I can't get over how utterly unsatisfying this book was. Took a full month to read its mere 140 pages, which should say everything.

It has some brilliant shining moments, where the author's skill in writing blew me away, as it did with the first book of the series The Sword in the Stone (my review for which can be found here).

But it's too heavily marred by:
- General lack of structure and plot
- Archaic and problematic use of language
- Sexism
- Middle book syndrome (doesn't work as a standalone)
- Generally being unpleasant to read (see the content warnings below)
- A truly awful ending (my comments here - spoiler warning)

I read the revised version from the 4-in-1 tome [b:The Once and Future King|28434662|The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King #1-4)|T.H. White|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451774552l/28434662._SY75_.jpg|1140206]. Apparently this is much darker in tone than the original, as well as being a great deal shorter by cutting out all the fun stuff. I am stumped at why White chose to do this.

Now I need a book from the current century to cleanse my palate.

Content warning: rape, animal abuse, child neglect, kidnapping, war, incest ( )

They're too rich to fight
King Arthur's not playing fair
pick on someone poor. ( )

This is a weird one. It’s the second book in TH White’s larger work The Once and Future King, and at one stage it was extensively written and republished. From descriptions online I seem to have read the revised version, which is much shorter, but I’ve seen conflicting information as to which is called The Witch in the Wood and which is called The Queen of Air and Darkness. My ebook version, which is the series as a single work, has it as The Witch in the Wood, anyway.

This is also an odd one because it’s much, much shorter than The Sword in the Stone and also far less interesting and eventful. It’s split between the Scottish island of Orkney, with a plotline involving the witch-queen Morgause, her four children, and the bumbling knight King Pellinore and his companions, and a different section further south involving Arthur, Kay and Merlyn as they fight an uprising. This section was the more interesting; White’s time-travelling Merlyn, with his contemporary language and knowledge of the 20th century, is a wonderful character, and the three of them have interesting discussions about the nature of politics, war, and the justification of force. I thought this was an interesting quote (even though I disagree with it), given that it’s the eve of the Scottish independence referendum:

“I could never stomach these nationalists,” he exclaimed. “The destiny of Man is to unite, not to divide. If you keep on dividing you end up as a collection of monkeys throwing nuts at each other out of separate trees.”

Overall The Witch in the Wood seems to be a bridging novel, between the establishment of the series in The Sword in the Stone, and the later novels, which is presumably where the meat of it all is. I wouldn’t say I’m disliking the series, but so far I haven’t seen anything to support the popular claim that it’s one of the greatest fantasy series of all time, and if it wasn’t for that claim I probably wouldn’t be pushing on with it. ( )

The second book in "The Once and Future King" begins the tragical part of the tale. It is much shorter than "The Sword in the Stone" and has two main stories: the childhood of the Orkney children and the antics of the lovelorn King Pellinore and his friends. Though joined by the unicorn plot the tone of the two are very different. The plight of the Orkney children with their quarrels and sufferings is tragic while the masquerade of Sir Palomides and Sir Grummore as the Questing Beast is entirely comic.

It is easy to identify with Gareth's distress and escapist imaginings, with Gawaine's anger and ferocity, and even with Agravaine's contemptuous intellectualism.

Neville Jason's reading is outstanding. ( )

Otherwise known as "The Queen of Air and Darkness" ( )