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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen – Jane Yolen’s take on the Arthur legend is chef’s kiss! I loved it when I hit my middle school Camelot phase! Happy Reading!
One of the best stories of King Arthur and his knights.
Sword of the Rightful King was a wonderful novel that rekindled how I felt in middle school discovering classic fantasy novels like The Hero and the Crown . I loved how Yolen retells the Arthurian legend in a unique way that pays homage to the original myth. I'm glad I found this hidden on my bookshelf.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm a college student in Arthurian Literature right now, and we had to read a modern version of the legends and write a book review for it. I chose this book because YA is the genre I'd like to write in some day, and I wanted to see what other YA writers were doing with the stories. I tried to keep my Arthurian knowledge in mind as I read the book.
Many of the noteworthy characters from the Round Table make an appearance throughout the story, though the story itself does not have a clear main character. Several of the characters only step in and out of scenes, which would not matter so much to someone who does not know them. I was a little troubled that Lancelot has a gray streak in his hair (meaning he is old, I assume) and that Galahad is already a full-grown man, but Lancelot has not properly met Guinevere. Perhaps this is just another twist on the story, but knowing the legends I had a hard time not stubbing my toes over it.
Though some of the backstory in this book has ties to the traditional Arthurian tales (Arthur's origins, Morgause's marriage), most of the story itself is an original take (albeit clogged with clichés). But even with this original spin, I found the book stale and predictable. No main character was focused on, with the point of view switched between characters several times even within a chapter. Morgause was a characteristically evil witch, with very little real depth. Though Arthur was quite human and sometimes funny, he was not as well developed as he could have been. The boy character was very annoying before I realized who he was (take one letter out of his name and you'll have it), and after I figured it out the character was annoying because all the characters in the book had to turn a blind eye not to see through his/her disguise. Arthur's love for her, and hers for him, was incredibly rushed in the last ten pages, and left me feeling unsatisfied.
There were several adult concepts eluded to and a few swear words tossed about. If I had been a few years younger, I would have stopped reading after the first few chapters. The sexual references/cussing either did not have bearing on the story, or were not developed into a useful plot point (for instance, Morgause's mention of Uther using her when she was a child). I feel that the use of the characters' multiple POVs crippled this story, because it gave us a vague overview of almost every character but never gave us an in-depth look at any of them. There were a couple of almost laughable clichés, which hindered my ability to enjoy the story.
Over all, the book was interesting enough for a quick read to fulfill a class requirement. But the changes it made to the story added no depth, and sometimes little sense. Though some of this is to be expected from a young adult novel, with such a history of legends to work from I would have expected more.
Many of the noteworthy characters from the Round Table make an appearance throughout the story, though the story itself does not have a clear main character. Several of the characters only step in and out of scenes, which would not matter so much to someone who does not know them. I was a little troubled that Lancelot has a gray streak in his hair (meaning he is old, I assume) and that Galahad is already a full-grown man, but Lancelot has not properly met Guinevere. Perhaps this is just another twist on the story, but knowing the legends I had a hard time not stubbing my toes over it.
Though some of the backstory in this book has ties to the traditional Arthurian tales (Arthur's origins, Morgause's marriage), most of the story itself is an original take (albeit clogged with clichés). But even with this original spin, I found the book stale and predictable. No main character was focused on, with the point of view switched between characters several times even within a chapter. Morgause was a characteristically evil witch, with very little real depth. Though Arthur was quite human and sometimes funny, he was not as well developed as he could have been. The boy character was very annoying before I realized who he was (take one letter out of his name and you'll have it), and after I figured it out the character was annoying because all the characters in the book had to turn a blind eye not to see through his/her disguise. Arthur's love for her, and hers for him, was incredibly rushed in the last ten pages, and left me feeling unsatisfied.
There were several adult concepts eluded to and a few swear words tossed about. If I had been a few years younger, I would have stopped reading after the first few chapters. The sexual references/cussing either did not have bearing on the story, or were not developed into a useful plot point (for instance, Morgause's mention of Uther using her when she was a child). I feel that the use of the characters' multiple POVs crippled this story, because it gave us a vague overview of almost every character but never gave us an in-depth look at any of them. There were a couple of almost laughable clichés, which hindered my ability to enjoy the story.
Over all, the book was interesting enough for a quick read to fulfill a class requirement. But the changes it made to the story added no depth, and sometimes little sense. Though some of this is to be expected from a young adult novel, with such a history of legends to work from I would have expected more.
Read this to pass the time on a flight and enjoyed it well enough.
Basically devoid of conflict...and even though Arthur was relatively likeable the rest of the characters were pretty flat (even with their perspectives getting foregrounded occasionally). The whole narrative seemed to be serving/building up to the twist at the end, but the relationship between Gawen and Arthur was non-existent sooo the ending was more puzzling than satisfying.
This is a book I would have absolutely loved when I was younger. Endless action and magic - now, as a more experienced adult reader, I look for more. Nevertheless, it gave me a sweet appetizer of nostalgia for all the medevial books I consumed one after the other in my youth.
In the hands of anyone but Jane Yolen this book would be a cliche-ridden atrocity. Yolen's deft hand makes it at least interesting, and causes the twist ending not to seem like a foregone conclusion, but even she can not rid the plot of some of its tiresome expectations. A lesson to all - Arthurian legend must be dealt with cautiously.
This book has a great opening few chapters that pulled me in right away. However, the story quickly became overly simple, used some tropes I hate but can't say here because of spoilers and was overall very disappointing.