King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

by Benedict Flynn

These stories are about how, many years ago, Arthur the once and future King of England, set out to save his country from the troubles that plagued it, aided by the brave knights of his Round Table, and the most famous sword in the world, Excalibur; how Merlin the wizard fought against the wicked Morgana le Fay’s enchantments, and how Arthur loved and lost the beautiful Guinevere, his Queen.

Genres: Fantasy, Classics, Audiobook, Fiction, Childrens, Historical Fiction, Mythology

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Sorina Radu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have seen movies about King Arthur,Merlin,but the reading is interesting. I like positive characters,such as Merlin,King Arthur,Lancelot,Sir Tristram etc. I admired the bravery of Knights who were fighting for their king and people. These stories contain themes of love,fights,friendship,enmity. The negative situations are created by villains, such as Morgan le Fay,Vivien,Sir Meligrance.
Many stories have happy-endings, other stories have unhappy-endings,but in most cases,good overcome evil. I like King Arthur who tried to be strong and did good things without the help of Merlin,but to finish,he could not stop the cancellation of the Round Table. I liked the scene where King Arthur rejected to be king in the castle of Queen Annoure. He loved his wife -Guinevere,people,that's why he rejected the riches. He was a strong king for people,good husband for his wife,friend for knights. Admirable! But nobody can avoid the death that ended all.
This book is easy to read for beginners of English. I could understand it. I found only some unknown words. The words are easy, sentences are clear.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

(audio book read by Sean Bean)
First listened to: May, 2009. Listened to again: December, 2011. (How did I let it get under the stack and wait so long before listening again?) Listened to bits and pieces of it occasionally since then.
A good distillation of the major Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot-related stories of the legend, with the bonus inclusion of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. (I do wish Sir Gareth had been mentioned more than in passing, because he's my favourite, but I can see how the author would feel the tale is not essential.) Sean Bean's voice adds to the story. He has such a sexy voice. And he does a marvellous job reading the story, altering his voice slightly and doing accents to bring different characters to life.

[Georgene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have the audio version of this book. It is read by Sean Bean. Who CARES what the stories are like, his voice is WONDERFUL! Given that, I must say that Mr. Bean does very well at this narration. His vocalizations of the few female characters are good without being silly or "squeeky". It seems that each character has a unique "voice". Bravo!

[Codie's Book Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may be biased because I listened to the audiobook which Sean Bean narrates but - SEAN FRICKIN BEAN!!

[Илияна Димитрова · Rating 5 out of 5]

На книга, прочетена от Шон Бийн няма как да дам по-малко от 5 звездички :D

[Bowl of Soup · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to the original tales of Arthurian legend. Great for beginners or people looking for a concise rendition of the cannon. I loved how Flynn mixes show and tell, as many of the tales are with plenty of narrative flare.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't often listen to audiobooks, but this was narrated by Sean Bean and that hooked me.

2019 Update: Listened to during the holiday season, and I feel like finally starting to remember the stories!

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much Lancelot I hate that guy
Otherwise great

[Kacey Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is a must-read for children. King Arthur is much-referenced in many other forms of media, so it is important for children to know the story of how Arthur became king and how his choices lead to his ultimate defeat. This version gives the most appropriate information for young readers to understand the general tale in the form of a chapter book. There are very few illustrations, all in black and white, and they do not add to the story at all. I would recommend this or maybe a more illustrated version of this story to any young reader, or to whoever reads to children.

[Cristina]

The story about King Arthur, Merlin. I like, because the reading is interesting. The heroic King Arthur is very brave, it halps people. The character has wisdom and thought. This legend impressed me, very much. He is chivalrous ideal, both war and peace, he fights for the good of his people and Peace. The legend has an unhappy ending. I appreciate his dedication for his people.

[Denae Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reader thoughts: Well, that was short and easy. It read much like a Great Illustrated Classic, with all the main tales summarized down to the main points. There was little dialogue and little character development.

We see Arthur, Gawain, Galahad, the Grail, Merlin, and Mordred. We see more of Lancelot than I usually do. In fact, he's more a full character than the rest. He has anxiety over betraying his king by, er, being with his queen. No, Lancelot only keeps Guinevere company because she'd otherwise be so sad. Yuck.

I much prefer Gerald Morris's retellings from the squires' points of view. Those are good for middle-grade level. Maybe this book is good for about middle-grade level too. Considering the allusions to sex and affairs, I wouldn't give this to anyone younger than 10. Maybe 12? It's not explicit at all.

Writer thoughts: If you will write a retelling, you want something new and unique. Perhaps you are telling the story from a new point of view. Perhaps you've added dragons. Perhaps you changed it so that Cinderella and the prince have been friends since birth or that she really is a princess in her own right. Perhaps you've taken a leud set of tales and simplified them down to kid level and some measure of cleanness while still keeping the gist of the classic.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on the King Arthur legends/oral stories. All my exposure to the King Arthur legend has been from movies/tv etc...so I was surprised by this taking of the accounts which there are 130 knights of the round table!! I thought there were 12? Then it checked - haha, so many different versions. This leads to the next notable character...

Whoa, Guinevere- definitely not a feminist vision of her character but has she ever been portrayed in a positive light? I really don't know and I'm interested in finding out how the world has put her fictional character to the tests of modern thought...

I can pretend to see the influences in why this story was written but I don't have facts...so I'll keep reading each version just to see.

[Ross Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first long-form introduction to Arthurian legend, sadly, but it was totally worth it. In a fairly short span, it hits all the highlights, while very efficiently showing the strengths and weaknesses of all the incredibly memorable characters who sat around the Round Table or hid out in the swamps of Camelot scheming. It left me wanting more, but in the good way, where I felt like it set me up for further exploration without falling short of its goals.

[Eton School Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read this book to our Lower Elementary students as a study of what folklore, legends, and storytelling over time can bring to us. The overwhelming feedback I received is that the students LOVED listening to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It offered them a chance to imagine the story they were hearing, to wonder about the ways stories shift over time, and to be part of an epic journey.

[trijnewijn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introductie tot koning Arthur en de ridders van de ronde tafel, want na het laatste boek van de Wizards of Once wilden de kinderen wel wat meer weten over wie die waren. Het audioboek was niet slecht, maar ook niet speciaal goed. Er kwamen wel verrassend veel vastzittende zwaarden in aan bod. Er is het super bekende zwaard in de steen, maar het zwaard in het been en het zwaard in de drijvende rots waren nieuw voor me.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narration is great, but I also loved the stories told and the seemless way they are put together, even though there was a lot of time that passed between notable events. My kids and I were totally glued to the story, silently listening for 2 1/2 hours. I thought the stories chosen were a great collection of the tales of King Arthur.

Clean rating: PG. Lady Gwenivere and Lancelot do have an affair, but nothing other than "sharing a bed" is said.

[Terri Floccare · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent version of the Arthurian legends for middle grade readers. I read this as an audio book. I enjoyed hearing Sean Bean read this. He lent the characters the right amount of gravitas and nobility. This is very accessible for young readers. Some of the morality in the tales are difficult to explain, but this tells the tales without dwelling on some of the more mature aspects.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shorter version of the usual King Arthur tales, drawing from both Mort d'Arthur and Sword in the Stone; it covers all the big plot points from beginning to end without getting bogged down in nitty gritty details.

This would be a good book to read in order to know the basic groundwork before getting into various retellings and reworkings.

[Kim_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one as I’m doing Believathon readathon with a prompt to read a children’s book with the same first letter as your name, K is not an easy letter to find a book for, but King Arthur was the first one I found. I listened to the audio book of this one. Sean Bean’s narrative really bought the tale to life. I thought I knew the tale of King Arthur but turns out I didn’t.

[Ay · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good story. I came from watching the Disney movie and found out the movie only covered the first tiny bit of the story. I liked the knights and the adventure was fun to listen to. I would recommend to a bit older audience since it has scenes of adultery and such. The ending was good too. I would love to find a series about each other Knights adventures.

[Shay B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good! Sean Bean did a brilliant job of reading it. I loved it so much. I can’t wait to reread Legendborn with this context. Stories were captivating and engaging. Loved the aspects of magic/sorcery, and how it all came together. Watch my full review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zoep...

[✧ bree ✧]

omg hiii my close personal friend sean bean <3

who will repent for the lack of sean bean narrated audiobooks??? oh it's a crime.. like u couldn't even get him in the booth to narrate the sharpe novels...

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very good version of the legends, good reader

[Tom O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gentle and evocative retelling of Arthurian tales for younger readers/listeners, aided in the audio version by Sean Bean's excellent performance.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, basic founding Arthur text. The audiobook was read by Sean Bean which earns it an extra star. I'm

[Kimball · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just want to learn more about this mythical King Arthur but these children's books are failing me. I'm going to try the movie next to gain greater context.

Who put the sword in the stone.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an abridged version. I think it'd be good for kids. Sean Bean was a great narrator!

[Jeffrey Lazarus Buggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember it to well, but i remember that as the first experience of the written King Arthur that I've had, and it was good.

[Alesia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this version of king Arthur's story. Great book.

[Saralyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written (and well narrated by the wonderful Sean Bean) but I'm just not into King Arthur and while I liked this retelling better than others I've read, I still didn't like it.