Rating: 
Summary: What a Joke
Review: Nice idea but the story, characters, and how they interact are unbelieveably ridiculous. Some of their conversations will have you laughing out loud although that is not Whyte's intention. Whyte can write well enough to just barely hold the strings of a story together.
Rating: 
Summary: Arthurian Legend Lover's Must Read
Review: Of all of the recent novels I have read concerning King Arthur, this series has been the most entertaining. Jack Whyte has found some wonderful explanations for some of the legends surrounding King Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot. Mr. Whyte has made the residents of Camelot into real people with real concerns. I would recommend the entire series for anyone who enjoys the world of King Arthur.
Rating:
Summary: Is Jack going for the record ?????
Review: Peter Danielson ran his "Children Of The Lion' to about 30 books. William Stuart Long put out well over a dozen in the 'Australians', Donald Clayton Porter, racked up a good number in the 'White Indian Series', Don Coldsmith hit it big with the 'Spanish Bit' and so on. Is Jack Whyte out for the record ? Could be. Lord knows he has the material and talent. In book two we learn more about the folks behind the history and my I say, the R and D of Excalibur. Jack Whyte takes that simple statement and makes a beautiful book out of it...Go for it Jack...that a 30...
Rating:
Summary: extravagent
Review: The Book, The Singing Sword, was the tale of life before King Arthur. This novel told of the fall of Rome and the hardships that the world had to live with. With the sword Excalibur being made, troubles come with the greatness of it. Jack Whyte is an incredible storyteller and this book is one of the best I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Whyte Strikes Back
Review: The second installment in The Camalaud cronicles is just as gritty and addicting as the first. The adventures of Publius Varrus and Caius Brittanicus continue with Braveheart-like battles and sexual intrigue. The only bad thing I can say about this series is that I've lost too much sleep engrossed in these books.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: The Singing Sword is a valiant but misinformed attempt to place the Arthurian legend within the transitional period as the Roman Empire withdraws from northern and western Europe. One of the biggest disappointments is the essential premise of the book: "we need a sword for use from horse back." The protagonist spends an entire volume "inventing" something the Roman cavalry alae had been using for centuries. Just as the Roman infantry had adopted the short gladius or "spanish" sword during the conquest of Spain. The "spatha" or long sword, adopted from the Gauls, had been adopted as a standard cavalry weapon by Rome long before. So the protagonist had but to ask his Celt friends for a sword to model his upon. Rosemary Suttcliffe's Sword At Sunset recognized the probable origin of Arthur's sword in the Roman spatha over 20 years ago
Rating: 
Summary: Jack Whyte has clear insight into human wants and needs...
Review: This book, though at times disturbing in its exploration of the depths of the human soul, is at its core an uplifting and triumphant story.Varrus struggles with some VERY real and very unattractive temptations in this book...but that is only a fraction of what takes place. The end (mum's the word) is so powerful that I had to stop, pause, go back 5 pages and begin it again. I have rarely felt that I knew charcters better (perhaps Aubrey and Maturin in the O'Brian books) and I savored every moment I was allowed to inhabit their world and share their thoughts. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Not really a fantasy... an excellent historical fiction.
Review: This is a great book! Although it is not really a fantasy, fantasy lovers should really enjoy this book. It follows the life of the ancestors of King Arthur as it really could have happend. It would have been nice to through in some biblical fiction. i.e. casting out demons, walking on water, etc. I do not remember any of that sort of thing. Over all though really excellent.
Rating:
Summary: A superb historical take on the Arthurian legend
Review: This is volume two of a series that puts the legend of King Arthur into an historical perspective. There are other books or groups of books that have attempted this, most notably Mary Stewart's Merlin Chronicles - but Stewart never painted her picture with as big a brush as Jack Whyte does, and (so far at least) Whyte has done it without a hint of magic or any other type of fantasy. This is not intended as a slap at Stewart; I think her series is fantastic. It's just that I never thought it was possible to tell the story of Arthur and Merlin from a "human" point of view, until now. Whyte has proved that it's possible. So far I've only read the first two books in the series ("The Skystone" and this one), and if the rest of Whyte's novels are as superbly intelligent and well-written as these two I believe that Mary Stewart has some serious competition on her hands.
Rating:
Summary: A superb historical take on the Arthurian legend
Review: This is volume two of a series that puts the legend of King Arthur into an historical perspective. There are other books or groups of books that have attempted this, most notably Mary Stewart's Merlin Chronicles - but Stewart never painted her picture with as big a brush as Jack Whyte does, and (so far at least) Whyte has done it without a hint of magic or any other type of fantasy. This is not intended as a slap at Stewart; I think her series is fantastic. It's just that I never thought it was possible to tell the story of Arthur and Merlin from a "human" point of view, until now. Whyte has proved that it's possible. So far I've only read the first two books in the series ("The Skystone" and this one), and if the rest of Whyte's novels are as superbly intelligent and well-written as these two I believe that Mary Stewart has some serious competition on her hands.
| 
