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  • The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights

  • By: James Knowles
  • Narrated by: Eric Brooks
  • Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (23 ratings)

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The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights

By: James Knowles
Narrated by: Eric Brooks
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Editor reviews

Many authors, from Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century through the romantics and up to current times, have interpreted the King Arthur story, mixing mythologies and legends with history, religion, and magic. Here is Sir James Knowles’ 1860 take on Arthur. Knowles, living during the Victorian revival of Arthur, gives a story of nobility and gallantry. Arthur appears in his classic adventures and battles emphasizing the concept of Arthur as an English origin myth. Not, perhaps, the most remarkably written entry in the world of Arthur, this volume makes up for lack of style with action and heroism. Eric Brooks has fun with his performance in this audiobook, creating colorful characterizations and exaggerating the drama almost to the point of playful caricature.

Summary

King Arthur was a legendary British leader of the late fifth and early sixth century who, according to the medieval histories and romances, led the defense of the Romano-Celtic British against the Saxon invaders in the early sixth century. This book gives an account of the life of this great legend of all times.

Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Spoilt by monotone narration

Such a shame. These are excellent tales but totallt spoilt by the narrator. Monotone and shouts throughout ... could only listen in short chunks as it drove me mad. Wont buy anything from this Narrator again.

1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • HA
  • 05-11-15

Very basic

Was excited to her this story as i like the era...However it soon became very repetitive with a 'smote' every few minutes and all knights constantly fighting each other for no particular reason. This book has no finesse!

1 person found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Shouty

The narrator is very shouty.. not just in volume, but in tone. Not pleasant to listen to at all.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • T. Rod
  • 05-09-14

This was painful!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Changing the narrator could have improved this book.

Would you recommend The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights to your friends? Why or why not?

Not the audiobook.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

His voice was not my taste for a good listen. He was sometimes hard to understand, and his voice did not flow.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really.

14 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Andrew
  • 16-10-14

Man, sooo Boring

Any additional comments?

I'm going to be charitable and give this 2 stars. These stories may have been entertaining 400 years ago, but literature has greatly advanced, and societally has advanced from being mostly illiterate to highly literate.

These stories may be fun to read one a night to your kids, but when done rapidly they wear on one, the characters have no personality and the action consists of sentence after sentence of who smote who with their sword, and then at the end a helm gets cleaved in two, rinse repeat every ten pages.

8 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Sheryl
  • 17-10-13

Don't waste your time.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I'm sure the knights back in the day, just went around looking for a fight, but they all started sounding the same. Maybe if you have a lot of time on your hands or are way into the whole Knight thing you'd like it.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The reader was so slow, it made it drag on as well.

8 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Felicia
  • 09-09-15

Heavy attention required for Arthurian Legend

Language and terms are tough to follow at times and require a dictionary at hand while reading. The legend is one that should be well known and read because classics are cherished by many avid readers.

6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Anonymous User
  • 30-10-20

Tales of knights and fights

This is an interesting collection of battles. The wording is a bit outdated, but I feel it sets the mood appropriately. Anyone who is expecting this to be like any current day writings or film may be disappointed by the style or find it difficult to digest.

4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Stephani
  • 07-11-20

Decent reading of the classic version

Why so much hate? This is the oldest and most accurate compilation known to England!

3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Ms. Hill
  • 23-11-20

Not sure what I expected...

The narration was excellent. They language used was charmingly amusing but I like the show Merlin better 😂

2 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Marion Hunt
  • 24-07-20

Missing words

If you like to have to guess at the first word of a passage, this book is for you! Utter waste of a credit. Listened for 30 seconds, no thanks.

2 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • H. Adams
  • 18-04-22

narration terrible

the book is a classic but I can not listen to the narrator , not ever so sad

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Dean Houdeshel
  • Dean Houdeshel
  • 29-09-21

Battle n fight

The book is mostly one war or Joust after another. The Real treasure here for me was the performance of Eric Brooks, who gives much life to the store!

1 person found this helpful