How is the novel, The Book of Merlyn, different from its predecessor, The Once and Future King?

The Book of Merlyn is freer from violence; there are simply not so many knights running around to get their heads lopped off. Most of the fighting in the book is left to the ants, and Arthur is snatched from the ant colony before the battle begins. In addition, Lancelot and Guenevere do not appear until the last few pages of the novel.