Rating: 
Summary: The best novel ever written
Review: This is my favourite book - I read it every spring (usually around final's time) and notice new things each reading. It is a novel of the human experience - happy and sad, bright and glinting, of things that transcend time.The book is divided into four subsections: 1) The Sword in the Stone, 2) The Queen of Air and Darkness, 3) The Ill-Made Knight and 4) A Candle in the Wind. The books follow the Arthurian legend (this was my first reading into the subject and is a fantastic intro). The Sword in the Stone (upon which the sub-par Disney novel is based) is the first, it is funny and more of a children's tale then the rest. White's descriptions often caused me to laugh out loud - great examples are Merlyn's house, Wart's first meeting with King Pellinore and the Robin `ood quest. The Queen of Air and Darkness begins with a scene that has disturbed a few of my female friends (doesn't seem to bother guys for some reason). It isn't that bad and although I consider this the weakest section of the four it is important to press through. The Ill-Made Knight follows Lancelot as a different character than we are used to. It is a refreshing change from the medieval Lancelot and the one found in more modern tales. The story begins moving here to the tragic conclusion of the Arthurian legend, the humorous scenes of the first two novels largely disappear as White delves deeper into the myth. A Candle in the Wind is the ending of the book. A fantastic conclusion is all I will say. Overall, this is the best book ever written in my humble opinion. I canot say enough about it. Please read it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Worst Arthur Book Ever!
Review: This is, without a doubt, the worst King Arthur book I have ever read (and I have read plenty)! The characters are silly and boring. The first section tells the tale of Arthur as a child. This is probably the best part of the book, and it's not very good. The remainder of the story is pretty much Lancelot and Guinevere whining about how guilty they feel cheating Arthur, and then refusing to stop what they're doing. This might be an okay book for children -although the Lancelot/Guinevere portion is probably not suitable- but I can't imagine any adult taking pleasure in this atrocious book. For some good Arthurian literature try Marion Zimmer Bradley, Jack Whyte, Mary Stewart, etc.
Rating:
Summary: Upside down fairy tale
Review: Wonderful, stunning, funny. This write up of the King Arthur saga was, for me, an introduction to the middle ages which made me realize where we come from. The book is about a change agent pur sang, learning, growing, developing AND implementing his vision of how to live together in one of the most difficult of times. The best thing about fantastic books is when they make your own fantasy take you on a trip to a place where time runs backward, Kings are chasing beasts, magicians fall in love and knights save the life of virgins. Already looking forward to the time when I will be able to read this book to my children... If you don't like British humor, do not read this book.
Rating:
Summary: lovely and wise
Review: If you think Henry Fielding "[went] overboard on [sic] author intrusion", you don't understand and can't possibly appreciate "Tom Jones". If you think "the idea of the disappearing author is one of the mainstays of modern fiction", you haven't read Milan Kundera and your notion of what is modern needs updating. Nevertheless, it has always been and will always be the aesthetic prerogative of one telling and inventing a story to admit the plain truth, that he is, in fact, telling and inventing a story. As it happens, White puts himself into this particular story rarely and modestly, but when he does he always charming. There is an opposite tendency that I consider much more perverse, the tendency to frame novels as discovered manuscripts ("Steppenwolf"), diaries ("Jane Eyre"), collections of letters ("Dangerous Liasons"), and worse, to publish under a pseudonym ("Demian"). But fiction always hovers between these extremes and the tension involved in the hovering is much of its appeal. White exploits that tension knowingly and to good effect in "The Once and Future King". Read also "Tom Jones" and "The Unbearable Lightness of Being".
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Summary: all things...
Review: On the back of the paperback edition of The Once and Future King there is a description that says, "It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad," what a beautiful, perfect way to describe the book. Although I am a neophyte at fantasy and Arthurian literature, this was one of the finest pieces of writing I have ever come across. It is similar, especially in the first book, The Sword and the Stone, to the Orwell Animal Farm in that it is simple, if you choose to look at it that way, but can be enjoyed on several levels. The best thing about White's writing is that nothing is simple and everything is simple. Read it and see
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This was a really great book. Our G/T 7th grade class read this. It is a very inspirational story full of wisdom. This book is a MUST READ.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing peice of literature
Review: When I first began reading this book I was a little skeptic about it. Then when I got to about page ten I realized this book was going to be good. I did not know, however, that this would be the best peice of literature I would ever read. This book of four stories in one is a very accurate tale of Arthur and his kingdom because it is not always happy. White was not afraid to write about the dark times of Camelot. The fourth and final section of the book is a dark recollection of the final days of Camelot and its king. All four stories are great and that is why I gave it five stars.
Rating: 
Summary: White's use of structure in The Once and Future King
Review: Although I have never read Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, I suspect that he did not go so overboard on author intrusion. White's novel, although certainly a good read, is often flawed by the same author intrusion that Henry Feilding used. The idea of the disappearing author is one of the mainstays of modern fiction. Also, references to modern technology do not belong in Medieval fiction. For me, these issues ruined my "willing suspension of disbelief." White does, however, employ an engaging style that invites you into this novel by his personal warmth and genuine compassion for his characters -- there lies his strength. King Arthur's quest to bring reason, ethics, and sanity to a barbaric world are especially gripping. That he must, in the end, face these issues alone present the novel's most powerful aspect.
Rating: 
Summary: read it and love it
Review: I first read this book when I was 13 and can honestly say it changed my life in that it made me think deeply about issues I had never previously considered. Historically it is inaccurate - if Arthur did exist it certainly would not have been in the medieval period. But this does not matter at all - White tells the story with feeling and as it builds up to a climax it is impossible to put down. It is especially good as an introduction to Malory's Morte D'Arthur, easier to read but clearly based on the text. It is the most approachable book on the legend of King Arthur I have ever read and I would recommend it highly to anyone
Rating:
Summary: The Once and Future King
Review: This book follows the adventures of King Arthur and those in that time including Merlyn and Morgan Le Fay...these stories are classics and are written in a classic style that is sometimes hard to understand, but are entertaining. All in all, great book...well, books...it includes more than one, including the Sword in the Stone, so don't buy that if you buy this. :)
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