I am really enjoying this series. It's an enjoyable take on an ancient legend.

This book in particular is a unique and humanizing take on a myth, made man. ( )

I read this many years ago--I enjoyed the information on the Arthurian saga but ended up deciding that I didn't like Lawhead's writing style, so I haven't read many of his works beyond this series. ( )

This is the second book in Lawhead's series on The Arthurian legend. The action takes you from the birth of Merlin, to meeting Uther Pendragon and it ends with birth of Arthur. The story is told through Merlin's POV.

The story line in this series is so much different then the one in The Mists of Avalon -in Mists everyone is Pagan, in this one the central theme is Catholicism. Personally I just could not comprehend Merlin being a Christian, and the monks converting everyone they came into contact with, it was just not believable to me. However, besides the old Disney version, this is only my second experience on this topic, so I have no idea how other author's have handled the religious aspect.

And then there is Morgian. Lawford has portrayed her as an evil force to be reckoned with. I am still not sure how I feel about this.

The first book, I loved-this one kind of falls between "I liked it" and "so-so". It dragged for me in a lot of places and I think it was because of the non-ending story-line of Christianity.

I will continue on with the series and hope for better reading. ( )

I read this one a long time ago but I still feel the adrenaline of the bullfight in my veins and the love story and the strength for survival. I’m not saying that I’m pro bullfight but the character makes you feel so much when she in the arena, her passion her moves you. ( )

Rarely have I had such a strong negative reaction to a book. I hated it. And part of the reason, I think, I that the first volume, Taliesin, was superb. But while in Taliesin Lawhead spun an intriguing tale that treated the source material with respect, Merlin quickly becomes a religious tract proclaiming how superior christianity is to the pagan religions that it displaces.

For me, Lawhead did two unforgivable things in this book. First, he makes Merlin a christian and a missionary. Yes, of course the Arthur cycle is part of European christian heritage - but Merlin is ALWAYS the link back to the pagan past, the holder of the magic of ancient knowledge and the oral tradition that stretches back before the christians and even the Romans. To co-opt him as a tool to preach the christian that destroys that tradition, when almost every other aspect of the story already serves that purpose, is both pointless and offensive.

And even worse than this, the author turns aside from writing a fine, gripping, meaningful story with strong religious sentiments and begins to write a sermon. ( )