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5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book!, Oct 24 2003
I don't know why everyone keep complaining about how confusing this book is, and how there are too many names or the adventures are all the same.
First of all, people did have names in the story, and there are more than two knights at the Round Table. In fact, there are 150, so occasionally, other knights MUST pop up in the story,and it's wise that they have names.
As for the adventures, I can't agree less. Each adventure is so skillfully written in this book, you are immediatly pulled in.
And each character is wonderfully brought to life from there less-described first days in La Morte D'Arthur, where you only had a few descriptions to go on.
Sutcliff expounds on those and more, and leaves you with memorable, believable characters, my especial favorites being the boisterous and hot-tempered Sir Gawaine, his handsome and noble brother Gareth and Merlin, who, instead of sounding corny and magical, just sounds like a very wise man who knows of the days to come.
Awesome variety of selections from the orginal King Arthur book(s), inlcuding the classics like Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight, Gawaine and the Loathly Lady (a humorous retelling), and my favorite: Beaumains, the Kitchen Knight.
All great stuff! However, if you are not into King Arthur, and you just picked this up because you're bored, I'm not sure how well you'll enjoy it. Obviously, the Round Table and King Arthur are a big part of this book, and since I notice a large number of people on here only read it and nothing else, it pays to read other King Arthur books as well as this one, to give you a bigger picture, and better appreciation for this fantastic retelling of the first 10 or so years of Arthur's reign.
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