See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

20 used & new from £0.12
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Arthur the King: A romance ("The Dark Ages" trilogy)
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

Arthur the King: A romance ("The Dark Ages" trilogy) (Hardcover)

by Allan Massie (Author) "The winter sea was grey and the grass was grey and the stone of the little chapel on the hill was grey ..." (more)
2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


1 new from £6.99 16 used from £0.12 3 collectible from £9.59
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 6 used & new from £5.59
Paperback (New edition) £6.99 £5.49 53 used & new from £0.01

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Evening of the World: A Novel of the Dark Ages (Matter of Eternal Rome)

The Evening of the World: A Novel of the Dark Ages (Matter of Eternal Rome)

by Allan Massie
2.5 out of 5 stars (4)  £5.49
Charlemagne and Roland: A Novel (Dark Ages Trilogy)

Charlemagne and Roland: A Novel (Dark Ages Trilogy)

by Allan Massie
2.5 out of 5 stars (2)  £5.99
Caligula

Caligula

by Allan Massie
3.0 out of 5 stars (3) 
Antony

Antony

by Allan Massie
3.5 out of 5 stars (2) 
Nero's Heirs

Nero's Heirs

by Allan Massie
3.2 out of 5 stars (4) 
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (11 Sep 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0297816780
  • ISBN-13: 978-0297816782
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.4 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 836,909 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #29 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > M > Massie, Allan

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

THE OBSERVER
"The Arthurian legends... always bear a fresh telling, especially from such a well-versed historical novelist as Massie... a cracking story."


Review
"If you have only a dim recollection of the Arthur legends, this is an opportunity to rediscover their variety. And Massie entertainingly adds his own, deliberately anachronistic, original ingredients." (SALLEY VICKERS, THE TIMES )

"The Arthurian legends... always bear a fresh telling, especially from such a well-versed historical novelist as Massie... a cracking story." (THE OBSERVER )

"I hope Massie doesn't stop at a mere trilogy. With entertainment as high-wrought and glittering as this, even a dodecalogy would be too short." (DAILY TELEGRAPH )

"a lively and colourful yarn." (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

"A timely examination of the power and pitfalls of myth in political life." (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY )

"This novel simply adds to my admiration for this absurdly underrated author." (GLASGOW HERALD )

"Well-handled" (TLS )

"It is in the mists of sinister suggestion that Massie's skill truly glitters... you are held by the throat from beginning to end." (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )

See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
The winter sea was grey and the grass was grey and the stone of the little chapel on the hill was grey. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Arthur the King: A romance ("The Dark Ages" trilogy)
85% buy the item featured on this page:
Arthur the King: A romance ("The Dark Ages" trilogy) 2.8 out of 5 stars (4)
The Once and Future King
15% buy
The Once and Future King 4.7 out of 5 stars (20)
£6.49
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Decent attempt at an oft-told tale, 13 Aug 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Arthur the King: A Romance (Paperback)
It won't change your life, but it's entertaining enough. Don't buy it if you're looking for a traditional rendering of the Arthurian legend or if you have any particular aversion to homosexual rape or incest. I felt that, at times, Massie tries too hard to be original in telling the tale (anyone remember there being vampires...?) Otherwise it's pretty good.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Well Told tale, 1 Aug 2006
By J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Arthur the King: A Romance (Paperback)
The Arthurian legends have taken on many guises and formats over the years and Allan Massie's attempt is as good as most. It does stray in many ways from the original tale but as the whole Arthurian saga is more myth than actual proven fact this does not really matter.

I think that in this particular book Allan Massie writes to shock the reader and for those of a delicate or sheltered upbringing the book will certainly achieve that.

I found the book an interesting read, not the best telling of the Arthurian legend, but certainly not the worst. What does bug me though with many of the books about Arthur is that the book cover illustrators find it necessary to depict the men in suits of armour, a form of protection that is medieval. If Arthur existed at all, he lived many centuries before then and would not know a suit of armour if one dropped on his foot.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Stop/start storyline to a tepid and poorly written novel..., 12 Mar 2007
By L. A. Powell (England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Arthur the King: A Romance (Paperback)
I was expecting good things from this take on the Arthurian legend, and until about half way through the book I was pleasantly surprised on the new direction Mr. Massie was taking. Tales of Arthur's boyhood and shocking takes on Merlin/child cruelty/incest made this quite a refreshing change. Yet this was not enough to stop the immediate nose dive which ruined the book in Arthur's later life. The frequent pauses in the action and detail absolutely destroy the pace of this book, and thus force the reader to have to muster all their strength in order to plough on through the pointless scenarios of the narrator addressing his "prince". Completely unnecessary drivel used in my opinion only to make the book appear different from every other medieval re-telling we hear. And upon Arthur's reaching of middle age we meet a weak and frail man we are most certainly not familiar with, by which I mean Arthur and his flawed character development. The plot just seems to plod along without hope of re-kindling the romance we had with the book which was the rather decent first half. All this leading up to what can only be described as a complete train wreck of an ending. Don't waste your time.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Arthur the Cad
This telling of the Arthurian story is sometimes splendid and sublime, but at other times patchy, clunking and cursory. Read more
Published 12 months ago by R. J. FORDER

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

At the Crossing-Places: Arthur 2

At the Crossing-Places...

"Rich, evocative storytelling." (Financial Times, 13 July 2002 ) "This... Read more
£6.99 £5.24

›Find similar items

 

More From Allan Massie

Caligula

Caligula by Allan Massie

He tells the story with his customary aplomb and intelligence.He has... Read more

 

We've Got Converse

Converse
Stock up on your favourite styles with great deals on Converse shoes.

›Shop Converse

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates