And so I continue my Bernard Cornwell marathon with the first volume of the Arthur Books. Ok, I really like it, although I found some of the exposition boring boring. Too many kingdoms, too many unpronounceable names - but get beyond that and you get great characters, lots of action (though not as much as in the Saxon Tales) high level politics, and the old religion v. Christianity - in this case the Druids led by, yes - Merlin. And his protege the ever scary Nimue - a love interest, though not of Merlin, and powerful sorceress. Some of the best scenes are the curses and counter-curses that various Druids throw around in battles that play out in higher realms while blood flows down here; and Bernard Cornwell's continuing deprecation of early Christianity, including the pedophilia of an early Bishop. Heh, heh. On to The Enemy of God - book two of the trilogy.