Rating: 
Summary: a magickle book
Review: I found this book at a Barnes & Noble bookstore while looking for another. After reading the book description, I did not hesitate to buy it. I read it in a few hours and could not put it down (I did try seeing how I started reading at midnight) at daylight I finally went to sleep and dreamt I was adventuring with Emrys(Merlin), Trouble, Shim and Rhia. (great fun indeed!!)a few days later I picked up the rest of the books and loved them all, every last page was filled with magic and a feeling of good fun. The books are well written, and will capture the readers attention, even the slow parts are exciting because you are just dying to know what will happen next. I recommend these books over Harry Potter any day of the week. Do yourself a favor and read these books.
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Summary: Runescape Crooker
Review: I picked this book up at my library because I had nothing else to read, thinking that it might be interesting. It was better then that, T.A. Barron did a wonderful job of bringing Emyrs (Merlin) to life. A young boys journey to discover the truth about himself, it was great and I couldn't put it down until I finished reading through it.
Rating: 
Summary: Lacking in depth, detail, and development
Review: I read The Lost Years of Merlin twice, once in an evening to follow the story, and the second time out loud to my son, over a period of many weeks. When read quickly the lack of development and detail gets brushed away by the addled pace. There are a few good concepts, though they are diluted by digressions and contrivinces, and the plot moves along quickly.
However, when read slowly these problems dominated the narrative and left me frustrated and bored. My 6 year old son, who loves to draw pictures to illustrate the stories that he hears, was unable to find inspiration. That a visually precocious child could gain no mental picture of a crucial plot element, the shrouded castle, says it all.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of Excalibur
Review: I thought the book was really skookum because the author, T.A. Baron, is very descriptive when he writes. He makes you feel like your seeing a movie in your mind. He has excellent words that educate me on every page. When he described the setting it sounded like it was a real place. I think anybody who likes sorcery, Harry Potter, or whoever just wants to read a good book, should read The Lost Years of Merlin.
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Summary: There is a reason T.A. Barron is my favorite author...
Review: I would just like to say that I have been hooked on T.A. Barron's books since I was in the eighth grade (I am a freshman in college now)...I started with The Merlin Effect, and didn't stop there....The Lost Years of Merlin series is purely magical. It's a shame there aren't more books out there by T.A. Barron...Boy, can he weave a story!! Each book in the series seems to fit perfectly with the rest--something you don't often find in a lot of series (once so many books are written, the quality often wavers...however in these books that is not the case). When I was younger, I vividly remember anxiously awaiting each new volume to appear at the library, and after reading them I wasn't disappointed. The part where Rhia dies in The Seven Songs of Merlin was the first time I had ever cried because of a book...Rhia is the ultimate character--brave, smart, totally in-tune with nature, and kind...I eventually plan to name my daughter Rhia someday.
Anyway, I just want to say that if you read these books, I know you won't be disappointed. Look out Harry Potter: Here comes Merlin!
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Addition To the Classic Tale
Review: I've always been very intrigued by the legends of King Arthur and Merlin,excaliber,Morgana le Fay,and Guinivere.From somebody who loves fantasy in all forms,this is a series you don't want to miss!The writing blows you away,the charactures are eerily realistic,and the overall attitude of it carries you away in a powerful epic that you don't want to miss.
Rating:
Summary: Magical Reading
Review: Many people have heard of the magical and wise Merlin but his childhood is a mystery. "The Lost Years of Merlin", written by T.A Barron, fills in most of the gaps. This enchanting tale is about a young man named Emrys who loses his memory and finds his way to Fincayra, where he searches for his future though many adventures wait for him. Fincayra is a place of wonder and mystery because it contains many good and bad creatures. Along the way he meets many people (or things) who help him find the secrets of Fincayra. T.A Barron did an extremely good job of describing Merlin's dangerous yet magical life. One of the many tings he gets in Fincayra is his new name, Merlin. Kids tend to like books about things they don't usually see or hear about but some kids don't. If so, they would not like "The Lost Years of Merlin" because you don't see a young wizard learning magic in a place called Fincayra and being pursued by another evil wizard. Another reason this book might not be liked is the large variety characters and setting. There is a wide range of new characters in every new book in the series that are fun to read about yet some might become confused. Even so, I don't think any of these reasons is good enough to stop someone from reading this book. Others might like books that move slowly or books that are realistic but if not this book is perfect. One can tell that the author took a long time to think out this book so that it is understandable and simple. I am, myself, a really slow reader but I read this book with ease. It is mostly a calm book. This is one of the best series I have read and I am confident you will think so too.
Rating: 
Summary: just so shallow...
Review: Spoiler Warning.There are few books that I can find that I could personally find a better way to write it - this is one of them. It was painfully predictable - and get this. The dude is practically blind, and plainly says it's hard to see - then lists a million details. Is it just me, or is that wrong? In addition, I didn't like the writing style. At all. Randomly, our of the blue, things happen. Two characters were chatting, and boom! Six heavily armed goblins appear! Me, here's what I would have done. I would have built up the suspense - let the reader know something's out there before I introduce them. Next, the mom of the guy - the author plainly stated she wasn't the mother. I mean, come on! Be reasonable! A scene that just killed me what when a whole sequence was about eating. God. It's food. Get over it. What else can I say? Oh yeah, when the main character finds out who his dad is, it's just so cliche. Is this Star Wars? The sad thing is, in Star Wars, it worked! In this... it just didn't fly. If you actually want depth, don't read this book. You won't get any.
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Summary: Merlin's Beginnings
Review: The book The Lost Years Of Merlin, by T.A. Barron, is the story of a seven year old boy who is thrown onto shore by a storm and, in the process, hits his head resulting in amnesia. A woman named Branwen, who claims to be his mother, takes him in and lives with the boy, Emerys, for six years. During this time, he discovers he has mystical powers. Since Branwen won't explain his past, Emerys finds he must travel to a world named Fincayra, a place Branwen claims to be from, to find out. Emerys sets out on a raft and reaches the coast of Fincayra. Emerys discovers that this land is in grave danger and he may be the only one who can save this world. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure, fantasy, mystical powers, and the possiblility of other worlds. You also get the chance to watch a boy's life unfold and discover his past along with the character himsself. It's wonderfully suspenseful as you meet new characters and discover the effect each one has on Emerys, who risks his life every step of the way. It is a very well written book that creates a perfectly woven image of a mystical world.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting look at Merlin
Review: The Lost Years of Merlin is a very well written, smart work about on of fantasy's most interesting characters, Merlin the wizard. These books take place before he ever met King Arthur, or lived in Camelot, but detail his life as a teenager and how he began the road to becoming the Merlin that we know.
This book, and the four others that follow, show an extrordinary effort at character building and personality.
The book starts as Merlin, Emrys, washes ashore, his memory gone, and a women besides him. He has no memory of what had happened, and the women, who claims to be his mother, raises him.
Emrys grows up learning about the Greek gods and myths and around the age of eleven, begins to feel the magical powers he soon learns to master. But he and his mother are attacked and he looses his eyes and is scarred by the magic in its raw potential.
Soon, regains a sort of sight, a second sight. Wanting to find out who he really is, he goes to the ocean where he washed ashore and builds a boat to take him to a magical land that he was told that he and his mother come from.
He arrives on the island, and is confronted with evil. The island is being overtaken by an evil king and his master, and going with a girl, Rhia, and a Merlin, Trouble, he goes to confront the king to save his friends and to save the island. The story overall is sort of cliched, in and about the evil king, young hero who goes to save all, and all of that, but despite this, Barron manages to weave a complicated tale and world beautifully. Fincayra, the island, is a world that lies between heaven and earth, and has a vast array of magical and interesting people, animals and creatures. This is a world of fantasy, with many elements from every aspect of fantasy mixed in.
The island's discription is well done and detailed. After reading this book, I went right back to the library and then bookstore to buy the rest of the series, hoping to read some more of this incredible story.
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