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The Knight's Tales by Gerald Morris
Dec. 9th, 2011 09:15 pmThe Knights' Tales is completely unrelated to Morris's The Squire's Tales series, despite natural character overlap as both are based on Arthurian legend. Despite the overlap and sharing an author, the characterization of the shared characters, while having a similar base, is very different in the two series. TKT is aimed at a much younger audience than TST (the books are about 100 pages long with large print and illustrations-they take about 30-40 minutes each to read) and are basically entertaining (if less involving) farces that try to cram as many legends as they can in without really digging deeply into them.
The first book The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great is funny but a bit lackluster. It's entertaining, but you can tell Morris is switching gears and hasn't really found his footing yet. The Adventures of Sir Givret the Short actually focuses largely on the story of Erec and Enid, and is closest in tone and format to the TST books. Which is probably why it's my favorite. The Adventures of Gawain the True, though, is probably the solidest in terms of voice, and Morris seems to have decided that he will play the role of Parsifal in these books. "But WHY are all the knights who don't live in a castle evil and/or bandits? But WHY would you lop a guy's head off in the banquet hall even if he asked you too and everyone was restless? But WHY are they all always the most beautiful maiden, and WHY does that matter? But WHY are men charging at each other with sticks? But WHY are you always charging off on a quest? WHYWHYWHY? is there really logic to all this stuff?"
Morris's TST series is, IMO, pretty easily the better of the two, but these are an entertaining way to spend and afternoon (or a few breaks and lunches at work, if you're me) and would definitely be a decent intro to Arthuriana for kids. Though, it does include some of the gory bits. like lopping off heads and then the headless person picking up their head, plopping it back on, and being all "Okey dokey! Be back for yours in a year!"
The first book The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great is funny but a bit lackluster. It's entertaining, but you can tell Morris is switching gears and hasn't really found his footing yet. The Adventures of Sir Givret the Short actually focuses largely on the story of Erec and Enid, and is closest in tone and format to the TST books. Which is probably why it's my favorite. The Adventures of Gawain the True, though, is probably the solidest in terms of voice, and Morris seems to have decided that he will play the role of Parsifal in these books. "But WHY are all the knights who don't live in a castle evil and/or bandits? But WHY would you lop a guy's head off in the banquet hall even if he asked you too and everyone was restless? But WHY are they all always the most beautiful maiden, and WHY does that matter? But WHY are men charging at each other with sticks? But WHY are you always charging off on a quest? WHYWHYWHY? is there really logic to all this stuff?"
Morris's TST series is, IMO, pretty easily the better of the two, but these are an entertaining way to spend and afternoon (or a few breaks and lunches at work, if you're me) and would definitely be a decent intro to Arthuriana for kids. Though, it does include some of the gory bits. like lopping off heads and then the headless person picking up their head, plopping it back on, and being all "Okey dokey! Be back for yours in a year!"