Even declaring war seemed to be just a natural course of events rather than a proactive decision made by a person. Everything had a tendency to happen to the characters, rather than the characters doing things for themselves. Even when things did happen, though, I didn’t feel particularly excited. The story chugs away pretty slowly and, because I wasn’t enamoured with the narration, at times it felt a bit like wading through treacle. Since Merlin was both the narrator and the only character that seemed intended as more than a bunch of familiar stereotypes, this was a pretty big problem. It’s all a bit too measured and distanced that, despite being the narrator, I never felt remotely drawn to him or that I had any sort of grip on his personality. When describing his childhood, he sounds like neither a child or an old man looking back on events – his voice simply narrates things, as they happened, with very little passion or personality, even when describing his strongest feelings. However, the first few pages of the prologue, where Merlin describes how his memory works as an old man ‘ the recent past is misted while distant scenes of memory are clear and brightly coloured’ is the last time the narrator sounds the age he is meant to be. It’s told, first-person, from Merlin’s perspective as an old man looking back on his life. There were a lot of neat ideas but, like every character in this novel, they were never developed. It’s not that I actively dislike the book – it’s solidly in ‘ok’ territory – but I can’t really think of anything I liked about it either. Alas, I learn, yet again, that popularity often has little to do with quality. It was also pretty popular back in its day.
All the ingredients are there – it’s centered on a character I normally like, on events that are often just skated over as prologue, and grounded in more unique ‘realistic’ Dark Age Britain than the typical ‘castles and knights’ setting. I’ve spoken about my love of all things Arthurian before, so I was really expecting to enjoy this book.
The illegitimate son of a South Wales princess, his young life precariously in balance as the shifting tide of events wash over his homeland, he is aware at the earliest age of a great natural gift – the Sight.Īgainst a background of invasion and imprisonment, wars and conquest, we see his emergence into manhood equipped with learning and wisdom far in advance of his years and his time (which some call magic), and his dramatic role in the New Beginning – the coming of Arthur. The Crystal Cave plunges the reader deep into Fifth Century Britain, a country in chaos and division after the Roman withdrawal, where minor kings plot and intrigue against each other in draughty fog-bound settlements. Series: The Merlin Trilogy #1, The Arthurian Saga #1 Pages: 464 including Authors notes (Paperback)
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