Littlerhymes's Reviews > The Crystal Cave

A retelling of Merlin's life, from his childhood as the bastard son of a princess, then a youthful and curious king's man, who grows a reputation as a wizard until Uther calls on him to help pull the strings that will lead to the conception of Arthur.

Stewart's angle is to take a more 'realistic' approach to Merlin's life - he's not the spawn of the devil but rather the result of a brief, illicit affair about which his mother refuses to speak. The two dragons under the mountain are symbolic, represented by a fallen flag and a meteor. Merlin moves the Dancing Giants to Stonehenge not through magic but well-applied mathematics.

But there's a streak of magic in this too. Despite being a first person narrator, Merlin is at times still an opaque and uncanny presence, especially when the gods choose to speak through him and guide him towards some unknown fate.

I have actually read this series before but I was very young at the time and I have almost no memory aside from thinking I didn't like them much (as opposed to The Once and Future King, which I read several times). Reading this again now, I can see why it didn't appeal to a younger me and why it does appeal to me now. It's quite dark and dour at times, but it's also wonderfully crafted and really put me through the emotional wringer.