A review by obscuredbyclouds
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck

4.0

I found this hard to get through in the beginning, and was completely hooked by the end - sadly, Steinbeck never finished this. I think the quality of the segments varies, and it feels a little strange to read something that the author never considered finished himself. I wouldn't want someone criticize my writing on a first or second draft. With that said, some of the earlier sections were not that engaging to me. I really didn't find Merlin interesting, for example. These parts felt a bit like reading the Bible or Icelandic sagas. Kind of cool, but very detached and not thrilling.

The Lancelot chapters on the other hand were super engaging. As was the chapter on Gawain. Both times I wished they were longer.

I have never read any other book about King Arthur, so I can't compare this retelling (honestly, the closest I've come is rewatch Monthy Python & The Holy Grail a bunch of times). But I can speak on its literary merit - I was seriously bummed when the book was over.