The Once and Future King

This is one of the tellings of King Arthur and the Round Table if you couldn't tell from the title. It is divided into 4 books (Sword in the Stone, The Queen of Air and Darkness, The Ill-Made Knight, and The Candle in the Wind) and covers the entirety of Arthur's life.

There may not be anything technically wrong with it, but it took me a long time to read and I did not enjoy it much. I suspect this is just a case of the author failing to engage the reader.

The plot is good. It is King Arthur, of course the plot is good. But, there is far too much description. For example, one chapter starts with Lancelot and Guenever sitting by a window and the entirety of the chapter goes on to tell what they didn't see (thieves being hung for stealing amounts worth as much as a shilling, which could have been done in the old days, which really wasn't so bad because a shilling in those days was worth two geese or ninety loaves of bread) and what the could have seen (maidens riding through the forest, which couldn't have happened in the old days for fear of being attacked, and was now possible because all the roads were cleared on either side a distances that exceeded the length of a bowshot.) This stuff may even seem humorous were it not for the fact that twenty continuous pages were filled with little tidbits like this which did not at all build the plot. By the end of the novel I was just skimming over this stuff.

If you are the type of reader who can find this description enjoyable, then you will probably love this book.