Arthur commits incest and is finally betrayed by the son of this incest. Freudian themes dominate the book, as does gore.

As to whether The Once and Future King is appropriate for children, here are some cautions of which parents might want to be aware. It chronicles Arthur’s final lessons from Merlyn before his death.Ī lot of people think of “The Sword in the Stone” as a children’s story because Disney made a children’s animated film of it, but like the rest of the book, it has a liberal sprinkling of bad language. A final book, called The Book of Merlyn (written 1941, published 1977), was published separately following White’s death. “The Candle in the Wind” unites these narrative threads by telling how Mordred’s hatred of his father caused the eventual downfall of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the entire ideal kingdom of Camelot. The third part, “The Ill-Made Knight,” de nd Queen Guinevere’s forbidden love. In “The Queen of Air and Darkness,” White sets the stage for Arthur’s demise by introducing Arthur’s seduction by his half-sister Queen Morgause. “The Sword in the Stone,” detailing the youth of Arthur, called “Wart,” chronicles Arthur’s upbringing by his foster father Sir Ector and his initial training by the wizard Merlyn. Though Arthur, if he existed at all, would have ruled some time around the 6th century, the book is set around the 14th century (and Arthur is portrayed as an Anglo-Norman rather than a Briton), and the actual monarchs of that period are referred to as “mythical.” White wrote three more books, The Queen of Air and Darkness (1939), The Ill-Made Knight (1940), and The Candle in the Wind (1958), which he collected as The Once and Future King, and then later added The Sword in the Stone in the composite edition. The Sword in the Stone was written in 1938. It collects and revises shorter novels published from 1938 to 1940, with much new material. White’s modern retelling of the saga of King Arthur based upon the 1485 book Le Morte D’Arthur by Thomas Malory. Putnam’s Sons republished in 1966 by Ace Books, an imprint of The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of the Penguin Group USA Inc., 375 Hudson St., New York City, NY 10014).

The Once and Future King (Published in 1965 by G. No other compensation has been received for the reviews posted on Home School Book Review. Any books donated to Home School Book Review for review purposes are in turn donated to a library. (5 stars=EXCELLENT 4 stars=GOOD 3 stars=FAIR 2 stars=POOR 1 star=VERY POOR no stars=NOT RECOMMENDED)ĭisclosure: Many publishers, literary agents, and/or authors provide free copies of their books in exchange for an honest review without requiring a positive opinion. Recommended reading level: Mature teens and adults (1=nothing objectionable 2=common euphemisms and/or childish slang terms 3=some cursing and/or profanity 4=a lot of cursing and/or profanity 5=obscenity and/or vulgarity)

The once and forever king