Arthur: The Always King
Age 8+
Classic Fiction
The definitive retelling of the legends of King Arthur, from Carnegie Medal-winner Kevin Crossley-Holland and former Children's Laureate Chris Riddell.
Be enthralled by the world of Arthurian legend in this lavishly illustrated, masterful retelling. From King Arthur’s childhood to his final battle, the timeless tales of the sword in the stone, the quests of the Knights of the Round Table and the wizardry of Merlin are woven together into a breathtaking feat of storytelling. An extraordinary collaboration between the world-renowned Kevin Crossley-Holland and the three-time Kate Greenaway Medal-winner Chris Riddell, this is a beautiful edition to be treasured by all ages.
Creators
Kevin Crossley-Holland is a Carnegie Medal-winning author and a well-known poet. His Arthur trilogy has won worldwide critical acclaim, sold well over 1 million copies and been translated into 25 languages. He has translated Beowulf from the Anglo-Saxon, and his retellings of traditional tales include Between Worlds, The Penguin Book of Norse Myths and British Folk Tales.
Chris Riddell is one of the country's finest children's book illustrators, and was Children's Laureate from 2015–17. He has won the Kate Greenaway Medal three times – for Pirate Diary, Gulliver's Travels and The Sleeper and the Spindle. He is a political cartoonist for the Observer and has collaborated with Paul Stewart on the extremely popular Edge Chronicles and Muddle Earth series. In recent years he has had success writing and illustrating his own books, including the Ottoline stories and Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, which won a Costa Book Award – and he recently illustrated J.K. Rowling's Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Reviews
a stand out
The Bookseller
A peerless evocation in words and pictures of the myth and magic of King Arthur.Combining the talents of a Carnegie medal winning author and a thrice winning Greenaway medal winning illustrator, this highly anticipated book was always going to be very special indeed and with its lavish production it proves to have exceeded expectations. […] They make a compelling read ensuring that Arthur will indeed always be the King of our literary landscape. A really worthwhile investment.
Joy Court
a fantastic Christmas gift
BBC Radio York
Something for the little knight in shining armour in your life. The legends of King Arthur have been polished and sharpened until they gleam thanks to the words of the Carnegie medal-winner Kevin Crossley-Holland (whose Norse Myths and Norse Tales particularly impressed) and the illustrations from the prolific former children’s laureate Chris Riddell. […] Crossley-Holland writes like a dream and has the knack of making these yarns, which could have felt stuffy in less elegant hands, feel fresh and relevant, while Riddell’s stunning, colourful illustrations — showing handsome warriors, towering castes, fraying wizards, young lovers and plenty of gore in the battle scenes — bring the myths fighting back to life.
The Times
This stunningly illustrated volume conjures the timeless magic, mystery, myths and romance of the ancient court, and is an absolute treasure for any age.
The Daily Mail
This spectacular collection of stories for 10-plus moves enthrallingly from Arthur’s boyhood to the trials of his kingship, betrayal and death; Riddell’s intoxicating illustrations, full of golden light, glinting mail and memorable gore, elevate it to the sublime.
The Guardian
Crossley-Holland has a spirited take on the tales and Riddell’s illustrations are both slightly creepy (especially Lancelot) and beautifully drawn. Gawain and the Green Knight is particularly fine.
The Spectator
Kevin-Crossley Holland’s captivating Arthur: The Always King is the best account of the leadership that our benighted country needs since Roger Lancelyn Green’s 1953 retelling of the legends. The illustrator Chris Riddell’s glowering Green Knight is a particular treat. A great present for 6-9.
New Statesman
The sword in the stone, the knights of the round table, Merlin, the overbearing green knight – threads from all the establishment of Avalon fables are here. And they are drawn together lyrically, without bombast, by Crossley-Holland. […] The richness and depth of Riddell’s illustrations are both real and fantastical, and yet somehow still add a sense of being in the moment. […] An old legend that had fallen out of contemporary fashion is reclaimed in this, a classic edition in the making.
The Big Issue
This is a masterly telling of the Arthurian legends. It is as much a resource book as an engrossing, shocking and compelling series of medieval legends. It is the Game of Thrones dialled up to eleven. And along the way, monsters, forests, battles, curses, miracles, sudden lust and much treachery. There are many heads smashed and hearts broken. These stories are remarkable for coming to us from the imaginations and minds of people nearly a thousand years ago, retold here in a lively contemporary manner. Perhaps most striking among the many differences of attitude we notice and feel is the power of the women in these stories. We know by the end that to both win and lose is our fate—that with love comes treachery, that alongside honour there must always be shame. It is deeply startling to see these insights so powerfully presented. Arthur is a breathless tale of adventure and magic, of power won and lost, ending (as the story of Christ does) with a violent death that promises a future return. Camelot might regain its place in the future—and perhaps this is the dream that keeps so many kingdoms alive, so many dreams going, and so many stories filling our hearts and minds with reminders of what contradictory creatures, at bottom, we are. The illustrations by Chris Riddell are as bloodthirsty and dramatic as they need to be, while allowing for the mix of medieval feel and magic horror necessary to these stories. On every page there are details, expressions, gestures enough to keep a child watching while the story is read aloud. Walker Books can be congratulated on producing a work that will be treasured by many children and families.
Reading Time
Each legend is complemented by Riddell’s wonderful illustrations. Many are stunning full page or double page drawings, all in vivid colours, giving the reader an insight into the characters in the stories as well as a background of the castles, clothing, and happenings. Other drawings form borders, some in full colour, others in black and white and the horses in particular stand out. Readers will want to flick through the pages repeatedly to look at particular illustrations, each time finding more details to marvel at: beautiful castles, blood and gore, a fierce Green Knight and a Fisher King in agony. Arthur: The always king is a sumptuous production and a must for fans of the King Arthur legends. It is one that will be treasured by those who are lucky enough to own it and will be sought after in libraries for its outstanding retelling.
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