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Sword of the Rightful King

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 1,402 ratings · 124 reviews

The newly crowned King Arthur has yet to win the support of the people. Merlin must do something before the king is betrayed, or murdered, or--worst of all--gets married. So Merlin creates a trick: a sword magically placed into a slab of rock that only Arthur can withdraw. Then he lets it be known that whosoever removes the blade will rule all of England, and invites any m...more

Paperback, 376 pages

Published August 1st 2004 by Graphia (first published May 1st 2003)

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The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper

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Nov 05, 2011 Lego Robot Ninja rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-grade, fantasy, myths, fiction

LRN: I'm giving this three stars. It was pretty good.

Mum: Didn't you meet Jane Yolen?

LRN: Yes. I met Yolen. I've also got another book from her.

Mum: She's was really nice, right?

LRN: She autographed my book.

Mum: That's cool. So what's this book about?

LRN: Arthur is trying to get his people to love him after he's newly crowned; and Merlin tries to help him by placing a sword into a slab of stone that only Aurthur can withdraw.

You should put the thing with the period and the thing over here. [...more

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Jan 16, 2011 Alyssa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

I'm a college student in Arthurian Literature right now, and we had to read a modern version of the legends and write a book review for it. I chose this book because YA is the genre I'd like to write in some day, and I wanted to see what other YA writers were doing with the stories. I tried to keep my Arthurian knowledge in mind as I read the book.

Many of the noteworthy characters from the Round Table make an appearance throughout the story, though the story itself does not have a clear main cha...more I'm a college student in Arthurian Literature right now, and we had to read a modern version of the legends and write a book review for it. I chose this book because YA is the genre I'd like to write in some day, and I wanted to see what other YA writers were doing with the stories. I tried to keep my Arthurian knowledge in mind as I read the book.

Many of the noteworthy characters from the Round Table make an appearance throughout the story, though the story itself does not have a clear main character. Several of the characters only step in and out of scenes, which would not matter so much to someone who does not know them. I was a little troubled that Lancelot has a gray streak in his hair (meaning he is old, I assume) and that Galahad is already a full-grown man, but Lancelot has not properly met Guinevere. Perhaps this is just another twist on the story, but knowing the legends I had a hard time not stubbing my toes over it.

Though some of the backstory in this book has ties to the traditional Arthurian tales (Arthur's origins, Morgause's marriage), most of the story itself is an original take (albeit clogged with clichés). But even with this original spin, I found the book stale and predictable. No main character was focused on, with the point of view switched between characters several times even within a chapter. Morgause was a characteristically evil witch, with very little real depth. Though Arthur was quite human and sometimes funny, he was not as well developed as he could have been. The boy character was very annoying before I realized who he was (take one letter out of his name and you'll have it), and after I figured it out the character was annoying because all the characters in the book had to turn a blind eye not to see through his/her disguise. Arthur's love for her, and hers for him, was incredibly rushed in the last ten pages, and left me feeling unsatisfied.

There were several adult concepts eluded to and a few swear words tossed about. If I had been a few years younger, I would have stopped reading after the first few chapters. The sexual references/cussing either did not have bearing on the story, or were not developed into a useful plot point (for instance, Morgause's mention of Uther using her when she was a child). I feel that the use of the characters' multiple POVs crippled this story, because it gave us a vague overview of almost every character but never gave us an in-depth look at any of them. There were a couple of almost laughable clichés, which hindered my ability to enjoy the story.

Over all, the book was interesting enough for a quick read to fulfill a class requirement. But the changes it made to the story added no depth, and sometimes little sense. Though some of this is to be expected from a young adult novel, with such a history of legends to work from I would have expected more. (less)

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Sep 13, 2007 Debbie rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teens

Shelves: young-adult-lit

I have always loved the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. When I was a kid I read everything I could get my hands on about this topic.

In this retelling, Queen Morgause is deliciously evil and is constantly plotting to overthrow young King Arthur and put one of her sons on the throne.

Arthur is already king when the story begins, but Britain is not united. The whole sword in the stone thing turns out to be a trick that Merlinnus uses to convince the people of Britain that...more

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Jan 10, 2012 08evync rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-reports

This is an amazing book I would recommend this book to almost all ages. This is another novel of King Arthur, so it takes place in the time of knights and kings and it takes place in Britain. The main characters are Gawen, Merlinnus, Gawaine, and King Arthur. Gawen is a young man of the age of 12 to 13 who has come to King Arthur's kingdom in hope of becoming a night but is rejected and is taken in by Merlinnus. Merlinnus is an old mage who was the one who brought Arthur to the throne. Gawaine i...more

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Jul 16, 2011 Rosalyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting YA/middle-grade take on the Arthurian legends, with several key characters making an appearance: Arthur, Gawaine, Merlin, Morgause, Gwenever, etc. In Yolen's version, Arthur has been high king for several years, but the kingdom is only uneasily united. Merlin comes up with the sword in the stone as a way to convince Arthur's subjects that he is, in fact, King. It's Arthur's idea to let anyone who wants to try to pull the sword out. Morgause's plots against Arthur form a s...more

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Jul 29, 2010 Tessa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, medieval

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Aug 04, 2011 Hollowspine rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Sword of the Rightful King is a tale of King Arthur, but takes a more political and less magical perspective on the story. Although Arthur is an honorable and fair ruler and most of his subjects are loyal to him, there are still some holdouts to his ultimate rule of Britain. Most notable of these is the dowager Queen to the North, Morgause, a woman who was underestimated by Merlinnius and has grown strong in black magic and would that one of her sons hold Arthur's throne.

Merlinnius comes up...more The Sword of the Rightful King is a tale of King Arthur, but takes a more political and less magical perspective on the story. Although Arthur is an honorable and fair ruler and most of his subjects are loyal to him, there are still some holdouts to his ultimate rule of Britain. Most notable of these is the dowager Queen to the North, Morgause, a woman who was underestimated by Merlinnius and has grown strong in black magic and would that one of her sons hold Arthur's throne.

Merlinnius comes up with a scheme to make sure that Arthur's right to the throne becomes unquestioned, unifying the various groups across Britain under his just rule. He creates a sword in a stone, using magic to lock the sword in place until the right time and place.

At the same time he is coming up with this scheme a young boy shows up in Court. Young Gawen is clever, well-read and wise beyond his years. Both Merlinnus and Arthur grow immediately fond of Gawen and quickly come to rely on his clever...yet womenly answers to their issues.

What with knowledge of the King Arthur story, the cover description, and the unsubtle hinting of both Merlin and Arthur it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Gawen is Guinevere.

Although I appreciated that the story tried to introduce more strength into the women of the King Arthur myth I also thought that the characters were not recognized for their individual strengths, but rather that it would seem any woman could take their place.

All the problems Gawen solved were solved with 'weak' womanly ways. She gave Arthur a cushion to ease his seat on the hard throne. This would make him weaker of course. She pulled the sword from the stone by greasing it with hot butter, another womanly trick.

I found it implausible, and although I feel fine with women working in kitchens, raising children and knowing how to spell and read, I did find that the story was limiting in the kind of 'power' it would allow to women..

I also found it hateful that Arthur decided to marry Gawen/Gwen without even consulting her. Then she agreed anyway. And the North Queen really didn't end up putting up much of a fight, even when the type of magic she had seemed much stronger than anything that Merlinnus demonstrated throughout the book. (less)

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Jul 02, 2012 Nessíma Tavariel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Arthurian fans, historical-fiction fans,

Shelves: historical-fantasy, cover-love

Having picked this one up at the used-book store with little previous knowledge about it--I didn't know anyone who had read it, and I seemed to recall reading some mixed reviews on goodreads--, I started reading this with no expectations. Ok, that's not entirely true, as the summary on the back sounded far too interesting for me to have absolutely no expectations. But whatever expectations I did have, this book surpassed them.

Sword of the Rightful King begins with Arthur already king, and unlik...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Zarakoda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 06, 2012 Charlotte rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arthurian, fantasy, magic, young-adult

This was a fun, easy read novel. I love seeing new twists to the Arthurian legend. There was one particular thing, however, I thought could have made the writing slightly stronger: when there was the first allusion to Arthur's bear-like appearance, I thought it was a pity that the author gave away that Arthur means "bear" at the same time. I think just making an allusion to the bear two or three times would have sufficed. It would have been like a wink to the reader. Yolen, I thought, gave away...more

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Dec 07, 2008 George.L Gideon rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Book im currently reading now is Sword Of the Rightful King. This book takes place in old england instead of a modern aged setting.The book starts out with a boy named Gawaine and his mom a queen in her own rights. Gawaine doesnt want to be the leader of the land his mom wants to bestow upon him. It is up to Gawaine to make the desicion, but his mom will stop at nothing to make sure he is prince.Also to make sure he'll take over the throne. So in order to make sure he chooses to become princ...more

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Mar 30, 2009 Dlora rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is an excellent retelling of the King Arthur legend concerning the sword in the stone, and if you like Arthurian tales, you'll like this. Yolen gives an imaginative understory to the legend and fleshes out the main characters into real people. The blurb on the back of the cover adds tension throughout the book--"King Arthur will draw the blade from the stone (with the help of magic from Merlinnus, of course), and the people will at last rally around the young king. Except someone else pulls...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Mandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 14, 2013 Heather Hansen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: boys, fairy-tales, leadership, own

If I was basing this book solely on the character of Arthur Pendragon, then it would be a 5. If I was rating it on the writing, it would probably only be a 2-2.5. However, Arthur's character in this book is amazing and I want my son to be like him. He is loyal, intelligent, compassionate, fair, humble and truly deserving of the legend that bears his name.

If there were truly a King Arthur, he should be as Yolen portrays him. I also loved the way Gwennivere was written into this version, very cre...more

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May 15, 2011 Hunter rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is the most sloppily written confusing excuse for a novel I have ever read. The prose is weak, the POV shifts are confusing, the character development is lazy, and the plot is an unexpected and unwelcome take on the sword in the stone. Two starts, not one, because it means I have an easy final this year, but otherwise was a waste of time and if it weren't required reading I'd have put it down long before the ending.

(view spoiler)...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Amery Xu added it

Hmm, what can I say about this book? It's certainly an interesting twist of the Arthurian legend. One wouldn't really think that Arthur had problems controlling the hearts of the people. However, I delved into this book with a different plot in mind, having not expecting that the sword in the stone story would take up the entire book instead of immediately introducing the idea. There's a myriad of characters that all add their parts to the story, but the story is somewhat slow. It isn't slowed d...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Krista added it

Shelves: eng-356-1-12

The premise of Sword of the Rightful King follows your traditional King Arthur tale, there is a sword in a stone and the rightful ruler will pull it out. However, in Yolen's adaptation, it is not Arthur who pulls the sword out of the stone. The story was told in multiple points of view.

This book was okay. I think my biggest problem was that there were so many cliches. I know that it's a YA adaptation, but there were some things that really wouldn't fit in with the portrayed time period. The mult...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Jeanine Allen added it

Jeanine Allen
Traditional

Sword of the Rightful King: A Novel of King Arthur by Jane Yolen is a retelling of the traditional legend of King Arthur. Some of the character's names have been changed, but the meaning is very much there. Merlinnus (Merlin) must figure out a way to make the people believe that King Arthur is their rightful king. He devises a scheme that whoever pulls the sword out of their stone is the rightful king, however someone else end up pulling the sword out first. Each chapter...more

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May 18, 2009 Cindy rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Camelot

Shelves: 999, teen, fantasy-children

I really like Jane Yolen and I love the Arthur stories, so this one seemed like a safe bet. However, I wasn't crazy about her Young Merlin trilogy. This one, happily, wasn't really connected with the Merlin stories. It revolved around Arthur, Merlin, Gawain and Morgause and a newcomer to court, the confusingly named Gawin.

Morgause is her normal rotten self, Gawain was a hero as always (he's my favorite, really), and there was much intrigue. I wound up only giving it 3.5 stars though, because the...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Kereesa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Actual Young Adults. Who are like 13

Shelves: 2013, friendship, high-fantasy, historical, meh, parodies-retellings, witches-wizards-powers, young-adult

Re-read this for my Arthurian Lit class as part of a project.

Hated it the first time around, haven't garnered much respect the second time, but it wasn't terrible.

Definite play on the history of the time with the Arthurian legend, lots of references to things, including religion. (Though strangely the whole Galahad thing isn't at all going on...) Lancelot/Gwen refs, etc... Sadly, no lady of the lake.

~~Bitch, where my Lady of the Lake at~~

Gwen and Morgan are played off on one another through cool-b...more

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Jan 06, 2009 Trent rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book provides a fun twist on the classic story of the sword in the stone. The story began building and building, then suddenly it was ending. I thought the ending was going to be too sudden - there wasn't as much adventure or Dan Brown style deep twists as I had expected. Then it ended, and I was pleasantly surprised. The book does contain adventure, but it is not a book to read if you are looking for nothing but adventure. It is more of a story-book story stretched (very effectively) into...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Nicole rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-retellings, ya-historical

Issue number one with this has nothing to do with the book itself; it has to do with the summary of the book. Oooo, who pulled the sword out before Arthur!? How is Camelot going to deal with such an occurance?!

Well, they're not, because it happens in the last bloody chapter. The book's summary has nothing to do with the book itself. The actual book is about Arthur's dealings with Morgause and the mysterious young boy Gawen and his interactions with Merlin.

Excalibur plays a part, but it's a side-...more

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Jan 31, 2012 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, historical-fiction-ya, ya

This review originally appeared here

Perhaps it’s not too much of a secret that I LOVE all things Arthurian. I read books about Camelot and the Arthurian legends, I’m PLANNING on reading MORE books about it, and I fangirl the TV show, Merlin. I love how Arthurian stories straddle the line between historical fiction and fantasy with their elements of magic and politics, and I’m on a mission to find a book about this world that knocks my socks right off my feet. I had high hopes for SWORD OF THE RI...more This review originally appeared here

Perhaps it’s not too much of a secret that I LOVE all things Arthurian. I read books about Camelot and the Arthurian legends, I’m PLANNING on reading MORE books about it, and I fangirl the TV show, Merlin. I love how Arthurian stories straddle the line between historical fiction and fantasy with their elements of magic and politics, and I’m on a mission to find a book about this world that knocks my socks right off my feet. I had high hopes for SWORD OF THE RIGHTFUL KING, and while it was fun and scratched my Arthur-nerd itch, it kind of let me down, and left me a little confused about what little I DO know of the Arthurian legends.

So this book is basically the story of how Arthur, newly crowned King of Britain, must somehow gain the love of his people, who are still hesitant to accept him (although we never really see this, we are only told), possibly because another man has an equally legitimate claim to the throne: his knight, Gawaine. PROBLEM, though, because Gawaine’s mother is the nasty witch Morgause, who will scheme and kill her son’s way to the throne of England so that she may exert power over the realm herself. Merlinnus–her sworn magical enemy–is determined to see that no one take the throne from Arthur, and so he devises some shenanigans involving a sword and a stone to solidify Arthur’s rightful place (with the shenanigans referred to in the book as “legerdemain.” Without question, this is the most I’ve ever encountered this word EVER.) Alllll of this takes place under a cloud of suspicion over Gawaine and his brothers (including Agravaine, who I did not realize was related to Gawaine in any of the Arthurian tales) because everyone knows that Morgause has sent a spy to Arthur’s court, and he must be uncovered before TREACHERY STRIKES. *Gasp!*

I’ll start with the good things about this book. It really was fun to read. I’m currently REALLY nerding out over Merlin, so it was incredibly enjoyable to see lots of those characters in a different light. (Also, because who would not want to picture Arthur like this, or Gawaine like this?) But I love the characters in this story: Arthur and his brave chivalry, Merlinnus (Although, why the extra “nus”? This drove me a little batty) and his sneaky, secretive magic. We meet Gwen but not in the way you might think. Morgause is vindictive and power-hungry, which makes for great drama. In fact, she was probably my favorite character because she seemed the most fleshed out. All very good things.

Also, the story moved quickly. Things happened without much lagging at all, and the whole sword in the stone “legerdemain” (UGH!) was actually really great, probably because it was the storyline that seemed to be the most developed, what with Arthur demanding that all of his knights attempt to pull out the sword before he does. PLUS, we get to see some of the actual business of the knights meeting at the Round Table, and that was very cool. That’s such a foundational part of the whole Arthurian legend, and it was fun to imagine it in action.

But despite those things–or maybe BECAUSE of those things–the story also felt a little scattered to me, like hopping from one thing to the next without much smoothness. The reveals of certain things were kind of predictable, like the deelio with Gwen and the identity of the spy. (Speaking of Gwen, an aspect of her storyline here felt incredibly rushed, and I wished that we could have seen it fleshed out a little more.) And I was slightly confused about the ages of people, although this could certainly come from my perception of these characters as their Merlin counterparts: Arthur is a young man, but Merlinnus is VERY old. Gwen is young also, but Lancelot is described as having some gray hair. I don’t know. I’m not an expert, but some of the details like this didn’t jive with the way I thought the legends went.

We are also introduced to some things that would have been REALLY interesting to pursue (for example, when Lancelot goes to attempt to remove the sword, he actually kind of pulls it out a little bit. With magic? Don’t know. But I think that could have been a juicy little plotline), but are kind of just left hanging, leaving us hoping for a little more detail. This happens quite a bit, actually, although I have to say that the legends themselves are so rich and so varied that you could write HUGE books about Arthur and Camelot (called Cadbury here. Not sure why, but I dig it because it reminds me of Cadbury chocolate) and still not delve into every detail or examine every thread of the story. It’s something good AND bad about Arthurian legend.

In the end, because I find this topic endlessly interesting, I liked reading SWORD OF THE RIGHTFUL KING. It reminded me of why I love these stories in the first place. But the book left me wondering how much more awesome it could have been had it been a 100 pages longer, with more room to explore some of the plotlines. *SIGH*
(less)

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Dec 18, 2011 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Medieval Fantasy lovers!! Anyone who enjoys stories of knights and wizards!

Recommended to Nicole by: Library

What a wonderful change of pace! To read a book that's a medieval fantasy again! Once upon a time these were the only books I ever read, and though not all of them make the cut in my memories, it's always been one of my favorite--if not the favorite--of my genres! And this book was a WONDERFUL addition into that collection of stories I have so long loved! I admit, I have read little to nothing about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, but who doesn't know the story? While I can't say...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arthurian, dissertation, based-on-myth-saga-etc, fantasy

Sword of the Rightful King is a quick, fun read. It's very much in the Malory/T.H. White tradition, rather than anything more innovative. It's not very subtle -- the little mysteries of the story are fairly easy to work out. It has a very clever Guinevere, though Morgause is sluttish and stupid as usual. (Oh for a story that portrays everyone with psychological realism. Morgause could see Arthur as an usurper and still be a rational human being, y'know.) The whole "weak as women's magic" trope i...more

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Nov 12, 2008 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Everyone knows the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Everyone knows of noble Arthur, beloved king of Camelot. And everyone knows of Merlin, his ancient and wise advisor. There has, of course, been countless books and films on the subject. Jane Yolen's YA novel, however, doesn't merely retell the legend, but recreates it.

Young Arthur, barely 23 years of age, is the High King of Britain, so titled because of the power and influence of the man who put im there, his advisor a...more Everyone knows the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Everyone knows of noble Arthur, beloved king of Camelot. And everyone knows of Merlin, his ancient and wise advisor. There has, of course, been countless books and films on the subject. Jane Yolen's YA novel, however, doesn't merely retell the legend, but recreates it.

Young Arthur, barely 23 years of age, is the High King of Britain, so titled because of the power and influence of the man who put im there, his advisor and former tutor Merlinnus. However, he is far from the figure found in Arthurian legend. While kind, generous, and a natural-born leader, he does not have the confidence and support required to make him the great king he has the potential to be. His place in this position is, if not widely protested then at least widely questioned - by everyone including even himself.

His greatest rival and contender for the throne is Morgeuse, the North Queen, who desperately desires to rule through one of her one sons. When she sends four of her sons to court, including the upstanding Gawain and his aggressive brother Agravaine, their arrival coincides with several other arrivals: firstly, the rumour of as assassin coming to remove Arthur from the throne, and secondly, a young boy, Gawan, whose suspicious intelligence and unknown background cause Merlin to keep him close to himself.

Deciding that the best thing to do the face of such uncertainty is to solidify Arthur's claim on the throne once and for all, Merlinnus sets about to do just this. His plan includes the removal of a sword, Caliburnus, from a strategically placed bit of stone. But will it be enough? Will the people accept Arthur as the rightful king?

I quite enjoyed the careful reworking of the well-known legend. It was just a careful shifting of the story, seeing everything in just a slightly different position. While enjoyable throughout, however, the story itself wasn't terribly exciting. It was more Gawan's story than Arthur's and the biggest mystery was in trying to discern Gawan's background. I'd recommend it to a fan of Arthurian legend, but for a newbie I'd probably recommend something a little more mainstream.(less)

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Jun 23, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have read a lot of YA books. A lot of them are fun stories but poorly written and make me want to gag. I have also read a handful YA fantasy and despite their good premises are full of too much detail in the beginning and feel slapped together at the end. This was a simple YA fiction but told well and for a simple read I actually really enjoyed it. This surprised me based on the other reviews. I would recommend this book though as an adult I prefer Mary Stewart's Arthurian saga.

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Apr 10, 2008 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: ages 12 and up

Shelves: fairytalesretold, fantasy, youngadult

Arthur rules, but there is dissent among the clans. To give Arthur more legitimacy, Merlinnus plans a stunt – the sword in the stone that only Arthur will be able to remove. Scheming against Arthur is Morgause, who usees witchcraft to watch and strike against Arthur.
Recently arrived at the court is Gawen, a youth who wants to be trained as a knight, and take revenge against Gawain for her sister, but because of her small stature is instead is taken by Merlinnus as an apprentice.
Gawen is really...more

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Jan 21, 2009 Lisalit rated it 3 of 5 stars

"Prince Gawaine took the stone steps two at a time, trying to guess why his mother, the queen, had sent for him."

This was an enjoyable twist on the King Arthur saga. Focusing on Merlin's engineering the sword in the stone for Arthur to pull, and Queen Morgause's evil magic and intrigues to seize the stone for her sons, and therefore herself, this novel manages to delve deep into a small section of the story, and pull off a rather unexpected twist at the end.

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Jun 02, 2012 Mai rated it 4 of 5 stars

For this book I gave it 4 stars, as it was a very interesting book to read. However, I knocked off one star, as there were too many twists in the ending. I mean, Gawen turning out to be a girl, then King Arthur marrying her? Too much to handle!! If Jane had just ended at Kind Arthur pulling out a sword it would have been much more nicer.
I might think this way, and you might think another, so I advise you to read the book as soon as you can.

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About Jane Yolen

Yolen was born at Beth Israel Hospital, the first child of Isabel Berlin and Will Hyatt Yolen. She and her family moved to California when she was young but returned to New York a few years later. After her younger brother was born, her father joined the army and served on the European front during WWII. Yolen spent her childhood taking piano lessons, ballet dancing and writing a neighborhood news...more

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