Post by Taika of Narfell on Jan 6, 2007 5:17:45 GMT 1
Stephen R. Lawhead - Merlin (2nd of The Pendragon Cycle)
As the second book in The Pendragon Cycle Merlin is a worthy sequel. Additionally, you should be aware that as this is a sequel the review may well contain spoilers to the first book in the series, Taliesin (reviewed elsewhere in this forum by yours truly). Because of character names lending the books their titles I have written a given name in italics everytime I am talking about the book of that name, and in normal types when I'm talking about the person.
I have just finished reading this book and I am short of breath, my heart is pounding, and my mind is racing through archaic Britain. It is a book of just as epic proportions as Taliesin. But I get ahead of myself. I should start from the beginning. I will not hesitate to mention certain names from the plot as they are commonly known in the Arthurian legends and I knew them myself before I started reading. Therefore I can say for certain that knowing certain characters and their plotwise function will not harm one's experience of the book in the least.
Where Taliesin was a story posed as having been written down by the Atlantean princess Charis about the doom of her homeland and about the history and heritage of her husband Taliesin up until the point of his death, Merlin is told in a different tone. Indeed, Charis wrote down her story in third person and only the prologue and the epilogue is written strictly from her point of view. In Merlin it is Merlin who tells his own story from the first person perspective. I thought this rare, but recently I have discovered more and more books told thusly and I find myself quite enthralled with them. Somehow it has an ability to make things more personal.
Like Taliesin, Merlin is divided into three 'books' within the volume. But where its predecessor's storyline was more or less linear the 'books' of this one are more seperate. Starting with the 'book' called King we follow Merlin's childhood. We see he was taught by Taliesin, his late father's old teacher, Hafgan the Archdruid, and how he was taught moreso by his father's old friend, Blaise, whose name some of you may recognise from the legends. Most of all this first 'book' shows, perhaps even more strongly than Taliesin, what happens when two religions meet. Here it is of course a matter of the old Druidic faiths featuring Lleu, the Sun God and the newcomer: Christianity. The Roman Empire may have pulled out of the British Isles by this time, but it left a legacy of not only infrastructure but also of religion.
Without spoiling anything I can confirm what most people will figure out on their own: The Druids face the choice of accepting Jesus as the Great Light that they have been foretold would come or denying this. This choice will play a part throughout the entire book, but I shall not elaborate on it further. As the title of this first 'book' would hint it does include seeing a King crowned, but do not expect to see the famed Arthur yet.
The second 'book' is titled Forest Lord and is by far the oddest part of the book. It begins with something resembling an epic poem, which is followed by the words: "Mad Merlin... mad... you are mad Merlin... mad..." and these words are told by Merlin himself. The entirety of this 'book' consists of mad Merlin's mad ramblings to the animals of the forest, hence the title Forest Lord. Since it is told in first person view I truly got the impression that this storyteller was quite mad. Lawhead has me quite convinced. The reason for the madness is revealed towards the end of this 'book', where an issue is resolved through the introduction to a new one.
The third and last 'book' in the book is called Prophet. I read all of that part today and that is the one that kept me completely enraptured. By this time the many kings in Britain's kingdoms squabble amongst themselves and they cannot unite against the Saecsen, Scotti and Picti barbarian hordes from the North. There is a need for a High King, but a High King does not just appear out of nowhere to be accepted by all. There is much work to be done and Merlin being the inspirational predecessor of Gandalf does what he does best; he counsels, guides, meddles and manipulates. I will not go into the details of course since that would ruin the plot for you. It is far too intricate in this latter part for me to say anything that will not reveal too much. I will say, though, that as I reached the final four pages I could already see what was going to happen, because it would result in one of the other great events from the legends of old. And it is a truly epic moment that left me completely breathless, I will not say what it is, however, as that would ruin too much. And for such a fantastic moment in the reading experience to be ruined would be a crime. Truly.
Overall Lawhead has a language that is wonderfully descriptive and sates my lyrical self with plenty of the adjectives I crave. On the other hand, he never gets tedious as Tolkien does in his many frozen descriptions of things. Rather Lawhead lets the story flow, and perhaps it is the first person perspective helping his cause. We see the world through Merlin's eyes, and since we follow the man so closely we (or at least I) come to understand and realise that whatever Merlin finds important enough to mention is also worth knowing.
A helpful note to avert confusion in the plotline: It has been a while since I read Taliesin, so I may have forgotten some things, but because of its linear storyline it never occured to me to consider the Atlanteans as having a different lifespan than normal humans. In Merlin it becomes very clear that they do. They live far longer and thus see far more generations of normal human families than would normally be expected. It took me a while to figure out why this was, but the lifespan was the answer. It is of course an attempt at explaining why Merlin seemed to be around in several generations in the legends. He was of the Fair Folk of whom Charis from Taliesin was known as The Faerie Queen.
Another helpful note that I should probably have included in the review of Taliesin is that in this setting druids and bards are the same thing. They are the carriers of knowledge and knowledge is passed along with the telling, and the understanding is best helped along by compelling music. I know this confused me a tad during the first book, but this is merely to those who have not realised it yet.
My overall judgment: Well worth a read! I am glad I've read it, and with the ending of Merlin I feel compelled to go pick up the next book in the series: Arthur
As the second book in The Pendragon Cycle Merlin is a worthy sequel. Additionally, you should be aware that as this is a sequel the review may well contain spoilers to the first book in the series, Taliesin (reviewed elsewhere in this forum by yours truly). Because of character names lending the books their titles I have written a given name in italics everytime I am talking about the book of that name, and in normal types when I'm talking about the person.
I have just finished reading this book and I am short of breath, my heart is pounding, and my mind is racing through archaic Britain. It is a book of just as epic proportions as Taliesin. But I get ahead of myself. I should start from the beginning. I will not hesitate to mention certain names from the plot as they are commonly known in the Arthurian legends and I knew them myself before I started reading. Therefore I can say for certain that knowing certain characters and their plotwise function will not harm one's experience of the book in the least.
Where Taliesin was a story posed as having been written down by the Atlantean princess Charis about the doom of her homeland and about the history and heritage of her husband Taliesin up until the point of his death, Merlin is told in a different tone. Indeed, Charis wrote down her story in third person and only the prologue and the epilogue is written strictly from her point of view. In Merlin it is Merlin who tells his own story from the first person perspective. I thought this rare, but recently I have discovered more and more books told thusly and I find myself quite enthralled with them. Somehow it has an ability to make things more personal.
Like Taliesin, Merlin is divided into three 'books' within the volume. But where its predecessor's storyline was more or less linear the 'books' of this one are more seperate. Starting with the 'book' called King we follow Merlin's childhood. We see he was taught by Taliesin, his late father's old teacher, Hafgan the Archdruid, and how he was taught moreso by his father's old friend, Blaise, whose name some of you may recognise from the legends. Most of all this first 'book' shows, perhaps even more strongly than Taliesin, what happens when two religions meet. Here it is of course a matter of the old Druidic faiths featuring Lleu, the Sun God and the newcomer: Christianity. The Roman Empire may have pulled out of the British Isles by this time, but it left a legacy of not only infrastructure but also of religion.
Without spoiling anything I can confirm what most people will figure out on their own: The Druids face the choice of accepting Jesus as the Great Light that they have been foretold would come or denying this. This choice will play a part throughout the entire book, but I shall not elaborate on it further. As the title of this first 'book' would hint it does include seeing a King crowned, but do not expect to see the famed Arthur yet.
The second 'book' is titled Forest Lord and is by far the oddest part of the book. It begins with something resembling an epic poem, which is followed by the words: "Mad Merlin... mad... you are mad Merlin... mad..." and these words are told by Merlin himself. The entirety of this 'book' consists of mad Merlin's mad ramblings to the animals of the forest, hence the title Forest Lord. Since it is told in first person view I truly got the impression that this storyteller was quite mad. Lawhead has me quite convinced. The reason for the madness is revealed towards the end of this 'book', where an issue is resolved through the introduction to a new one.
The third and last 'book' in the book is called Prophet. I read all of that part today and that is the one that kept me completely enraptured. By this time the many kings in Britain's kingdoms squabble amongst themselves and they cannot unite against the Saecsen, Scotti and Picti barbarian hordes from the North. There is a need for a High King, but a High King does not just appear out of nowhere to be accepted by all. There is much work to be done and Merlin being the inspirational predecessor of Gandalf does what he does best; he counsels, guides, meddles and manipulates. I will not go into the details of course since that would ruin the plot for you. It is far too intricate in this latter part for me to say anything that will not reveal too much. I will say, though, that as I reached the final four pages I could already see what was going to happen, because it would result in one of the other great events from the legends of old. And it is a truly epic moment that left me completely breathless, I will not say what it is, however, as that would ruin too much. And for such a fantastic moment in the reading experience to be ruined would be a crime. Truly.
Overall Lawhead has a language that is wonderfully descriptive and sates my lyrical self with plenty of the adjectives I crave. On the other hand, he never gets tedious as Tolkien does in his many frozen descriptions of things. Rather Lawhead lets the story flow, and perhaps it is the first person perspective helping his cause. We see the world through Merlin's eyes, and since we follow the man so closely we (or at least I) come to understand and realise that whatever Merlin finds important enough to mention is also worth knowing.
A helpful note to avert confusion in the plotline: It has been a while since I read Taliesin, so I may have forgotten some things, but because of its linear storyline it never occured to me to consider the Atlanteans as having a different lifespan than normal humans. In Merlin it becomes very clear that they do. They live far longer and thus see far more generations of normal human families than would normally be expected. It took me a while to figure out why this was, but the lifespan was the answer. It is of course an attempt at explaining why Merlin seemed to be around in several generations in the legends. He was of the Fair Folk of whom Charis from Taliesin was known as The Faerie Queen.
Another helpful note that I should probably have included in the review of Taliesin is that in this setting druids and bards are the same thing. They are the carriers of knowledge and knowledge is passed along with the telling, and the understanding is best helped along by compelling music. I know this confused me a tad during the first book, but this is merely to those who have not realised it yet.
My overall judgment: Well worth a read! I am glad I've read it, and with the ending of Merlin I feel compelled to go pick up the next book in the series: Arthur