Le Morte D'Arthur

By: Sir Thomas Malory

Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell

To the modern eye, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table have many similarities to our own contemporary super-heroes. Equipped with magical powers, enchanted swords, super-strength, and countless villains to take on, they protect the weak and innocent and adhere to their own code of honor. Comparing Batman, Superman, and Captain America to Sir Launcelot, Sir Tristram, and Sir Galahad isn't a huge leap of the imagination.

Perhaps, for the 15th century reader, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were the equivalent of our modern day Justice League or Avengers. This audiobook gets to the heart of the narrative, telling the exciting legends of the supernatural, magic, dragons, beasts, battles, and chivalry contained in Sir Thomas Malory's epic in a contemporary and unaffected style. First published by William Caxton in 1485, this version is a faithfully unabridged narration of the complete Malory text (excluding the introduction). It includes the chapter numbers and descriptions used in the original manuscript.

Public Domain (P)2016 Chris MacDonnell

Medieval Avengers, basically

A series of many stories following many characters on as many adventures, some only tangentially related, concluding in an epic, tragic climax. The style may be archaic, but most of the content probably appeals most to the vigorous appetites of youth, (specifically starry-eyed little boys) with its near endless deeds of blind courage and dutiful lists of the smitten and the smote. It’s the kind of thing I would have listened to gladly at 7-12, while playing with legos or drawing pictures of battles on a cold or rainy afternoon.

I only read it to learn about Morgan lefay

37 hour book
60 parts/or my bookmarks recorded on Morgan lafey
I've read other dissapointing version of Arthurian Legends that bearly touch on the character of Morgan Lefay but this book seems to cover all her stories except in the end where it doesn't seems to mention much about her having mordred as a son.
Overall doesn't dissapoint!

And people think ancient lit is dull!

I bought this version after sampling several. I can read Middle English, but it's been decades since I spoke or heard it, so a modern translation had to suffice.

The narrator did a fine job. His female voices are a little stilted, but nobody's perfect. He did a great job with all the hills and valleys: the battles, the gore, the love scenes, the many lists of names, and especially differentiating the many characters just enough to avoid confusion in the listener.

I wholeheartedly recommend this audiobook.

vocabulary building

I should have known the language was going to be so archaic, but if you can get past that it is worth a listen. the repetition is iconic of oral tradition, but does take a while to get used to.

Le Monte D’Arthur

I really like King Arthur books, but his book goes beyond. The narration is incredible, although the girl voices are kind of cartoonish. Overall, great book, great narration.