl can steal a heart. It lies in giving, in putting on, in adding, in smothering without the pillows. Desdemona robbed of life or honour is nothing to a Mordred, robbed of himself—his soul stolen, overlaid, wizened, while the mother-character lives in triumph, superfluously and with stifling love endowed on him, seemingly innocent of ill-intention. Mordred was the only son of Orkney who never married. He, while his brothers fled to England, was the one who stayed alone with her for twenty years—her living larder. Now that she was dead, he had become her grave. She existed in him like the vampire. When he moved, when he blew his nose, he did it with her movement. When he acted, he became as unreal as she had been, pretending to be a virgin for the unicorn. He dabbled in the same cruel magic. He had even begun to keep lap dogs like her—although he had always hated hers with the same bitter jealousy as that with which he had hated her lovers.”
That’s nothing short of illuminating. But the final installment of the story, The Book of Merlyn, very nearly destroyed the delight I had taken in the first four books.
Some years ago, I read that J. R. R. Tolkien always insisted his Lord of the Rings should never be read as an allegory of the Second World War. That used to puzzle me; it doesn’t now. Writing during the war, White draws definite parallels to his own times, even going as far as to tell us Mordred is forming a Fascist organization that threatens Jews. I can’t tell you why, but that diminished the impact of the story—at least for me. It sounds preachy, sanctimonious (the besetting foible of people who, like White, are agnostics) and limiting. The anachronisms mentioned above are fun; these just get heavy-handed.
Oddly, much of this occurs in the fourth book of the series, The Candle in the Wind. I ignored it because the story was so compelling. But by the time we hit the committee meeting in the final volume, I was just waiting for the thing to end.
This extended meeting between Arthur, Merlyn and an assortment of woodland creatures, concerns war: its roots and its eradication. That had always been at the heart of the Arthurian project: the rechanneling of violence to good ends (the Medieval concept of chivalry). The problem (for me) is that I was raised in the 1960’s and 1970’s, on the PBS-esque, humanity-loathing, animal-admiring, one-world doctrines Merlyn espouses. They struck me now as all rather shopworn.
He exalts the patience of birds who raise coo coos in their nests, or the “love lives of ravens”—forgetting that animals act upon instinct, while we humans must make a conscious decision to be brave or generous or patient. Likewise, seeking a cure to war while insisting upon the individuality of man seems to me a logical Mobius Strip. Only if we weren’t individuals, only if we didn’t have the pride to feel an affront or the courage to stand up to a bully—only then would warfare cease. But there I go, sounding like the committee meeting I’m carping about. The conversation in this last book gets as tangled as the anachronisms in the first four.
In the end, the committee is really a conclave of central planners trying to construct heaven on earth—forgetting that, like the poor, war will always be with us. And forgetting (or ignoring) that Christ’s suffering and death (under the very brutishness they are trying to eradicate) redeems suffering, death and our brutish lives. But that’s T. H. White the Agnostic at work. "Notably free from fearing God,” one scholar has written, “he was basically afraid of the human race." So, despite some fine writing, the committee meeting turns in upon itself seemingly endlessly, never finding an answer. If you exclude God from the universe, complaining about sin strikes me as pointless. I’m not trying to be awful here; I, too, once thought Art, Discussion, Education, Enlightenment would lead to the Truth, a new Truth no one had ever thought of before. Then I found I was wrong.
Final score: one star for The Sword in the Stone, one star for The Witch in the Wood, one star for The Ill-Made Knight and one star for The Candle in the Wind. But no star for The Book of Merlyn.
However, our reader, Neville Jason, would get six stars if that were possible. Maybe even more.
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- Troy
- 08-14-20
Clearing up edition confusion
This version (thank you Audible!) is the original version in five books. At one point the first four books (with part of the fifth sandwiched in) was printed as The Once and Future King. Those complaining about missing chapters (e.g. the ant war) are referring to that other version. In this collection those missing chapters come later in The Book of Merlin. They were however changed a little in the all-in-one print compendium. Which is better? Correct? Shrug. They are just different. This one is more complete, despite people’s comments to the contrary.
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- Champaa
- 07-26-12
Many Years Ago
I read this book many years ago and jumped on the audio book when it became available. As in every part of my life I remember things differently than when I was younger. I was young and easily impressionable. Then it was a romantic novel of Knights who were bold and dreamed. They were honorable filled with Idealism. Listening to the book I saw a new and revealing side that included a political agenda, an eventual pragmatic realization and a little romance.
The issue of Might versus Right tones in the book initially irritated me as Arthur and Merlin forged on to make everyone equal, then as the book progressed this Idealist quest turned quickly to the realization it's not as easy as they thought. The same hold true today!
I loved this book even more than I did fourty years ago. The characters are belivable the intrigue as bold and the outcome as sad. I highly recommend you listen to this wonderful tale of the origin of King Arthur and his rise to power and the creation of the Round Table, the mastery of Merlin, the brave Lancelot and the lovely Guinnever.
The Narrater was wonderful, the story enchanting. It's a masterpiece.This is the best novel of the Legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
I will listen it it again.
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- Kindle Customer
- 05-20-12
Great story, AMAZING narration
I read this story years ago, so when the complete audio version became available, I snapped it up. The story is pretty much as I remembered, but so much better because of the narration. Neville Jason handles the archaic terms impeccably, and moves easily between the chivalric language harking back to Malory and the more modern phrases and asides.
Mr. Jason also strikes just the right notes, whether in the light-hearted sections or in the more poignant passages. I felt the true sense of tragedy in the story of a king who tried to do something new and good, and who nevertheless was brought down by fate and youthful indiscretions.
An excellent, excellent story, and a lovely narration. I didn't mind the last book, but if you skip it, you won't really have missed anything much. But I wanted to hear the whole thing, and I'm glad I did. Thank you, T.H. White and Neville Jason for a truly memorable work.
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