The Crystal Cave
by Mary Stewart
★★★☆
I’m a sucker for anything having to do with the Arthurian legend. Camelot, Guinevere, the Knights of the Round Table, I love them all, but I’ve always found Merlin particularly captivating. Stewart’s series, published in the 1970s, has been called the best modern re-telling of this story, so I had to check it out.
The story is told from Merlin’s point-of-view and follows his life as a young boy in Wales, his adolescence in Less Britain and his return home as an adult. Stewart maintains all of the legend’s major points, including the fall of King Vortigern, Merlin’s role as a prophet to the kings and how Arthur is conceived.
**SPOILERS**
There are a few elements I really liked about this particular version of the myth. I enjoyed the role Stewart gives Merlin in rebuilding Stonehenge. She also sheds some like on the story of his parentage. He is born a bastard, but we meet his father, Ambrosius, and find out that he is really Arthur’s cousin (Uther is Ambrosius’ brother). That twist gave an added gravitas to the role Merlin plays in orchestrating Uther’s obsession with the Lady Ygraine.
**SPOILERS OVER**
A new character in this re-telling is Merlin’s servant Cadal. I loved their friendship and it was a testament to Merlin’s integrity that he considered his servants his dearest companions. I also liked Merlin’s teacher, Galapas, and have some suspicions about where that story line will go in future books.
I did enjoy this one and I think I’ll continue the series. It wasn’t unputdownable and it didn’t cover too much new territory, but I always enjoy a good Merlin tale. I’m hoping that this book, as it often is with most first books in a series, isn’t the best of the lot. It establishes the main players and premise, but ideally future books will delve deeper into the story and develop our love of the characters.
