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The Book of Merlyn
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Plot Summary of The Book of Merlyn
"This is the fifth and final volume in The Once and Future King pantalogy (after The Sword in the Stone, The Witch in the Wood, The Ill-Made Knight and The Candle in the Wind).

The day before the final confrontation with his son Mordred, Arthur follows Merlyn to the Combination Room, where lives his menagerie. There he listens to the magician and Archimedes, Badger, Urchin and so on, who are in a political debate on how the human way of considering life and the world is different from that of animals.

I was disappointed with the Book of Merlyn, which in fact is hardly a novel. Merlyn's supposedly natural history lesson is but an excuse for discoursing on war and the bellicosity of Man. The only passages where there's an actual story are when Arthur visits the ant nest and travels with the wild geese, but these chapters were already included in The Sword in the Stone. As for what happened to Lancelot and Guenever, it is briefly mentioned in the manner of history books. The introduction on T. H. White's life is interesting, and there are some nice illustrations, but as a whole I found nothing worth recommending this book."

crooty, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Book of Merlyn
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 70%




Tone of book - sensitive (sigh....)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - King Arthur
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - exploring a wondrous planet or phenomena

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - Prince/Nobleman/King
Age: - 60's-90's
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - society

Setting
Terrain - Forests
Earth setting: - general past
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to The Book of Merlyn
The Squire's Tale by Gerald Morris
The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White
The Dragon in Lyonesse by Gordon R. Dickson
Sword of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor
On the Bright Road by N.P. Figgis


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T.H. White Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
mal Faloon  

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