#149 in Historical fiction
The Once and Future King
- 654
- Pages
- about 12 h
- Reading time
- Film 1963 +1
- On screen
- NPR Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books
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Our view
“The Once and Future King” is an uneven, witty retelling of the Arthur legend that grows stronger the further it goes. Across more than 650 pages White mixes jokes and deliberate anachronisms with a parable about the ideologies of his own century. Many readers warm to the book only late: some find the early stretches slow, some are won over only by Lancelot’s story; others never feel close to Arthur himself.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Once and Future King is a collection of fantasy novels by T. H. White about the legend of King Arthur. It is loosely based upon the 1485 work Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. It was first published in 1958 as a collection of shorter novels that were published from 1938 to 1940, with some new or amended material. The title refers to a legend that Arthur will one day return as king.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen 2 times — from 1963 to 1967.
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.7 across 296 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 67% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Historical fiction average of 8.0. That is how 7.8 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.2 | 33 | 11% |
| Hardcover | 7.6 | 263 | 89% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Once and Future King?
It has 654 pages — longer than 66% of the ranked books in Historical fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Historical fiction — with scores between 7.8 and 8.0, closest to this book.
