It's a Hardback Life

I don't have a favorite fictional monarch. I haven't read much of anything that involved a monarchy, and those few fantasy series or pre-20th century novels that did have some sort of ruler usually kept them in the background, or made them out to be the oppressor.

The best I can do is say that King Arthur is the one I've read about the most. I wouldn't call him any kind of favorite- in the majority of stories he is one of the least compelling characters. But I can say I'm glad he and his legends exist, since they have become the basis of so many re-imaginings over the centuries. I would never have read the Lost Years of Merlin series by T.A. Barron or The Dragon Queen by Alice Borchardt or The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White if it weren't for Arthur as the keystone figure. What would my life be without Monty Python and the Holy Grail??

Arthur is generally upright, brave, and dull as dishwater. A few times, like in Idylls of the King, he's been an asshole (leave it to the Victorians). But his continuing presence and vague, mythic status has given a lot of authors great material to work with.