The Once and Future King

By: T.H. White

In a time when everyone is obsessed with Game of Thrones and the like, The Once and Future King should be in development for a television series. It is however in development for a “live-action” movie. Never heard of TOAFK? Yes you have. Remember Disney’s finest: The Sword in the Stone? TSITS Is only the first of 5 books. You can continue the adventure of “Wart” aka King Arthur as he learns more about the natural world from Merlin, till he becomes and wizened old king on his death bed. You can experience of all the adventures and misadventures throughout his life time. You can learn how the Knights of the Round Table was formed, and the story of Guinevere, and her two loves. It’s a really great story. T.H. White is a very under appreciated author. This series kind of fades out at the last, and I would advise skipping The Book of Merlin. It’s a lot of reminiscing, and exploring human nature. It’s a lot of animals sitting in a den contemplating. T.H. thought it was genius but I say; not so much, especially for the year 2015. Everyone in his time thought they had to include the Russians and Communism. I suppose in the year 2070 we will wonder why everyone of the early 2000s wrote about Isis and Zombies.

I totally recommend this book. I love the old Disney cartoon, and didn’t realize how much of the Lore was invented by White. This series was started in the 30’s and finished late 40’s into the early 50’s, with very little lost in translation. It’s amazing how he writes with comparisons to the time he was living in and the time Arthur was living in, and yet it is still current today for the most part.

Book Listing:

• The Sword in the Stone (1938)
• The Queen of Air and Darkness (1939)
• The Ill-Made Knight (1940) 
• The Candle in the Wind (1958)
• The Book of Merlin (1977)

★★★★☆ 4/5 Stars 

Audiobooks Length: Aprx 25 hours.

Genre: Fantasy, Literature, Heroic, Epic, Satire

Book to Movie Grade: A+