The Hollow Hills

Merlin believes that his main purpose in life is to help bring into the world and then bring into power a man who can truly unite Britain. He is convinced that this purpose is why he has been given his magical powers from God in the first place. This is the basic story of THE HOLLOW HILLS.  The great warriors, Ambrosius, Merlin's father and Uther Pendragon, his uncle have paved the way for a new era and Arthur, Uther's son steps up with all the qualities appropriate for a great leader .

Mary Stewart makes it all seem so real, as if it were truly a history of the past that she is reciting. I am enjoying this series tremendously.

Tintagel Castle, Cornwall

The story tells of Arthur's birth at Tintagel Castle on a cold Christmas eve and how Merlin took him from his mother Igraine and hid him in plain sight elsewhere in England. Uther did not want the child around and had great expectations of having other male heirs. He already had one daughter, Morgous from another of his paramours and he and his new wife were young and healthy. Tintagel is a real place and remnants of it exist today.

Merlin knew that Arthur had many other enemies, others who had pretensions to the throne and who wouldn't hesitate at infanticide.Once he feels the child is safe Merlin began to travel to throw people off scent by keeping a low profile. He visited countries like Egypt and some in the far east where he learned a great deal about medicine and other esoteric subjects.

By the time Arthur was fourteen much had changed. Uther had no other male heirs, just a daughter Morgause who was illegitimate, and  Morgana and so the king called for Merlin to bring him his son. The story of the sword in the stone as told by Stewart is intricate and compelling as the readers follows this well known story written by and enthralling story teller.

The next in the series is The Last Enchantment and I am looking forward to it.

The Moonspinners

by Mary Stewart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was happy to be able to enjoy this book again after reading it first almost half a century ago. It has stood the test of time pretty well. I was tickled to read little passages that were so important to many of us young girls at the time, particularly the author reinforcing the idea that women were not to be considered weak, helpless and good for nothing much.

It was a battle for the heroine of the book Nicola Ferris to be taken seriously on the one hand, while on the other she was able to accomplish quite a bit just because she was underestimated as a woman! After coming across an injured man she goes looking for his brother who is possible a hostage held in secret and thus she explores the area and it's small buildings.

I was not as impressed by the romance as I was on the initial reading. Nicola seemed a bit gullible and she wore her heart on her sleeve after meeting a poor sick and injured individual, Mark who was far from his best. Not that we were given much detail about Mark's character.


Nicola was living an adventurous life because she had left her home country England and was working in a very minor capacity at the British Embassy in Athens. She travels to different parts of Greece when ever she gets so time off. Now in the spring she takes a trip to Crete where she is going to meet up with an aunt of hers who is also travelling in the area. She has made reservations in a new small hotel in a little town on the coast. Stewart draws a very nice picture of the location emphasizing the wildlife and the and the flowers. Here swift references to Google images helped me get a better idea what was being described.

I will look forward to reading one or two more of these stories!

The Crystal Cave

 by Mary Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story if the first of four books dealing with the legends of Merlin, King Arthur and Camelot.

Brittany

Ambrosius and Uther are the sons of a British king who has been defeated and they have fled across the channel to an area called Less Britain (Brittany?) to regroup and gain strength. Years ago Ambrosius  had a secret liaison with the daughter of the King of Wales, Niniane. But he left her when he fled, not knowing she was pregnant. The son that was born to Niniane was named Myriddn Emrys , but he was known as Merlin.

 Despite his mother's rank he was nonetheless a bastard and looked down upon. He mother refused to name her lover despite torture and Merlin was not looked on with his Grandfather's favor even though royal bastards are plentiful in those times and there was another that he grew up with whom his grandfather did favor.

Merlin grew up keeping secrets, hiding in the shadows and eventually met his destiny in the form of an old man who taught him medicine, botany and many other things. The old man lived in a cave that had a secret compartment filled with crystals. It was here that Merlin had his first visions and he knew that God had plans for him.  These were the times when paganism and Christianity existed side by side,and while Merlin believed there were many gods in and around the earth he knew that there was one God supreme and it was this God that was to use him an an instrument.

Thus begins the story of Merlin the magician. Mary Stewart grabs hold of the reader and takes them back to the days when Britain was overrun by Saxons, many small kingdoms with their leaders always warring to gain more territory. The tale is exciting and engrossing. I have already started The Hollow Hills which is the following book.