Arthur the King: A Romance

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Orion, Dec 8, 2011 - Fiction - 304 pages
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A thrilling and highly original retelling of the Arthurian legend with a twist!

It is the aftermath of the Roman occupation of Britain. Kings are now jockeying for position, for title, for land and for power. A young boy confounds the most famous knights of the realm when he pulls a jewelled sword from a cleft in a stone and claims the throne left vacant by the death of Uther Pendragon.

In this new vision of the Arthurian story, Camelot is set on the River Tweed and Merlin who disapproves of his knights' yearning for battle and their quest for the Holy Grail. With great humour and energy, Massie has created a bold and original new tale from the stuff of legend.

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He paidno heed to themurmurs ofthe crowd, which, however, now fell silent, in hushed anticipation, as when a champion of renown enters the lists. He brushed Sir Kay aside and approached the stone. He looked hard at the sword.
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looked hard at the sword. He lifted his narrow black eyes to the heavens and his lips moved, as if perhaps he mouthed a prayer. He spat twice on his right hand and seized hold of the richly decorated hilt.
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He summoned his stonemasonsand set themto work at the site hehadselected in the mountains of northWales. But, Geoffrey tells us, when theybeganto lay thefoundations of their tower, however much theybuiltin one day wasswallowed up ...
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If,however, he expectedthe boyto display terror at the thought of his imminent death, hewasdisappointed; Merlin smiled, grimlywe maysuppose, and said, 'Call your magicianshere ...
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... the priests who served the Britons at the time when the Roman legions first penetrated these isles. ... foretold the future and conducted human sacrifices at the twosolstices and, as some authorities assert,atthe full moonalso.

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ARTHUR THE KING

User Review  - Kirkus

Historical novelist Massie unrolls the familiar knightly yarns with some fresh, unusual twists.Offering a vaguely postmodern take not merely on Arthur himself but on the whole of British history, the ... Read full review

Other editions - View all

Arthur the King
Allan Massie
No preview available - 2003
Arthur the King: A Romance
Allan Massie
No preview available - 2011

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Agravaine Allan Massie anda andhe andhis andthe army Arthur asif asthe atthe Aurelius Ambrosius battle Bedivere Britain bythe called Camelot castle chapel commanded Constantine dark dead death delight didnot dream Emperor Empire Eugenius eyes father fear fell fromthe Gaheris Gawaine Gawaine’s Geoffrey Goloshan Grail Guinevere hadbeen hand head heard hehad hesaid hewas himand Holy honour horse Ihave inhis inthe itis itwas King Lot King’s kissed knew knights bachelor Lancelot Lohengrin looked Lycas Marcus Merlin Mordred Mordred’s Morgan le Fay never Nevertheless ofhis ofthe onthe Parsifal peace Peredur priest Prince Queen replied rode Romans Rome Saxons seemed sighed silent Sir Cade Sir Kay smiled speak spoke stone stood sword tell thathe thatI theKing there’s theywere thought tobe tohim tohis told took tothe truth Uther Pendragon valley Vortigern wasa wasthe whichis wind wine witha withthe woman words young knight

About the author (2011)

Allan Massie is the author of seventeen highly praised novels, as well as non-fiction works on Muriel Spark, a study of twelve emperors of ancient Rome, a history of crime in 19th-century Edinburgh and the acclaimed Glasgow: Portraits of a City. Born in Singapore in 1938, he was brought up in Aberdeenshire and educated at Glenalmond School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read history. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been a judge of the Booker Prize. He is also a journalist contributing to the Scottish and English press. He is married, has three children and lives in the Scottish Borders.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Arthur the King
TitleArthur the King: A Romance
Volume 2 of Dark Ages
AuthorAllan Massie
PublisherOrion, 2011
ISBN178022270X, 9781780222707
Length304 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology
Fiction / General
Fiction / Historical / General
  
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