En esta, la tercera historia de su epopeya artúrica, T. A. Barron añade una nueva y emocionante dimensión a la leyenda de Merlín.
Alas de Fuego, el dragón dormido, ha despertado amenazando con desatar su terrible ira sobre toda Fincayra. Solo el joven Merlín, nieto del gran Mago Tuatha, puede detenerlo, aunque el precio puede ser la vida del joven mago. Pero antes de que pueda enfrentarse a los fuegos del dragón, Merlín debe soportar fuegos de otros tipos, incluidos los de su interior. Debe enfrentarse a los malvados krílix, parecidos a murciélagos, que existen solo para destruir la magia; a la misteriosa Rueda de Wye, y a la hechicera Urnalda, que tiene el preciado Galator. Más desafiante, el joven Merlín tendrá que descubrir no el poder, sino la fuente de su propia magia.

The Raging Fires: Book 3: Merlin Saga (T.A. Barron) NY: Puffin Books: 1998

Mystery: Middle: 288 PG

Summary: Merlin, who's still learning his magic powers, takes on a quest to slay the dragon and save the land. On his quest he finds slayed dragon eggs and one hurt baby dragon, who he tries to save. Merlin feels unsuccessful in his quest where he can't find the item to slay the dragon. The dragon ends up saving his life after the baby dragon survives and tells the tale of Merlin saving it. The dragon dies from a Kelix but Merlin saves the baby.

Critique: Story takes place in a fantasy land with dragons, wizards, and magic. Good description about landscape and events.

Activity (before): Based on the cover and title what do you think this book is about?

When the long sleeping dragon, Wings of Fire, is awakened and threatens to destroy the entire land of Fincarya, Merlin is tasked with defeating him to restore peace and order. Merlin is still developing and learning his skills and talents with magic and an ancient prophecy predicts his demise if he faces the dragon in battle. Filled with trepidation, Merlin sets off to locate the dragon and defend the land he now calls home. Along the way Merlin encounter other lethal foes, fiercely determined to provide him with a disadvantage against the dragon, and some worse, kill him outright. Merlin must face not only formidable foes, but an inner struggle with his own mortality and magic. Can Merlin defeat Wings of Fire and save Fincayra, or will the dragon be the death of both Merlin and the land?

Another captivating read from Mr. T.A. Barron! This one takes us on so many twists and turns in Merlins quest to defeat Wings of Fire (because of course it does, does ANYTHING ever go straightforward and smooth for Merlin?). There was plenty of trickery, sabotage, and deceit to keep me guessing. One thing I really have come to expect and love with these books is the vast array of unusual and exciting new characters, and this one was no different. The deer people were fascinating to read about (I hope to see more of them in the future). Barron has a way of writing these characters that leaves me longing to roam the lands of Fincayra to meet and befriend them; to maybe be given a piece of magical antler and dash across the meadows and leap up mountains myself as a deer. *sigh* For now I suppose I will be content to be swept up in the words and pages of his books. ( )

so good! ( )

In the Fires of Merlin, Merlin has to face many challenges that all lead up to his greatest challenge of defeating the dragon, Valdearg. These challenges include avoiding the magic-eating Kreelixes, recovering the Galator from Damnu, and discovering the secrets of the Wheel of Wye. After facing many challenges in this novel, Merlin learns a couple things about himself and others. He learns that magic is within himself, and that he cannot judge other people or creatures as evil just because they are related to someone who is. I thought these were great lessons for Merlin to learn as he grows into the wizard he will become.

I enjoyed this book about as much as I enjoyed the others. Again, it seems that I liked certain aspects from this book as I did in the others. The Fires of Merlin moves quite a bit slower than the previous novel, though a lot still happens within a short amount of time; however, it is still entertaining and interesting. Merlin discovers new creatures and people as he travels around Fincayra, which kept me entertained because they were all intriguing. I was also engrossed by the descriptiveness of this novel. T.A Barron does a marvelous job of describing the places, people, and feeling of everything and everyone throughout this book. You can really picture yourself being right next to your favorite characters and feel exactly what they are feeling.

I liked Merlin a lot more in this novel than I did in the previous book. He learns that he can still accomplish tasks even without his magic, and he doesn’t make as many bad decisions like he did in the second novel. I was happy to see Merlin becoming more mature. I was a little upset that Rhia didn’t play a larger role in this story. She was only in it for a quarter of the book. However, Merlin meets Hallia and Eremon, who are interesting traveling companions. Their culture and magic are awesome! I was glad that these companions were not annoying like Bumbelwy and actually served a purpose. They helped him find his way to the Wheel of Wye and found a way for him to get where he needed to go in a timely manner. Hallia is a fairly developed character especially for being introduced later in the novel. I’m guessing we will be seeing more of her in other novels and her character will become more developed as the series continues.

The dragon in this book has a minor role towards the end, though he is discussed throughout the story. It was sad to see all his eggs destroyed, which causes all his anger, but there is still hope for the father dragon.

Overall, the plot was interesting, I loved the characters, and the detail was engrossing. I liked the sad, yet happy ending that may lead to greater things in the future. The Fires of Merlin was a great addition to the series! Anyone who liked the previous books will like this one. Don’t forget to read the previous two books before starting this one!

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