Book Review: The Great Book of King Arthur by John Matthews

The Great Book of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table by John Matthews and illustrated by John Howe

A great admirer of Sir Thomas Mallory's Morte de Arthur, John Matthews has done vast research into the legends and tales of King Arthur. This book presents tales not told by Mallory but in a style that is both similar to Mallory and references the previous author frequently. These "new" tales tell various adventures and histories of Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. One section focuses on the famous Grail Quest and the book ends with Arthur's death and what happened to him when he departed for Avalon.

The stories have a medieval tone that's fun to read (it doesn't have medieval spelling or grammatical usage, so it is readable). The sense of wonder is complemented by the frankness of the text. For every reference to Camelot the Golden (King Arthur's court), there's plenty of very human behavior by the knights. They live by the code of chivalry but sometimes are bewitched by beguiling women or, more often, get into fights with any wandering knight who happens to look tough enough to present a worthy challenge. Some battles are with mythic beasts like dragons or shape-shifted people whose outer appearance does not match their inner disposition. The adventures are a lot of fun, though the knights often get overly friendly with the ladies they meet.

The illustrations by John Howe (who worked with Alan Lee on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies) are delightful but not too frequent. The average is one or two illustrations per story. With thirty-two stories, that's plenty to enjoy along with the text.

Recommended, highly for King Arthur fans, though his not for the youngest fans.