T H White

“The Sword in the Stone was a favourite of mine. It all comes down to character. Wart is such a wonderful character and re-imagining of King Arthur as a child. The detail in the magic, again, made me laugh so much. The wonderful spelling match Merlin has with Madam Mim, the knights in armour not being able to move because their armour is so heavy – it’s exquisitely observed.” Read more...

Magical Stories for Kids

Cressida Cowell, Children's Author

“White is less famous than Lewis and Tolkien, but he was a better writer, at least as far as style goes, and his book is a true masterpiece in its own right – a thoroughly modern re-imagining of the great English epic, the story of King Arthur. Like Tolkien, White takes an ancient, mythic landscape and scales it down to human size (or perhaps he scales us up). But White’s world is more brightly lit than Tolkien’s – he dispenses with all those Wagnerian storm clouds. White’s England is all streaming banners and sun-splashed meadows and shining walls, and he lingers longer over his characters, making them more complex and flawed and divided against themselves. “ Read more...

The best books on Fantasy

Lev Grossman, Novelist