I was like, Hasn't anybody just sort of translated this into more personable prose and used quotation marks? But then I realized people would tell me to read T.H. White, and that's not what I meant. His stuff still contains a lot of originality from all that I understand, even if Malory was the primary inspiration. I loved the Disney Sword in the Stone as a kid, but it's that knowledge that made me reluctant to read his books when I got older... I'm just not impressed by the tragic love triangle and the Mordred plot, I'm more interested in the more episodic adventures and quests of various knights around the kingdom. I read The Mists of Avalon when I was in my early twenties because it was a seminal work for my mom, and I didn't hate it, but I definitely got enough of certain elements.