The Ill-Made Knight
The Ill-Made Knight is based around the adventures, perils and mistakes of Sir Lancelot. Lancelot, despite being the bravest of the knights, is ugly, and ape-like, so that he calls himself the Chevalier mal fet - "The Ill-Made Knight". As a child, Lancelot loved King Arthur and spent his entire childhood training to be a knight of the round table. When he arrives and becomes one of Arthur's knights, he also becomes the king's close friend. This causes some tension, as he is jealous of Arthur's new wife Guinevere. In order to please her husband, Guinevere tries to befriend Lancelot and the two eventually fall in love. T.H. White's version of the tale elaborates greatly on the passionate love of Lancelot and Guinevere. Suspense is provided by the tension between Lancelot's friendship for King Arthur and his love for and affair with the queen.
T. H. White
Terence Hanbury White (1906–1964) was an English author best known for his sequence of Arthurian novels, The Once and Future King, first published together in 1958.
The Once and Future King
The Once and Future King consists of five primary books, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.