Merlin’s Nightmare by Robert Treskillard, Book 3 of the Merlin Spiral
Published 2014 by Blink, an imprint of Zondervan, 431 pages
Genre: Arthurian fantasy, suitable for young adult and up
Robert Treskillard concludes his terrific Merlin trilogy with this book, leaving some threads open for starting a new work focused on Arthur. Read my review of the first book. Read my review of the second book.
I’m really enjoying Treskillard’s re-imagining of Merlin as a non-magician. Merlin is a Christian who occasionally has visions. As the book opens, Merlin, in hiding in the North, has married his beloved Natalenya and has two children. They have also raised the young Arthur under a different name, withholding from him his true identity. But now that Arthur is 18, it’s time to tell him who he is and let him start making decisions.
The winds of war are blowing. Two summons to fight arrive. Where will they fight? The Britons (led by the traitor Vortigern) find themselves attacked by major enemies on three sides: the Picts from the North, the Saxons from the east, and Merlin’s witch sister Ganieda (Morgana) and her wolf-men from the west. Merlin is inclined to fight in the North, but Arthur slips away south to aid Vortigern against the Saxons, not knowing Vortigern will probably recognize him and kill him. Can Merlin reach him in time?
And how can Merlin protect his family in the North, if he isn’t anywhere nearby? Can he convince Arthur that the most important enemy is Merlin’s sorcerer sister, who orchestrates the others? And how on earth could they defeat her and her savage wolf-men?
I found this book to be quite the page-turner with plenty of unexpected plot points. Merlin’s character goes through a learning curve, which I won’t spoil for you. I enjoyed the fresh take on Gwenivere and the idea of a novel use for Stonehenge. It’s a terrific book; put it on your reading list, and be sure to give it to the young people in your life, especially the guys. Note: I am astounded at the amount of research Treskillard has put into these books, detailed in the appendix.
This review is in conjunction with the Christian Science Fiction/Fantasy Blog Tour. For more opinions, check out the other participants listed below. I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in conjunction with this tour.
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Vicky DealSharingAunt
April Erwin
Carol Gehringer
Victor Gentile
Rebekah Gyger
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Emileigh Latham
Jennette Mbewe
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirriam Neal
Joan Nienhuis
Nissa
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Audrey Sauble
Chawna Schroeder
Jojo Sutis
Robert Treskillard
Phyllis Wheeler
Elizabeth Williams
Author website: http://www.KingArthur.org.uk
Thanks for the fun review, Phyllis! I’m particularly glad you enjoyed the new take on Gwenivere … making her a gypsy was kind of a brainstorm that happened while coming up with Gogi’s character. I was going to have Gwenivere and her sister meet him and be traveling with him when Arthur runs into them, but then it hit me … what if I made them his daughters? It changed a lot of things and also added a culture-clash dimension to their relationship that should be interesting to develop in the coming novels.
I can see all kinds of future conflict over this amazingly attractive and headstrong woman!
You make the story sound so fascinating (I haven’t read any more than the free sample you can get for Kindle). And Guinivere as a Gypsy— that’s quite a different take on the character.
Yes, I liked the way Guinivere was protrayed. Will be interesting to watch her relationship with Arthur in the new series!
This series was so good! And I thought it ended very well. I’m excited to see what happens in the next series. Should be quite interesting!
Oh ya! I can’t wait to see the conflicts between Arthur and Gwenivere!
Yep, it’s gonna be good!