[HPFGU-OTChatter] King Arthur Books

[Jen Faulkner]

On Thu, 31 May 2001, Rosmerta wrote:

> Does anyone care to recommend a King Arthur book that'd make a good
> read-aloud for a 7-yr-old? He can handle fairly sophisticated stuff
> (he's heard all the HP books twice now and is reading SS by
> himself....one.....word...at...a....time) but IIRC The Crystal Cave
> is too complex (isn't that the one that tells Merlin's story, but
> backwards?) 

The Crystal Cave is probably not a good idea for a seven year old,
though it's one of my favorite books ever.  It tells the story of
Merlin's boyhood and young adulthood (the story is continued in the
other novels in the series, The Hollow Hills and the others).  A great
read...  but I think I was maybe a first year high school student before
I read it.  It would be *way* too complicated (and probably
uninteresting) for a seven year old, I think.  There's also several
scenes I would consider too sexual for a child that age, including a
part where Merlin (and others) think that Ambrosius is perhaps
interested in him as a "catamite," to quote the book's language.  And
the Mithras scenes are probably way too intense.  I highly recommend the
book to adults, however.  (I didn't like the two that follow it, but I
did like The Wicked Day.)

I've not read them, but I have heard good things about T.A. Barron's
Merlin series.  It's aimed at children, though ones older than seven, I
think.  Maybe some here has read them?...

My favorite Arthurian book has to be The Mists of Avalon by Marion
Zimmer Bradley.  That was like a life-changing book when I read it my
sophomore year in high school.  Definitely Bradley's best work.  I
highly recommend it, though not for children.  Too long and too adult.

--jen, realizing that probably wasn't all that helpful... :)

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