Rating: 
Summary: More historical fiction than fantasy
Review: I picked up this book in the fantasy section, but it seems misplaced. I become King Arthur-fatiqued long ago, but this book captured my attention with a much different take on the legend. Whyte has written this book around the question "What true events could explain what has evolved into the popular legend of Arthur?"The breakdown of the Roman occupation of Britain is extremely interesting, and the book is worth reading for this alone. Since none of the characters in this book figure into the Arthurian legend, the story stands by itself. If you read the next few volumes, the myth will begin to unfold. This book is Whyte's most original and my favorite. For anyone interested in a novel of early Britain, I recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Huge Disappointment
Review: This was one of the most difficult books I have ever tried toread and one of the most disappointing. The story line has promise,but Whyte ruins it by gratitous and overly explicit sex scenes and byusing modern military language to talk about the Roman legions that isentirely inappropriate. He needed to read some books about how thelegions were organized and led instead of assuming that there wereparallels with the modern military. If I had wanted to read explicitdescriptions of intercourse, I would have picked up a HarlequinRomance. I'm no prude, but the book didn't need any of the scenesWhyte included.
Rating: 
Summary: Gritty story
Review: What I like is the way Whyte triangulates Arthurian Britain in the "Dark Ages" by combining the Romanized antecedents with the High Medieval descendants. I particularly like the first two books with their strong Roman grounding and the no-nonsense gritty view of life as Things Fall Apart: very convincingly done even if not wholly historical. It's great to see such carefully developed ancestors to the emergence of Arthur; that Arthur doesn't really emerge until Book 6 tells you something. It's cool to see the development, in a plausible context of clashing cultures, of archaeological things like the round table, long bow, stirrup, lance, and heavy cavalry, even if probably anachronistic in the 5th century. Whyte's writing style is a bit leaden and the plot occasionally plods (e.g., most of the Bk. 5 Fort at River Bend adolescence interlude, when everything in Britain also seems to pause). Somehow I manage to overlook the tiresome parts while awaiting the author's flashes of insight in constructing how the legend of Arthur might have formed.
Rating:
Summary: Arthur Reborn (not revisited)
Review: An excellent start to an excellent series. I was halfway through The Skystone when I bought the other 5 books immediately. This is how it could have happened, although Arthur doesn't show up until the 3rd book, Jack Whyte creates such a world that you forget about Arthur even as he explains the the origins of all in the arthurian mythos (Avalon, The Singing Sword, The Lady of the Lake). Whyte blends historical fact and events with his lively fictional characters so well that I found myself researching events covered in the book(s) and appreciating the story even more. ALthough historical fiction every Fantasy Fan should read this series (Whyte eliminates the magical element of Arthurs world and presents the legend as if they were all mortal men) The birth of a kingdom is thrilling to watch as the books flow into each other. I haven't enjoyed a series this much since Glen Cooks Black Compnay Saga...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent portrayal
Review: I thought that The Skystone was an excellent book that portrayed the leaving of the Roman legions very well. It seems quite possible that the Arthurian legend could be a "leftover" from the old days of Roman occupation of Great Britian. I love the way Jack Whyte puts some fact into fatansy and gives believable explanations for formerly unbelievable events such as Excalibur. I also like the way, unlike most books set in this time period, the main character is not completely flawless.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best book I have ever had the pleasure of reading
Review: The Starting of this particular book, was rather slow. About two chapters into it, it exploded, into an awesome book. The World Whyte creates is totally realistic for the time period. I also enjoyed how he told of the roman empire falling apart. This book is a must have for anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: It Came Close to Being Very Good!
Review: Like other reviewers, I too picked up this book thinking it would be a different slant on the Arthur legend and it certainly delivered from this standpoint. However, I must agree that the characters were two dimensional, at best. The sex and violence of the book did not bother me as sex and violence are part of the human experience but the portrayl of women as simply "cheerleaders" for their men was a bit too simplistic. I did find the information regarding the collapse of the Roman empire fascinating and wonder about how people at this time must have felt with their society starting to crumble around them. Overall, I enjoyed the book and hope that in the sequels the characters are fleshed out a little more.
Rating:
Summary: Fiction at its best
Review: Whyte has come up with in my mind one of the best fiction books there is. It seems authors most times use magic to explain the unexplainable, but Whyte has made a thinking mans book. I have enjoyed this book over and over, my only problem is finding books that present a historical time period using fiction as well as Whyte has.
Rating:
Summary: Great Blend Between History and Fiction
Review: Simply put: Historically accurate in the big picture. Consistent and well defined characters. Well paced between detail and action. Brought Roman rule in Britain to life (having spent time in England at various Roman sites, this book provided a new level of understanding for me to those ancient days). If you love history and a good tale... this is the book and series for you!
Rating:
Summary: Gritty Realism without the magic
Review: As a prospective Master's student in English literature, and a medievalist, I read "The Skystone" and found it an interesting alternative to the fantasy re-writings of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. It starts on a special note, with the times prior to the coming of Arthur, which reminds you of the apocalypse that Arthur seems to initiate as a saviour-like figure in Celtic and post-Roman history. I found the angle from which it is narrated--the world-weary voice of Publius Varrus as he recounts and re-writes the past--a particularly interesting attempt to start off, where the book becomes another of the treatises that writers use to make a defence against amnesia and to affirm the selective process through which memory moves. The book is lacking in the neo-paganism of Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon", and the fusion of quantum science, Norse mythology and a comparative approach towards religions that marks A.A Attanasio's fiction on Arthur, starting with "The Dragon and the Unicorn". But it makes up for it through its emotional depth of character, especially in Publius Varrus's ability to accommodate various experiences and ambivalent emotions in his narrations. One does ask if the issues of historical truth and representation hamper our appreciation of the novel itself, but we are aware of the risks that writers are taking upon themselves in revising history, and so, that issue may be peripheral.
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