Reviews

An important part of the Arthurian legend, although the tourney parts tend to drag. A great deal of repetitive "he unhorsed him, so he threw him that he might have a horse, and he vowed that he was an unfaithful knight, and they fought for 3 hours and became best friends..." When Malory isn't describing tourneys, it's quite interesting and moving, although there is a great deal more fainting as well.

lera_'s review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

If you like legends and are interested in this particular topicthen go read this. Not much else to say, I enjoyed it

stefanv's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

As it is written in a different time period, I would recommend to read or listen along to an accompanying commentary in order to be able to put things in the right context and enhance your understanding of the text. If you do - and if you get through the tedious Holy Grail quest - you will be rewarded with a surprisingly moving end to the realm of King Arthur, as well as to the tale of Sir Lancelot, to whom Sir Thomas Malory gives more space than any other medieval retelling. A real hidden gem however is the unknown story of Sir Palomides, ‘the Saracen Knight’, whose complicated character and love-hate relationship with Sir Tristram makes for one of the best stories of the Knights of the Round Table.

hillshire's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative slow-paced

4.0

jeanettemarie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

arthurian's review against another edition

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4.0

it's very difficult to rate a compendium of reconstructed arthurian legends like this. what malory attempted to do has shaped so much of our current perception of these legends and has been seen as the basis for most to follow in english, the fact that such an effort was taken in the first place is commendable.

but also i think it's fair to say for most readers, the volume 2 will prove more interesting because both the Grail Quest and the whole Launcelot-Guenever bit are there. the separation into two volumes was probably to make it less intimidating to pick up, but i believe it is a great starting point for arthuriana. as for this volume, it is more disconnected with too many quests of too many knights to count, but i think the earlier tales set the tone and acts as a world building device.

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