World Famous Comics: Sword of the Rightful King: A Novel of King Arthur
Sword of the Rightful King: A Novel of King Arthur
By: Jane Yolen Publisher: Magic Carpet Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Magic Carpet Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 376 Publication Date: August 01, 2004 Reading Level: Young Adult
The newly crowned King Arthur has yet to win the support of the people. Merlin must do something before the king is betrayed, or murdered, or--worst of all--gets married. So Merlin creates a trick: a sword magically placed into a slab of rock that only Arthur can withdraw. Then he lets it be known that whosoever removes the blade will rule all of England, and invites any man who would dare, to try to pull out the sword.
But then someone else pulls the sword out first. . . .
Amazon.com: Bestselling author Jane Yolen does not retell the tale of King Arthur in this imaginative novel for young readers so much as re-invent it. There are familiar characters such as Arthur, Gawaine, and Merlin (here called Merlinnus), and elements from the traditional story, including the famed sword in the stone. But The Sword of the Rightful King treats these as ingredients to cook up an entirely new story. In Yolen's version, Arthur is a young king. He wears the crown but sits perhaps a bit uneasily upon the throne. It has been reported to the king that there are some who will betray or even kill him in order to rise to power. To assure the subjects, the magician Merlinnus places a sword in a stone and announces that whosoever pulls it out, will be the rightful ruler of England. The fact that someone else pulls the sword out of the stone first is just one of numerous intriguing twists. Yolen manages to update the legend and make it fresh for a modern younger audience without resorting to gimmickry and incongruous references (no one says "dude", Lancelot does not ride a skateboard). Instead, she recasts the characters as real people: flawed, troubled, and altogether human. And while they still exist in long-ago England, the people we meet and the situations they find themselves in are accessible to readers of any age. (All ages) --John Moe
Worst version of king arthur I have ever read. I have read many king arthur books and enjoyed most of them, this is the worst. My complaints are basically the same as the other 1 star review. That Merlin's make is thwarted by using butter to pull the sword from the stone. And that the main character who was supposed to be a 13 year old boy turns out to be a 21 year old beautiful girl. I found that a little confusing. On top of that (minor spoiler ahead, doesnt reveal main plotline) as soon as the king finds out his friend is a girl he proposes to her. This is riciculous. Imagine that your best friend suddenly tell you that they are of the opposite gender, don't you think it would be a little weird if you proposed to them after only knowing them as your gender? Also I was expecting something more exciting and action filled from the back of the cover. It says that somebody pulls out the sword before king arthur does, yes that does happen and is an extremely minor event and really boring. There is little action in this book and isn't really suspenseful at all, you already know that king arthur is going to live because this is supposed to be a twist on the original legend.
Good but not great I began reading this book because I enjoy reading about King Arthur. I was not real impressed with the story line or the plot. I think Yolen could have been a little more inventive with this book. The end was good but for the most part the book was kind of boring.
Pretty Good! Arthur is the high king of all England, but his people are skeptical and his lords trechorous. The chief of those is Morguase, queen of the Orkney islands, the north witch. Four of her children are sent to Cadbury(Yolen's verison of Camelot) and a messenger deems one of them an assasin. All the while, a strange boy comes to Cadbury with a secret and a dangerous ambition. Merlinnus(who we all know as Merlin) plots of gaining the trust of the people of England through a mysterious sword and stone. Full of treachery, death, romance,humor,and the constant battle of good and evil, the Sword of the Rightful King makes a fantastic read for all Arthurian fans. Yolen does an outstanding job pertraying life in the dark ages and the problems a king must face. An advancement in Arthurian stories.
The ending was kind of awkward but maybe thats just me I read this book like a year ago so I'm a little dusty on the finer details but this book was interesting if you wanted a different take on the typical King Arthur story I normally like King Arthur stories but this one I just thought was a little boring maybe it was a little too different for my tastes and I have to say the Gawen and Gawaine kind of confused me at times I tended to mix them up a bit probably my biggest issue with this book is that one of the characters is suppose to be a boy and then you suddenly find out that he is a she and then she gets married and its kind of weird cause through the entire story you're used to thinking of her as a boy so it was really awkward to me when she gets married it wasn't a bad book just not one of my favorites and I'll probably never read it again
No one reads the review if the reviewer gives 4 stars. This book was very entertaining, and surprising. I love books about King Arthur, I mean the legend is just so cool! Or is it history? HA-HA! Jane Yolen's book had a different twist to the King Arthur story. She had all the main parts of the legend--the sword in the stone, Merlin, Arthur as the Bear, the Round Table--but she had little details that made her story...more original in a way. There wasn't a whole lot of action, but it was still an interesting story. Gawen travels to King Arthur's court at the time Merlin is devising a plan to get Arthur's popluarity up and going. So us readers are kind of in the backstage of "Escalibur".
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