Sword of the Rightful King: A Novel of King Arthur – A Young Adult Fantasy of Merlin's Magic and England's Betrayal

Yolen is such a master story teller - it is a pleasure in craft and content to experience this olde story again 😉

Most of the Arthurian facts are correct, with a bit of a twist, but the story is well written and engaging till the end!

Exactly what I wanted.

I read this book as it was assigned to my daughter for a middle school English class. I loved it! The writing was outstanding and the story was interesting. Great twist at the end that I did not see coming. For anyone, young or old, interested in fairy tales, medieval folklore and new takes on the legend of King Arthur- you will not be disappointed!

King Arthur is at his wit’s end. At the rate he’s going, no one will ever accept him as the rightful King of All England, least of all himself. He’s facing some trouble from Morgause, the Witch of the North, and her sons. And if all that weren’t enough, his knights are putting all kinds of pressure on him to get married. What’s a fella to do? Maybe get his wizard buddy Merlinnus to stick a sword in a stone and rig it so that said fella will have a legitimate right to rule? Because that’s what Arthur does. And with the help of Merlinnus, Morgause’s most decent son, Gawain, and Gawen, a young newcomer with a mysterious past, he just might come out on top. But he still has to get past Morgause’s sorcery and infernal plots. And Merlinnus isn’t completely sure the sword’s magic will work right, so what will happen if Arthur isn’t shown to be the Rightful King after all? Here’s what Yolen did well: she humanized the classic characters and made them relatable, and she added twists to the plot that made for a more satisfying story than the one in the old legends. Sure, Arthur’s the king, but he’s also just a kid- can’t sit still for a minute. He’s good at his job and understands its importance, but he’d rather be working on his jousting. Gawain has a nice coming-of-age thing going on, since he’s just decided he’s done with his mother’s controlling his life and is ready to start anew. And Morgause herself isn’t your average cold-as-ice seductress; she boils over more often than she freezes. Her power lust is fueled by passion and fire, and she goes through anxiety over her sons and frustration of her draining magical abilities. We all like a villain done well, don’t we? The only person I really had problems with was Gawen; he was unnecessarily enigmatic and inconsistent as a character. I couldn’t get a good grip on him until it was really too late. I think I didn’t like him because he was the most shameless promoter of a characteristic that everyone in the book suffered from: the formality of speech. “Rightful King” takes itself far too seriously for the story it’s trying to tell- it can’t decide whether to be a saga or a revamp. Gawen’s character is supposed to be irreverent and blunt, but he comes off as pretentious instead, making me wonder in spots why everyone likes him so much. He’s not the only one: conversations between people who have known each other all their lives sound like diplomatic meetings. I mean, did Arthur and Kay grow up together or didn’t they? And although the plot was mostly really great and original (considering that this is a retelling) with some good twists right near the end, there were some obvious holes. Arthur didn’t seem to have a familial claim to the throne, so I was confused as to how he got there in the first place. An enchantment is broken by someone smashing a bottle that was intended for another enchantment entirely. And the show-stopping twist at the book’s finish didn’t work as well as it could have because we couldn’t get inside the characters’ heads and see how they FELT about it. Really, “Rightful King” wasn’t too shabby. I’ve seen shabbier. But I’ve also seen better by far.

Great product

This is an interesting take on the King Arthur/Merlin story, not the Sword in the Stone or Once and Future King version that we all know and love. Taken from that view, this book reads well and is fascinating. Hooked all of us, grandparents and grandson, the latter requested his own copy so we now have two paperbacks and one Kindle copy.

Awesome book. It's a lot of fun for those interested in King Arthur legends. I did this book with my 8th grade classes, and they liked the ending plot twist a lot.

A retelling of the King Arthur tales with some twists and turns throughout that keep the story fresh for today’s modern audience. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to others. I hope you find my review helpful.

mildly OK, not one of the best Arthur novels