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Merlin's Harp (Arthurian novel)

2.93 of 5 stars 2.93 · rating details · 292 ratings · 56 reviews

When I was yet a very young woman I threw my heart away. Ever since then I have lived heartless, or almost heartless, the way Humans think all Fey live.

Among the towering trees of magical Avalon, where humans dare not tread, lives Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake. Her people, the Fey, are folk of the wood and avoid the violence and greed of man. But the strife of...more

Paperback, 256 pages

Published March 1st 2010 by Sourcebooks Fire (first published December 1st 1995)

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Jun 17, 2010 Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

Touted as a new and different interpretation of Arthurian legend I thought perhaps this book would be a good bridge into fantasy for a reader somewhat interested in exploring the genre. Unfortunately it fell short in that regard. It was such a tough read that it did more to turn me off the genre than on.

The flowery and excessive prose made it, at times, difficult to follow. I never really got a clear picture of what either land looked like. Apple Valley (ie: Avalon) was slightly more vivid than...more

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Jun 11, 2010 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

From the opening paragraph of Merlin's Harp, I was lost. Crompton's writing is beautiful to the point that it may be too overcomplicated for many readers, teens or otherwise. To be honest, I had to pull out a dictionary after only the second sentence to figure out what in the world a "coracle" is. (It is a small boat, by the way.) As the novel continued, Crompton's writing style did grow on me a little bit. However, I am sure that while it suits the plot well (seeing that this a novel about the...more

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May 05, 2010 Books and Literature for Teens rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-ive-read-in-2010, fantasy, medieval, published-2010, young-adult, arthurian, to-trade-swap

Told from a female perspective, the legend of King Arthur, Merlin, and the infamous Morgan le Faye has never looked more magical. Brimming with fairy [Fey:] lore and myths of how Arthur’s misty history unfolds, Merlin’s Harp will satisfy any Arthurian fan or reader--teen or adult--alike.
What I liked most about Merlin’s Harp was the very detailed descriptions of the mythical Fey folk. The author wrote as if a real Fey girl witnessed the story of Avalon [Apple Island:]. Nivienne (pronounced simila...more Told from a female perspective, the legend of King Arthur, Merlin, and the infamous Morgan le Faye has never looked more magical. Brimming with fairy [Fey:] lore and myths of how Arthur’s misty history unfolds, Merlin’s Harp will satisfy any Arthurian fan or reader--teen or adult--alike.
What I liked most about Merlin’s Harp was the very detailed descriptions of the mythical Fey folk. The author wrote as if a real Fey girl witnessed the story of Avalon [Apple Island:]. Nivienne (pronounced similar to Vivienne) is a very passionate and dramatic character. She tells everything as it is and leaves absolutely nothing out. To create such a backdrop with details about legends, history, or Arthurian tales, you would have to do quite a bit of research....... and it really paid off.
The negative things I have to say about Merlin's Harp is that I kept getting the feeling the story was being rushed and it sometimes wandered of the main trail if you will. It was would slow way down, then it would speed up and would lose me completely. I kept having to go back and reread several important passages. The beginning of the book was rushed as well and there was so much stuff to "learn" about the Fey folk, that I felt a little overwhelmed by the details. Sometimes I felt kinda of silly reading about all this fairy stuff, but that is probably a fantasy newbie talking. Things like this may or may not turn off the reader. It just depends.
I had no idea that I would grow use to talk of auras and magic spells. As the story progressed, so did my attraction to the “magical” setting. There is also a modern genuinely about this novel that is unique. Some of the phrases Nivienne and the other characters say are not true to the middles ages, but I didn't notice it all that much and sometimes modern phrases are okay to throw in when it comes to young adults. Again, depends on what style you like. Personally, I could have handled any kind of medieval terminology--that's just me though.
As for key content factors I will mention the references to several sexual situations. Not a flower moon goes by without.......you get the picture. There are also a lot of talk of pagan rituals, witches, mages, and goddesses. Of course it wouldn’t be ancient medieval times without out stuff like that (or Arthurian myths for that matter), but just be sure you feel comfortable about reading things like that. There is a lot symbolism in Arthurian legends as well. Whether the author intends to add them or not, they are still branded in somewhere in the story: the sword, the round table, even Arthur himself.
Overall, Merlin’s Harp was an okay book, a little dark perhaps and rough at some points, but the fantasy theme of the novel was new to me and provided some sort of enjoyment. I think teens and adults would like reading this fictional account of King Arthur from a woman’s point of view. Fans of The Mists of Avalon would enjoy this novel as well. I would recommend to teen ages 15 and up.
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|Genre: Fantasy, Arthurian|Age Group: YA, ages 15 to adult|
|Recommend?| Only to teens ages 15 and up

Win a copy of Merlin's Harp on my blog at booksandliteratureforteens.blogspot.com(less)

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Mar 21, 2010 McKenzie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: did-not-finish

Nivienne is Fey, living just outside the Human realm. She lives a fairly normal life with her mother and brother. She has the added power of reading auras. All is well until a young woman stumbles into their forest. She is King Arthur's wife, the one of legends. Nivienne's brother sets off to the Human kingdom to return her to where she belongs. The whole family community, though, soon becomes involved in this Arthurian legend.

Let me first start off by saying, Merlin's Harp fits into a very spec...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Samantha rated it 2 of 5 stars

I tried really hard to like Merlin's Harp. I was lured into buying it by its exquisite cover but readers be warned: the cover is a lot better than the writing within. Merlin's Harp does have good figurative language -sometimes bordering more on poetry than prose- and a potentially interesting concept going for it, but ultimately the book falls flat.

The story is narrated by Nivienne, daughter of the Lady of the Lake. Nivienne is a Fey mage, apprentice to the wizard Merlin. She is a powerful pract...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Twinkle John rated it 2 of 5 stars

Merlin's Harp is a fantasy/young adult fiction by Anne Eliot Crompton.The main character in this novel is a Fey named Niviene. This entire novel was written in first person narrative of Niviene. She is the daughter of Nimway (the Lady of the Lake). She lives in the woods of Avalon with her mother and brother Lugh. Niviene is special because she possesses the magic of seeing the future through the flames of a fire. A prodigy of Merlin, Niviene travels with him between Avalon and to the land of Ca...more Merlin's Harp is a fantasy/young adult fiction by Anne Eliot Crompton.The main character in this novel is a Fey named Niviene. This entire novel was written in first person narrative of Niviene. She is the daughter of Nimway (the Lady of the Lake). She lives in the woods of Avalon with her mother and brother Lugh. Niviene is special because she possesses the magic of seeing the future through the flames of a fire. A prodigy of Merlin, Niviene travels with him between Avalon and to the land of Camelot in order to help preserve peace between the lands. Merlin asks Niviene to help assist him in a dangerous threat that King Mordred had declared on Camelot. Once her brother left Avalon to join with King Arthur, she is urged by Merlin to help save Arthur’s Kingdom in order to protect and preserve the peace in Fey lands. This book is intertwined with love, betrayal, and the treachery of man. It was very interesting to see how Niviene developed throughout the novel. In the beginning of the book she hated humans and their behaviors however, ironically she ends up acquiring human characteristics and developing feelings that helped her understand the true meaning of love, and to cope with loss.

I gave this novel two stars because it was very difficult for me to finish. The ‘lyrical’ writing style did not appeal to me. I never truly connected or fell in love with any of the characters. The writing felt choppy and disorganized, I sometimes had to re-read a page to fully grasp the content. I felt like the characters could have been more developed and appealing. The plot was not as interesting as I had hoped it would be. I read this book with high expectations, unfortunately the novel turned out to be disappointing.Although the writing seemed choppy and jumped around from topic to topic, Crompton does use beautiful language and there were some interesting aspects that drew the reader in. The surprising twist at the end made this book even more enjoyable and worthwhile. Fantasy lovers should give this book a try.(less)

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Oct 04, 2011 Randy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction

I bought this book because I am a huge fan of Arthurian literature. One of my students started this book and returned it without completing it as she was having difficulty following the storyline. I wanted to read it to see if the storyline was indeed difficult to follow.

I think that reading this book with no knowledge of the King Arthur legends would be confusing to some readers. The reason is that this book alludes to facets of the story, but it is really a story only related to the whole Arth...more

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Mar 20, 2010 Donna rated it 1 of 5 stars

Well this was, um . . . not good. Really, at all. I don't think it's ever taken me so long to read a book so short. Like wading through snow up to my hips. It's so overwrought and drowning in such flowery language that it's hard to connect to anything that's going on in the story. I often found myself having read a page without really reading it and only skimming it when I went back over it.

To Crompton's credit, she stuck very closely to faerie lore which is to her benefit but even greater to he...more Well this was, um . . . not good. Really, at all. I don't think it's ever taken me so long to read a book so short. Like wading through snow up to my hips. It's so overwrought and drowning in such flowery language that it's hard to connect to anything that's going on in the story. I often found myself having read a page without really reading it and only skimming it when I went back over it.

To Crompton's credit, she stuck very closely to faerie lore which is to her benefit but even greater to her disadvantage. Because she stuck so closely to the lore, I felt nothing for Nivienne. Faeries are traditionally heartless and don't emote as humans do. That certainly came through in the reading but at the same time it also made me not give a crap about Nivienne. And so help me if she said, "I, Nivienne," one more time, I was going to put my hand through the pages and slap her. I get it goes with the tone of the writing but it's overwritten so, to me, it was just annoying.

Plus Nivienne constantly refers to herself as brown. Maybe my eyes aren't working correctly but fish lips on the cover is a white girl. And can I say how much I hate it when people purposely push out their lips in a vain attempt to make them look fuller? The Olsen twins do it all the time. Makes me want to throw things at them and see if I can get them to stick.

But more to the story, the whole Saxon war I felt was glazed over. I was three quarters of the way through the book before I realized that we'd already moved beyond that. For me, the focus of the story wasn't quite right and what was being talked about was secondary to the greater problem going on in the background. The characters just kind of glided through their surroundings as if they were inconsequential and didn't matter to their greater scope of things. The urgency of the Saxon threat in the blurb is unfounded in the story and barely appears to make a dent in the consciousness of the characters.

It didn't help that the text was, within chapters, non-linear. Nivienne kept having these sort of flashbacks where she'd go off on tangents about what happened in her past because something in the present reminded her of it. It started to ebb towards the end but it was really prevalent in the beginning. I often found myself having to read back a few paragraphs because I'd realize that I had missed a time jump. Very jarring and interrupting. That's one of the motivating issues I had with getting into the story aside from not connecting with Nivienne.

The best part was the last few chapters where Arthur and Mordred got into it. It's really the only part that's not completely glossed over with insubstantial nothing. I think if that part of the story was more played up, not only would Nivenne have become a more well-rounded character, it would have made the story stronger. I got to see facets of Nivenne in those few scenes that were absent the entire story (presumably because of her Fey nature) that I really liked. But too little too late, really.

Overall, I really appreciate that Crompton kept so close to the lore even though it was detrimental to the success of the main character. I liked how she played with the King Arthur legend and made it her own. Other than that, I think the writing style is trying too hard and what story is there is drowned by it. The MC isn't human and thus I couldn't connect with her for 95% of the story because, for all intents and purposes, she remained emotionless. I think if the writing weren't so flowery and the story were told from someone else's perspective, or Nivienne was allowed to emote a little more, it could have been much better. As it stands, I couldn't rightly recommend this one. Read Le Morte d'Arthur. Much better.

My apologies to Paul at Sourcebooks.(less)

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Aug 27, 2011 Sonia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a very different book from my usual fare, but I did enjoy it. I'll admit it took me a while to get into the story and even longer for me to become attached to the characters enough to care what actually happened to them, but once I did, I really did enjoy the story and found myself engrossed and not wanting to put the book down.

This is the story of King Arthur, his Knight Lancelot and his Queen Gwenevere...as well as Merlin the magician and the world of the fae/fairy kingdom...quite a d...more

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Feb 11, 2011 Robin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction, kindle-freebie, kindle, children-young-adult, mythology-folklore

I should preface this by saying I don't read a lot of fantasy. But I like the Arthurian Legend and this was a Kindle freebie so I grabbed it.

I liked that the book pulled you into this strange other world of the Fey. It was weird but interesting the way it was written from a Fey point of view, as though their world was normal and the human world was the strange one. But I suppose that happens a lot in fantasy.

The thing I struggled with was the concept that Fey were heartless creatures. Though Niv...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Dava Stewart rated it 3 of 5 stars

Have you ever read a book that makes you feel like you just don't know enough to really appreciate it? That's how I felt reading this one. It merges the legend of Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere and the Fey, and that's interesting. Some of the writing is absolutely gorgeous. But.

There are times when it feels like the onus is on the reader to know what happened. In one or two places, I went back to make sure I hadn't missed some pages, because big chunks of information were missing and it felt like I s...more

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Dec 23, 2012 Mayra rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh. My. Gosh. This book was AMAZING. I love legends, mythology, and folktales, but before reading this, I really knew nothing about the Arthurian legend. And when I began Merlin's Harp, I found it boring and strange, and thought maybe I wouldn't like it. But soon I understood it, and I read it over several times. I never get tired of it. I really love the detail and the poetic, spiritual sense, and I love Niviene's point of view. I found it interesting and beautiful when it described her being w...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Althea Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. I can't believe all the haters in the review section here.
After some contemplation, I'm guessing that it's because the book was repackaged for the newer edition with a wholly inappropriate cover. The original ROC edition has a pretty lovely, Pre-Raphaelite-inspired cover by Don Maitz. The new edition has this cheesy, pink-glittery cover that makes it look like a cheap romance for 13-year-old girls.

You can't judge a book by its cover, but you can surely make certain that the wrong people re...more Wow. I can't believe all the haters in the review section here.
After some contemplation, I'm guessing that it's because the book was repackaged for the newer edition with a wholly inappropriate cover. The original ROC edition has a pretty lovely, Pre-Raphaelite-inspired cover by Don Maitz. The new edition has this cheesy, pink-glittery cover that makes it look like a cheap romance for 13-year-old girls.

You can't judge a book by its cover, but you can surely make certain that the wrong people read a book by its cover.

This book is not aimed at young teens. It is also NOT: confusing, hard-to-follow, full of 'flowery' or 'verbose' language, OR for people who have no clue about the Arthurian mythos.

Yes, the book's author absolutely expects that the reader is familiar with Arthurian legends, and that you will be able to recognize the elements of classic characters and events in hers. I don't think that's too much of a demand, considering the scores and scores of novels that have been written in this genre, and how much the Arthurian legends are part of the very underpinnings of Western society.

The language of the story is very simple and straightforward. There are occasional poems, often presented as lyrics to the ballads that Merlin sings. But the bulk of the novel is basic, uncomplicated prose, with a nod to the styles of fairy tales and legends. At times, it reminded me of Patricia McKillip. I do like McKillip better - but she's one of my most favorite authors.

The real success here is how Crompton brilliantly portrays events from the point of view of the 'Fey.' She makes the Fey real - portrays them as a believable people, with a convincing, well-rounded, but very, very foreign culture. And she does this without sacrificing their magic. (Other books I've read in the genre have made them just another tribe, feared, hated, and misunderstood - but Crompton does all this, AND keeps them truly fey.) Writing from the perspective of someone from a culture with a very different moral standard to the one we're used to can be challenging - but I feel that this book did it wonderfully. I felt that I came to understand Niviene. Sometimes her attitude shocked me, sometimes I agreed with her. But more importantly, the portrayal of her character led me to think of things from a perspective not my own - which is one of the main raisons d'être of fiction in general.

I'd recommend this book highly to anyone interested in quality mythic fiction, Arthurian legend and faerie lore. It's not a perfect book, but it's a beautiful, worthwhile one.(less)

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Mar 24, 2012 Michelle ☕Ndayeni☕ rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction, arthurian-legend, fairies, magic, read-in-2012, challenges-2012

A different take on the Arthurian legend, this book tells the story from the viewpoint of Niviene, a fey mage whose mother is a friend to Merlin. Through Merlin, Niviene eventually becomes caught up in human affairs, particularly those of King Arthur. Familiar events play out through the course of the story, but with a different twist to them, the true identities of some of the players, or the relationships between them, having been changed. Through it all, the writing mangages to conjur up the...more

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Jun 09, 2010 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading Merlin's Harp, I realized something about novels that portray the interaction between the human world and Faerie. They usually don't tell the stories of fae folk in their own homeland. There are exceptions, of course, but authors tend to focus on faeries stuck in the human world, or humans encountering Faerie. I think I may know why that is. When writing about faeries living in Faerie, it's all too easy to have nothing happen.

Anne Eliot Crompton uses beautiful, if occasionally stilted, l...more Reading Merlin's Harp, I realized something about novels that portray the interaction between the human world and Faerie. They usually don't tell the stories of fae folk in their own homeland. There are exceptions, of course, but authors tend to focus on faeries stuck in the human world, or humans encountering Faerie. I think I may know why that is. When writing about faeries living in Faerie, it's all too easy to have nothing happen.

Anne Eliot Crompton uses beautiful, if occasionally stilted, language to draw us into her take on Arthurian legend:

When I was yet a young woman I threw my heart away.

I fashioned a wee coracle of leaf and willow twig and reed, a coracle that sat in the hollow of my two palms. In this I placed my wounded, wretched heart, and I set it adrift on the rain-misted wavelets of the Fey river, and I watched it bob and whirl, sail and sink. Ever since I have lived heartless, or almost heartless, cold as spring rain, the way Humans think all Fey live. Humans I have known would be astounded to learn that I ever had a heart that leapt, brightened, fainted, quickened, warmed, embraced, froze or rejected, like their own.

The narrator is Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake. In the ensuing chapters, Niviene endeavors to tell us how she came to the point of throwing her heart away. This ornate, image-rich prose continues, and Niviene meanders and digresses in her tale. She'll mention an old family friend, then backtrack and tell us all about how she came to meet him before going back to the main thread of her narrative.

By combining the flowery style with a narrative that is ever looping back on itself, Crompton conveys a sense of what Faerie is said to be like. It's beautiful and hypnotic, and time doesn't flow in Faerie the way it does in the human realm. The trouble is, it's *too* hypnotic. Lulling. Dreamlike. Reading Merlin's Harp made me sleepy. While falling into an enchanted slumber and waking on the cold hillside is very much in keeping with Faerie tradition, it doesn't help propel one through a novel.

It also doesn't help that not much happens in the first hundred pages or so, which is as far as I got before giving up. Roughly the first ninety pages are taken up with an interpretation of the Lady of Shalott tale, and a rather uninteresting one. The main problem is Gwenevere, who spends this entire sequence drugged and being toddled around like a doll. Sure, she's gorgeous, but can physical beauty alone account for the trouble she unwittingly causes here? I've seen sympathetic Gweneveres and unsympathetic ones, but all the best portrayals afford her some charisma that helps explain why she is so loved.

This is followed by a four-page sequence (I counted) in which Niviene gets pregnant and gives birth to a son, the son grows to the age of five, and then the son goes missing. All in four pages. That was when I decided to give up. If it takes ninety pages for a young boy to break a young girl's heart in favor of a pretty woman in a stupor, and four pages for a fetus to become a five-year-old, the pacing is just a little too strange for me, Faerie or no.

Merlin's Harp contains some lovely language and an interesting perspective on the Matter of Britain, but finally the pacing and the hypnotic effect were too much for me. I recommend it to fans of lush prose who have plenty of coffee on hand. (less)

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Nov 08, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Nivienne never imagined she'd live in the human world. When Merlin comes to Avalon bringing word of a Saxon invasion and threat of peace to their land, she agrees to journey into the human world. After all, with her child gone missing and her heart torn away from her body, she has nothing left in either world.

Once at King Arthur's court, she recognizes the Queen as the woman who became lost and wondered into Avalon one day. Her brother, Lugh, led t...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Cindy Hudson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Merlin’s Harp by Anne Eliot Crompton is a retelling of the legend of King Arthur and his times from the perspective of Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake, known to Niviene as Nimway. They live on Apple Island, also known as Avalon, with Niviene’s brother, Lugh. Niviene is happy in her Fey world, living apart from most of her kind except when she and Lugh and their friend Elana slip into the villages and pretend to be Human.

The basic elements of the Arthur legend are here—Gwen’s relationsh...more Merlin’s Harp by Anne Eliot Crompton is a retelling of the legend of King Arthur and his times from the perspective of Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake, known to Niviene as Nimway. They live on Apple Island, also known as Avalon, with Niviene’s brother, Lugh. Niviene is happy in her Fey world, living apart from most of her kind except when she and Lugh and their friend Elana slip into the villages and pretend to be Human.

The basic elements of the Arthur legend are here—Gwen’s relationship with Lancelot (though there is a surprise there), Mordred’s arrival at the court, the forces that ultimately threaten Arthur’s rule. But what sets Merlin’s Harp apart is Niviene’s perspective.

Niviene is 100 percent Fey, or so she believes, and as such she doesn’t understand the Human emotions of love, honor, greed, lust and longing. She has special powers that allow her to see the future through the flames of fire and speak to animals. Her forested world is rich in fantastical elements. And yet, Niviene is drawn into the Human world by Merlin, a frequent visitor to Apple Island and a friend of her mother’s. Merlin asks Niviene to help Arthur by going with Merlin to Arthur’s court. She risks losing her own power, and if she does, she will not be able to help Arthur.

Merlin’s Harp weaves a tale that blends the lines of mythical and historical worlds. Poems of Merlin’s Song and his life history are woven through the chapters, and they create a subtext of interest in Merlin’s birth and adolescence, not just as the old man we usually see him as. While the premise of the story may be well known, the details of Merlin’s Harp make it seem freshly told. Niviene’s perspective made me thing of the Arthur legend in a different way and imagine new possibilities for the reasons behind the actions of each player. The ending surprised me as well, and I thought it was fun to think of new possibilities for a tale so often told. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.
(less)

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Mar 10, 2010 Steph Su rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: stick-to-writing-adult-books

I don’t get offended by books often. Premarital sex, abstinence until marriage, drinking, backstabbing, pranking, people killing people, etc.—everything is good in my opinion as long as it’s written well and doesn’t sound like an agenda that is out of place within the fictional world. MERLIN’S HARP, however, is a mess of a novel, poorly organized and weakly characterized—unfortunate, because the writing is beautiful and the story held such promise.

For a generation that’s being bombarded with a m...more I don’t get offended by books often. Premarital sex, abstinence until marriage, drinking, backstabbing, pranking, people killing people, etc.—everything is good in my opinion as long as it’s written well and doesn’t sound like an agenda that is out of place within the fictional world. MERLIN’S HARP, however, is a mess of a novel, poorly organized and weakly characterized—unfortunate, because the writing is beautiful and the story held such promise.

For a generation that’s being bombarded with a multitude of sensations, experiences, and information left and right, we need stories that are far more organized—less ADD—than the lives we lead. The story of MERLIN’S HARP is exceedingly difficult to follow. It is almost impossible to tell without dedicating 110% of your brainpower to the task whether Nivienne is narrating something that’s occurring in the present or something that happened in her past—and if it is the latter, which part of her past it occurred, as, yes, she somehow attempts to provide us with multiple flashbacks at once. And it’s less than lack of chronology throughout the story as it is the fact that the flashbacks (or whatever we should call them) provide us with hardly any cohesive information about either the characters or the world in which the story is set.

Crompton’s fey are fairly dissimilar to humans: they’re heartless, free-spirited sexual beings. They would’ve provided an interesting contrast to human characteristics, had their lustful behavior been better developed. I have nothing against any kind of sex in fiction, but when characters are objectifying and rubbing up on one another left and right without first having been developed into characters whose lustful actions are justified, then I DO have a problem with that. MERLIN’S HARP is a very sensual read, but my difficulty in connecting to any of the characters, of understanding their motivations, makes it an awkward read at best.

Overall, I’m afraid MERLIN’S HARP is yet another example of a book that is being marketed to the wrong genre. Readers of adult fantasy may be better suited to appreciate its slow story, meandering plot, and sensual writing. YA fantasy fans, however, may find this book difficult to get through.(less)

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Apr 01, 2010 Briana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Review
Niviene is fey and since Crompton stuck to the true nature and lore of fey, which I appreciated, she is mostly heartless and doesn't carry the same feelings and emotions as humans. This caused problems in not only her, but also some of the other fey characters, development. You see I believe it is our emotions and feelings as humans that allow for good character development in stories. However, I still liked the characters in Merlin's Harp fairly well, despite the fact that I couldn't rela...more

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Jan 28, 2010 Nancy rated it 1 of 5 stars

As a librarian I tell my kids that if they don't like what they're reading in the first 100 pages to give it up. I had to invoke that rule with this book. Although Library Journal calls it a "lyrical retelling" of the Arthurian chronicles, the plot deviates so far from the myth as to be a completely different story. Some characters are familiar yet within the context of the story, flat and incongruous. The plot lacks a cohesive center and rambles (perhaps the lyrical retelling) aimlessly towards...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Arlene rated it 4 of 5 stars

won't be everyone's cuppa tea... but. I enjoyed stepping into a old old world where innocents where just that. everything wasn't black or white nor was it all clearly seen.. The Fae weren't ever given human emotions which makes it hard at times to empathize. try it, you might like it. reminded me of Marion Zimmerman Bradley

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Nov 27, 2012 Denise Kettering rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This book was difficult for me to get through in part because the writing style did not really appeal to me. This book does provide a different take on the Arthurian legend. The story is interesting but as the book at times seems to be more about the language than the content, it became a bit trying for me to get through.

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May 29, 2010 Dialma rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was a quick read, but it didn't impressed me as much as I thought it would. It was an interesting take on the Arthurian tale, but I felt the characters could had been develop more and the writing could had been more inviting to the reader. I did enjoy the read, since I always had found Arthur, Merlin and their world fascinating. But I must say, never truly fell in love with any of the characters, not even the Fey. I think I just never felt truly connected to the story, and therefore my...more

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Mar 27, 2010 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-ya-ya

I don't know whether to rate this 2 or 3 stars. Goodreads classifies 2 stars as something that was okay and 3 stars as something that I liked. MERLIN'S HARP falls distinctly into the middle, so I suppose 2.5 would be adequate, even though I think it a bit harsh based on several factors. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. The narrator Niviene was apathetic and held the reader at an arm's length so I wasn't able to associate too closely with her nor feel it within myself to care for her...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Kimberly rated it 2 of 5 stars

It seemed to try a little too hard to be artistic. Through the first couple of chapters, the author skipped around through different time periods in the narrator's life so much that I began losing track of what was happening, much less when.

Still, it was an interesting perspective of the Arthurian legend.

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Feb 01, 2011 Cathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

Very pretty, very slight take on Arthurian legend. Crompton writes beautifully -- I just didn't think that the book added up to much!

However, it certainly deserved much better than that hideous eBook cover, with the photoshopped swirlies and the clashing color scheme ... why didn't they use the beautiful paperback art instead?

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Dec 13, 2010 Alicia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, fantasy

This book was an interesting read. The plot wasn't very clear and, until the end, it seemed to just tell the inner thoughts of a Fey female over a couple of decades. The author tied it all up at the end, though. I liked reading about human emotion and actions from the Fey point of view and the author was pretty clever about it.

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Oct 04, 2010 Angelika added it · review of another edition

Shelves: arthurian, i-own

After reading all the reviews and comments about this book on Goodreads, I think I may have to re-read this book. I seem to recall liking it and waiting for a sequel that never came out. I certainly don't remember the book being as bad as everyone is saying it is.

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Nov 11, 2010 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

I always enjoy stories of King Arthur and Merlin. This one was a different perspective, from the view of the Fey on Avalon. I think I've read it before, but it was still an enjoyable read.

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May 13, 2012 Lorie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Good twist but I hated how I could get what was going on at times because it jumps around so much and time seems to elapse very quickly.

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About Anne Eliot Crompton

ANNE ELIOT CROMPTON is an award-winning author of children's books. She has raised ponies and goats and painted wildlife. Born to Ethel Cook Eliot (a writer) and Samuel Eliot (a professor) she attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart (now Doane Stuart School) in Albany, New York. She worked briefly in Providence, Florida; then married Willard Crompton and moved to the small hill town of Chesterfie...more

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The Rainbow Pony (Alice Brown's Pony, #1)

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Trivia About Merlin's Harp

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Quotes from Merlin's Harp

“Water rising under rock
Breaks earth's lock,
Floods thirst roots,
Nurtures sap and trunk and shoots,
Greens and plumps each greedy leaf
Till dappled sunlight like a thief
Sucks leaf-water as I breathe,
Makes of mist an airy wreath
To drift and float and wander high
To the sky,
And fall again,
Sweet, rich rain,
Run under rock and
Rise again.” — 4 people liked it

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Merlin's Harp (Arthurian novel)

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