King Arthur Books

[mystril at yahoo.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Jen Faulkner <jfaulkne at e...> wrote:
> 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?) 
> 
> 
> 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?...
> 

I've read most of them. They mangle the legend and make me wince in 
annoyance about every 20 pages or so, but I can't put them down 
because I'm a glutton for punishment. I'll glance over my copies at 
home tonight to give a synopsis. I do remember that Little Boy Merlin 
goes to some random island where people used to be able to fly and I 
think (since one of the books is called The Wings of Merlin) he grows 
wings. 

Two books I would recommend though (even if I haven't read 1) are 
Winter of Magic's Return and Tomorrow's Magic by Pamela Service. I 
read the second of these when I was about 10-11. It's basically 
resetting the King Arthur legend during a post-apocalyptic world. 
There are nuclear war references in there, though. (I haven't read 
the first because I never see it and want it at the same time, but I 
spent ages looking for it when I was a kid)

With or without you, he might like Jane Yolen's Merlin books. I'm not 
sure what age they're aimed at, my guess would be 7-11 year olds, but 
I got a big kick out of them. Although not Arthurian, I liked Jane 
Yolen's Pit-Dragon books too. 

There's also something called King, Arthur or Arthur, King that sets 
the legend during WW2, with King Arthur as a fighter pilot. But it's 
an adult book and although not all that complicated, it might be too 
complicated for a 7 year old. 

Your son would probably like at least the first section of T.H. 
White's Once and Future King. After that, IIRC, it's not quite as 
good. 

For the grown-ups, I'd recommend Jack Whyte's series of books. It's 
starts with The Sky Stone and Merlin and Uther's grandfathers. 

I love the Mary Stewart books too, but I don't like Wicked Day as 
much. But then, I also turn Excalibur off after Mordred comes 
swaggering in. I think it's too complicated for kids, too. 

~mystril, a lurker who can't resist Merlin and Arthur stories

PS: I'll turn my book collection over and see what else I can find.