SanguineInk

On the way back to Camelot after ridding an outlying village of dangerous monster (and of course, Arthur just had to leave his nice magic sword home when dealing with a scary magic monster), the king and his knights find themselves ambushed. Arthur finds himself separated from his knights by a magical wall of fire, and naturally, Merlin finds a way through the fire wall to Arthur, is unwilling to risk Arthur’s life by fighting, drinks the poison that suppresses his magic, and gets himself stuck in a dungeon with his king (who is also his best friend, whether he admits it or not). And oh hey, they’re not actually after Arthur at all; they want Emrys and his powers at their beck and call. Oops. Merlin may not get out of this one with his secret intact.

I have to say that I really love the way this author writes Merlin and Arthur. I mean, the writing style in general is fabulous–easy to read and grammatically correct, yes, but also just really fun to read. But beyond that, the characters are excellent. They are definitely in character, but more than that, they are the best of their characters. You get tons of Merlin sass and a good bit of Arthur attitude as well. What’s more, you get inside Merlin’s head, so you get all his little sarcastic comments to himself that are just brilliantly funny. And the bromance between them portrayed here is great–the same feeling as the best parts of the show and their interactions there. While the other characters are not involved in this story as much (what with Merlin and Arthur being locked up together then traveling together for a good chunk of the story), when they do show up, they also evoke the best of their characters in the show, the things about them that I love the most. As for the plot, it’s a nice balance of whump and hurt/comfort combined with adventure. There’s enough actual plot to keep things interesting, and it’s really cool to see Arthur’s development as he adjusts his ideas regarding magic and actually communicates with the magic users in his kingdom. Plus, you’ve got a really awesome battle scene at the end which is quite original and engaging and generally amazing. Merlin is totally badass, and it’s super cool. I think Facing the Truth exemplifies the best of a lot of the things I love most about the Merlin fandom, and as such, I would highly recommend it.… (altro)