The Sword in the Stone

A lot of contemporary fantasy especially of the cinematic variety owes a huge debt to this one it seems to me. Maybe perhaps because it's White's first effort on the Arthurian thing, there's a simple delight to the beautiful language presented here. Clearly intended for younger audiences, but impossible for older readers to not enjoy with equal measure.

Gorgeous prose from White, and with a shining review from Le Guin it didn't come as a surprise. There's quite a bit of coarse language used that would not fly today--the n-word is used once. A product of the time in which it was written, certainly, but if you can get past some of the language it is a very pleasant read, and well-paced.