The Pagan King

Author - Edison Marshall ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Impressions was reviewed on 12-Dec-2008.

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1) Paperback Book The Pagan King by Impressions. This is the stupedest Arthur, the most arrogantly ignorant hero, the worst character a writer can create. What a jerk! This coming from the #1 Arthurian fan . . .
What a pity this book was reprinted and I wasted my time reading it. And worst still. Others will read it. Awful.¤

2) Paperback Book The Pagan King by Impressions. ...while the info on this book seemed interesting, it was, unfortunately not. The premise for the book is Arthur, or Artyr, is a Welsh rustic, who with Merlin´s, or Merdin´s help struggles to attain the throne of his father, King Vortigern. It had a very good plot and surprising twists to the story, with occasionally some good dialogue between the major characters. In this rendition, Mordred, or Modred is not Arthur´s bastard son born of incest with his sister, instead Modred is Arthur´s half brother and not at all a bad sort of guy.

However, the text tended to run on and quickly became tedious. Some sentences comprised entire paragraphs and frequently made the storyline hard to follow. The action scenes were few but those were the best parts of the book, numbering about three to four in total. I wanted to give the book a fair chance and stuck with it till the end. I would not advise it for those who like an interesting and fast paced King Arthur novel.

To quote the author, Edison Marshall, at the end of the book, "I write precisely what I want to write with no thought of the audience." Perhaps he should of thought of the audience and gave us something more palatable...¤

3) Paperback Book The Pagan King by Impressions. I´m rather enamored of adventures and historicals and, among my favorites, are tales of the Dark and Middle Ages. So when I noticed this one, a re-print of a book by Edison Marshall, who wrote many tales in this vein back in the fifties, I rushed to order it. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. It´s a decent enough interpretation of the Arthurian legend, offering a realistic reconstruction of how the tale might have originally arose, based on the older Welsh elements. And the prose, especially at the beginning, really wowed me as it seemed rolling and poetic and fresh. But the tale, itself, finally bogged down, being laden with flat and lifeless characters and a predictability which, combined with the dull players, caused me to want to give up on the book half way through. But I didn´t surrender to that impulse, primarily because I wanted to do this review (not a great reason to finish a book, I´ll grant you). In the end this tale did not soar as I´d hoped it would and the lively, fresh writing with which it began became staler, along with the tale it was telling. Even the Arthur character never fully became clear, remaining a somewhat unsympathetic bumbler to the end, not at all convincing as king or hero. If you like adventure or Arthurian material you might find that this one suits you. But clearly it didn´t work for me though I must admit, I´m a harder sell these days than I used to be. Three stars for the workman-like quality of the prose. Othwerwise I´d have rated it lower.

SWM

The King of Vinland´s Saga¤

4) Paperback Book The Pagan King by Impressions. This was a good book. I had to debate long and hard over that statement. It´s great adventure and intrigue, quite realistic for the most part, I was impressed with the fact that this in not Fantasy. The problem with it is how much licence the author took with Arthur´s rise to power and his reign, as compared to most other versions. Of course that´s good and bad. If you like Jack Whyte, you´ll like this book, if Marion Bradley wrote your favorite version, you probably won´t.¤

5) Paperback Book The Pagan King by Impressions. The mysterious Song of Camlon tells of a mighty warrior who will win the crown of Cambria. This is Arthur´s great destiny-or so prophesies Merdin the seer.

To claim his birthright, the simple Welsh rustic must overcome the tyrant Vortigern, his brilliant son Modred, and the other formidable foes arrayed against him. Is Fate the architect of Arthur´s success, or is his rise to power determined by the strength of his sword arm and the shrewdness of his advisors? The naive young warrior must learn much about his enemies, both open and secret, and the prophecies that so rule his life before he can step from the pages of dark history into glorious legend.

The Pagan King, first published in 1959 and long out of print, is one of the first modern novels to rediscover the Arthurian legend´s Welsh roots. In Edison Marshall´s splendid retelling, readers will share the agonizing losses and thrilling victories of one of the world´s greatest heroes.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 9-Jan-2009, 19289991749781928999171, 960-741-TGB-8

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