Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely enchanting
Review: This is one of my favorite accounts of the Arthur legends. It is long, so it gets right down to the tiny details, and it not only kept, but demanded my attention!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent.
Review: While Mary Stewart owes more to Geoffrey of Monmouth than to Stephen Mallory, her poetic language and clear grasp of human thought makes this an excellent series, not for the historical content, but for the intelligent and imaginative writing. Particularly notable is the scene between Merlin and Morgause in the end of the secong book. Mary Stewart shows an ideal dichtomy between the two powerful personalities.

Rating:
Summary: T-riffic for Arthurian fans
Review: I found this series extrememly entertaining and educational. I myself am very interested in the Arthurian Legend and after reading this, found myself much more knowledgeable of the time before Arthur's birth. Mary Stewart takes an unusual view. Most Arthurian authors speak only of the King himself, but Stewart makes it much more interesting by taking Merlin's side.

Rating:
Summary: best of the arthurian sagas
Review: Mary Stewart's take on the popular Arthurian Saga is definately the best of the lot. Very well written and extensively reshearched, it has a quality of believability that the others lack. More than just a retelling of a fairy tale, Stewart gives the characters personality and a historical perpesctive. If you've read Jack Whyte, Stephen Lawhead, Marion Zimmer Bradley, or Bernard Cornwell's versions of the Arthurian Saga you should certainly read Stewart's, it is the best by far.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Aurthurian tales yet.
Review: I absolutely loved these books. Mary Stuart pulls you into the Authurian legend from the view point of Merlin. These books were so well written, they do just what a good fantasy ought to, pull you in and hold you till the very end and leave you wanting more. I have read them over and over, as a teen and as an adult. I highly recomend them.

Rating:
Summary: MUST READ!
Review: The Merlin Trilogy is the best tale of the legend of Merlin and Arthurian legend I have ever encountered. Anyone interested in fantasy books has GOT to read this series.

Rating:
Summary: Arthur as the focus
Review: This trilogy, along with the final book, The Wicked Day (told from Mordred's point of view), is my favorite retelling of the Arthurian story. One of its great pleasures is that it really focuses on Merlin and then Arthur, instead of being a book with Arthur's name on it but really all about Lancelot, Tristan and the like (e.g., La Morte d'Arthur). Both Arthur and Merlin are realistic and vital characters instead of cyphers or symbols for the author's message. Stewart's explanation of Merlin's and Arthur's acceptance of their fates (being buried in the cave, dealing with the adultery of a spouse and best friend, facing death at the hands of your son) is convincing and moving. The only weakness with the four books is that Guinevere remains something of a non-entity. But the majority of the characters are beautifully drawn, the story is always compelling and the themes are complex.

Rating:
Summary: A magical journey I'll always love
Review: I was given the first two of this set when I was eight or nine and I still love it ten years later! This set (particularly the first two) absolutely entrhalls me. A brilliantly original Arthurian retelling (from someone who has read countless versions!). I would love to give this to my husband one day or to my children - just as someone very dear once gave it to me as a gift. It truly is a gift to enter this world.

Rating:
Summary: THE Best
Review: I was assigned to read the Crystal Cave a long time ago for an English class and it turned out to be such an amazing story. I didn't just read this book, I practically devoured it and instantly fell in love with it and each story that followed. Mary Stewart's Merlin and depiction of Camelot is, far and away, the best one will ever come by. To this day, I still love re-reading the trilogy upon occasion.

Rating:
Summary: The best portray of the Camelot Legends yet...
Review: This is the best I've read and it kept me enthralled with the storyline the whole way. Unlike many other books this one tells of Merlin's childhood as well as Authur's in great detail that keeps the reader interested at every turn. This one i could not put down. READ IT!!