Child of the Dark Prophecy

Merlin #9

by T.A. Barron

Long ago, the great wizard Merlin planted the seed that would become the peaceful world of Avalon. Now, though, Avalon is suffering from mysterious droughts. Then the very stars begin to lose their light, and it seems that the Lady of the Lake's dire predictions are about to come true. The fate of Avalon now rests with Tamwyn, a wandering wilderness guide; Elli, an apprentice priestess; and Scree, a young eagleman. One of them is the true heir of Merlin, the only person who can save Avalon . . . and one of them is the dreaded child of the Dark Prophecy, fated to destroy it.
As in his acclaimed epic The Lost Years of Merlin, T. A. Barron has created a radiant, richly imagined world, full of high adventure and un-forgettable characters.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Arthurian, Magic, Adventure, Middle Grade

434 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2004

About the author

T. A. Barron is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of more than 30 highly acclaimed books, including the Merlin Saga, being developed into a feature film by Disney.

Awarded the de Grummond Medallion for “lifetime contribution to the field of children’s and young adult literature,” he also serves on a variety of environmental and educational NGO boards. In 2001, he founded the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, a national award for outstanding young people.

A lifelong adventurer and conservationist, T. A. Barron draws inspiration from the natural world, especially the mountains of Colorado, where he lives.

Follow along on Instagram or TikTok and sign up for his newsletter  — he loves staying in touch with his fans!

Reviews

[Pica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my thoughts on my blog, PicaReads: http://picareads.blogspot.com/

Snippet from my review:
Overall, I really liked this series, although I wouldn’t recommend reading them back to back in five days. (By the time I got to the middle of the third, I was getting sick of the storyline and needed a break.) The trilogy is a hero’s journey with three interconnecting plotlines that might be a little confusing at first: Tamwyn, a wilderness guide trying to find his brother and his own sense of self; Scree, an eagleman charged with protection of Merlin’s staff, and the foster-brother of Tamwyn; and Elli, an apprentice priestess who sets off on a journey to the Lady of the Lake. One of these is the true heir of Merlin, with the power to save Avalon. Another is the Child of the Dark Prophecy, with the power to destroy it.

[elise rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

bruh.
The first little bit was, um, *cough* pretty boring, but then it reeeally got its stuff together and delivered a great story. The intended audience is slightly younger than me, so the humor was a bit childish (at parts), the writing was super simple and redundantly obvious (at parts), and most of the characters weren't as developed as the ones in books I usually enjoy.
However, there were some definite snort-out-loud parts and some pretty awesome characters nonetheless (umm, yeah, i'm talking about Scree and Brionna). The world grows increasingly more interesting as the story progresses and you get new glimpses into the complicated and lush diversity of Avalon.
Can't wait to read the next book!

[Vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written. Barron's characters were strong and felt real (anyone else in love with Scree? XD lol). His flow was a bit slow, though, and I caught my thoughts drifting away every once in a while. Some of his creatures were a bit unbelieveable, too...I forgot the name of the one creature that kept annoying Tamwyn....a boggart, maybe? I dunno. The creature with big hands, circular eyebrows, and a taste for mischief. While I was interested in him enough, I found I couldn't quite believe in him.

The last book in the series made me cry, though. Haha.

[Miss Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just extraordinary – a great start to what I am confident will be an excellent series! T.A. Barron’s prose is absolutely beautiful – somewhat lofty, but more along the lines of elegant and occasionally didactic. He is still a “modern author” and you can see differences between his style and say, the 50s-60s style of C.S. Lewis or Lloyd Alexander, but he’s pretty close. I’d say Barron and maybe Clare Dunkle come the closest to emulating that style. In other words, his writing is a long, far cry from “text speech"!

- All his characters are beautifully crafted and well-rounded. The central figure, to be sure, is a young wilderness wanderer named Tamwyn, whose hidden identity is the key to a prophecy made years ago. What I like about the Avalon series – and was kind of surprised to discover – is the really large ensemble cast of characters and how big of a role they play. I was totally expecting the story to revolve almost exclusively around Tamwyn and the search for his true identity, but the perspective follows several other characters, including Scree, his adopted eagleboy brother; Elli, a fiery priestess with a sketchy past; a haughty seer-in-training named Llynia who believes herself to be the next Chosen One (note: there’s always a bloody Chosen One! Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Anakin Skywalker…); a captured elf maiden named Brionna, and the nefarious villain of the book, a mysterious wizard known only as White Hands.

- What I like about Barron, though, is how clearly defined each perspective shift is – it’s mostly switched over on a chapter-by-chapter basis, so there’s no confusion.

- The only frown-worthy thing about the book has to do with the designated Prophecy (note: there’s always a bloody prophecy!). I couldn’t really understand why everybody – the other characters and myself, the reader – could figure out what the prophecy was saying but our sweet, adorable little MC Tamwyn couldn’t! It’s like, “hello, Mcfly!” (Back to the Future, anyone?) But oh well.

- The number one Must, though, about writing fantasy – at least in my opinion – is Make It Believable! It’s like a deal that the reader and author enter into – in exchange for the reader’s initial suspension of disbelief, the author needs to provide a clearly-defined and clearly-written world that comes alive through the story. Barron totally succeeded. And the idea of Avalon is particularly creative: the entire world – seven realms – all stems from one Great Tree…named Avalon. Each of the seven realms: Mudroot, Woodroot, Stoneroot, Airroot, Shadowroot, Waterroot, and Fireroot, are all roots of the Great Tree. That’s an awesome concept, once you wrap your mind around it! And everything is so vivid and described in such wondrous detail, you can easily visualize this world and believe in its existence.

- I will say that the story develops at a pretty steady pace. Not a slow pace, mind you, but it’s about pg 150 before the true plot begins to unravel. That’s okay, I think, because Barron budgets his time wisely by going ahead and setting up the world of Avalon and its history; so many authors ignore detail and leave you feeling confused or hollow about this fantasy world…he reminds me a lot of Tolkien in the way he includes the history and the art/literature of his world. It’s even more incredible when you remind yourself that everything – every song, every story – is entirely made up. Wow!


Rating: 5/5. EXCELLENT! YOU MUST READ THIS SERIES!!!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read one of T.A. Barron's books when I was younger, and it was one of my favorites. When I found this series, I was excited to dive right in. That said, for some reason, it was a slow start for me. It took me 269 pages to get into it, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I think I didn't really connect with the characters at first, and there were too many story lines being introduced to really hold my attention. But once you get all the characters straight, and their stories start converging, it a very good read. I can't wait to read the other books in the series.

[Crys Ganatra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Tree of Avalon: Child of the Dark Prophecy was an incredible read. The cover it truly intriguing, in a simple kind of way. The cover is simply an old tree against a brilliant blue sky with stars. In front of the tree, the title and the author's name are a gleaming gold. I loved every moment of the book, every word. Tamwyn, Elli, Brionna, and Scree were amazing characters and I enjoyed learning all about them as they searched for Merlin's staff. This magical story is indeed one I would recommend to all and one I have given five stars.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written novel, and this series stands out as one that I used to read over and over again when I was younger. The characters are sympathetic and engaging, and the series is overall a fun read. I remember this being one of my favorite series, but I will have to go back and read it as an adult to see if the series stands up from different perspective.

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un autre tome, une autre déception. Il reste deux tomes, je vais les lire, mais j’ai hâte que cela finisse. Le premier cycle était bien, le deuxième était fort décevant, je gardais espoir pour le début du troisième, mais après ce tome je n’en ai plus vraiment.

L’intrigue est trop simple, répétitive même d’un tome à l’autre, plusieurs raccourcis faciles sont pris pour que le héros arrive à ses fins. De plus ce qui m’a le plus dérangé avec ce livre, mais aussi avec cette série en générale, c’est que les personnages manquent terriblement de profondeur, d’évolution et de substances, et ce, même en prenant en considération qu’il s’agit de livre jeunesse. Et Merlin, où est Merlin? Très, trop, peu présent, une série une série qui a su capitaliser sur un nom bien connu pour faire une série qui a très peu en lien avec le matériel source et encore moins avec le personnage dont elle porte le nom.

Sprint final pour les deux derniers et on passe à autre chose!

[Tara Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I would have greatly benefited from reading the Merlin series first, understandably, and I'm going to go back and read that before continuing on with these books. It seems as if you are still able to read this without reading the other series, though, given that it provides context from those books.
However, I really appreciated the depth of this world. It's rich with magic and various creatures and realms.
The story is a fairly traditional quest-like one, but that's definitely not a negative thing in my books. It was both familiar and stood apart as it's own tale.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 i’m low key tempted to give this 4 stars just for the last 150 pages or so. this reads very young for what it is, the beginning-middle dragged quite a bit, and i could really do without the weird dialogue style, but overall i enjoyed this and the world is intriguing, i will probably continue re-reading this series that i haven’t read in like 12 years

[Trifles Minutiae]

Yeah so that was weird. Probably best relegated to the haze of cozy, ill-defined childhood memories instead of exposing it to my adult brain with my adult brain craving for more logic/realism, lack of whimsy, and distaste for the slapstick.

Probably 2/5 experience reading but I shouldn't be mean to a children's book

[Masha Kalyuzhnaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

T.A. Baron has a such a beautiful descriptive way of writing. His books are my safe place. He does such a good job of writing out the characters emotions and feelings. I love the worlds of Fincayra and Avalon.

[EA Solinas · Rating 4 out of 5]

T.A. Barron created a sweeping fantasy classic in the "Lost Years of Merlin" series. Now he follows up with a brand new series, taking place eight hundred years after the creation of Avalon -- "The Great Tree of Avalon: Child of the Dark Prophecy," full of magic, chills and humor.

As the book opens, legendary wizard Merlin rescues an orphaned eagleboy from a pair of mercenaries, and gives him to a flamelon woman with a half-human baby. He also leaves his staff with the eagleboy. The boys are raised together, but are separated when a pack of evil creatures try to kill them. Now Tamwyn is on the hunt for his brother Scree, but is haunted by questions about his own past. There's a prophecy that that year, both Merlin's true heir (and grandson) and the Dark Child of a sinister prophecy will come of age that year.

Elsewhere, a young priestess named Elli is accompanying her snobby superior to a meeting with the Lady of the Lake. They end up meeting with Tamwyn, who is beginning to believe that Scree is Merlin's heir -- and that he himself is the Dark Child. But an evil sorcerer is threatening all of Avalon, disrupting the magical waters that sustain it -- and Tamwyn, Elli and Scree may be the only ones who can save their homeland.

It's hard to take the story almost a millennium forward, with an almost entirely new cast and new problems. But "Child of the Dark Prophecy" has a certain familiarity, since Barron explores themes of good, the potential for evil, doubt, power and love -- just as he did in the "Merlin" series.

One thing that hasn't changed is that Barron's writing is vibrant and lush, without getting bogged down in the details. Not to mention his healthy doses of humor, such as the snotty priestess's face being turned green by her facial. There are strange creatures, ranging from little shapeshifting imps to giant mud-dwellers.

The one flaw may be the villain; his motives are excellent, but they aren't even hinted at until the final showdown. But, for clarity's sake, Barron also includes a detailed timeline that explains the events of the past eight hundred years, including the marriage of Merlin and deerwoman Hallia, and the war that precedes this conflict. This is very helpful, although don't read it until the book is over.

Familiar faces pop up here and there. Merlin himself appears for only a short time; the Lady of the Lake turns out to be an old friend, and half-deaf Shim shows up again (tiny once more). A familiar evil character also returns late in the book. But the book belongs to Tamwyn, nervous about his possible destiny and his growing magical powers, and fiery Elli, with her haunted past. Though initially they despise each other, their friendship starts to grow. Eagleboy Scree doesn't get as much attention -- he spends most of the book in a cave -- but he's an excellent character when he reencounters his brother.

Beautifully written and full of thrills, "Child of the Dark Prophecy" is a worthy follow-up to the "Lost Years of Merlin" series, yet will leave readers longing for the next book in the series. Another triumph.

[Genevieve Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has such a high rating that I'm simultaneously intimidated and confused. The writing is kind of old-fashioned, which is fine, and makes me think that perhaps it's some kind of foundational fantasy classic that I've just never heard of for some unearthly reason? Yes? Maybe? No?

I had high hopes for The Great Tree of Avalon because it has Avalon in the title, and features mythos based on Arthurian figures like Merlin and the Lady of the Lake - just my type of thing. However, I finished it in a day and when I set it down my overall impression was of a plodding story set in a world far too complex for the cookie-cutter characters and plotline.

It's kind of odd. This book almost seems like a watered-down "young reader" version of a deeper original work. Apparently it's geared toward the middle school age range, which is strange because all the main characters are 17 years old. Why would you do that? I'm so confused?

Anyway, my main complaint about this book is that the worldbuilding was detailed and interesting, while the characters were anything but. They came from intriguing backgrounds and could have had very compelling motivations and relationships but we'll never know, will we, T.A. Barron? All you really get to know about them is a few tropes that will define them for the entire book, and their dialogue which is 89% pointless squabbling and 11% infodumping. Even POV-jumping every single chapter doesn't help flesh out the characters, instead dragging the story down and making it hard to get into. There seems to have been SO much thought put into the world and the mythos, and so little into the characters.

Inexcusable. What are you, J.R.R. Tolkien?

Well, fine. If you're going that route, was there at least an intricate and suspenseful Tolkienesque quest plotline? No. There was not. The actual quest took half the book to get started (okay, that part is very Tolkienesque) but when it did, it was straightforward and seemed to take all of 2 days to fulfill. There wasn't even enough time for the most nascent character growth to occur. They faced 1 single dangerous setback. They barely got to know each other. Then bam. Over. I assume the quest is continued in the sequel books, but this introduction didn't really give me a lot of incentive to dig those up.

Also: the bad guys were annoying. The henchman and the head wizard honcho both. So annoying. I literally do not care about the POV of this bad guy. He is annoying. That is absolutely all he has to offer the world. I hope he dies in the sequel, but I'm not sure I care enough to find out.

[Nix · Rating 3 out of 5]

By the end of this book, I rather liked it, though I dislike books written for a younger reading level than the main characters. For example, I would dislike a book if the issues dealt with are clearly 17-year-old issues, but it's written to an audience of 12 year olds. Clearly, the three main characters here are all 17, but the writing was very juvenile. It would fit better in Children's than in Young Adult.

This is not to say that 12 year olds should not read about mature problems like politics or betrayals or crime. That's great. As long as these topics are written about in a manner befitting the subject. If the 12 year old can handle such topics, he does not need to be coddled.

This is not only an issue of writing style. The characters themselves seemed very young and juvenile at times. I was often tempted to throw the book across the room in frustration due to the extreme thick-headedness of the characters. When the characters actually did seem to know things, like when Elli knew the Lady of the Lake was Rhiannon and Tamwyn was both the heir and child of the Dark Prophecy I didn't at all see how they had figured it out. What led them to these conclusions? Where was the logic? If they have special magic powers of deduction, then it would be nice if that had been made much clearer. Something along the lines of "And then Tamwyn had a sudden revelation. He didn't know how he knew, but he just knew. And he knew he was right. The answer was 42." That, even, might have been believable. So maybe he has special powers that we don't quite know about yet, but he'll discover them in a later book or something. But these characters are totally ignorant, like young kids, and then somehow become brilliant at deduction, like Holmes but without the same credibility. So that pulled my head out of the story pretty quickly and fairly often.

I won't be reading the other books in the series unless I find myself desperate for reading material.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books I wish I read as a child. Although T.A Barron creates a fascinating and colorful world, it's obvious that this book was geared towards those a bit younger than myself.

The Good:
This book is about the land of Avalon, envisioned by Barron to be a giant tree with seven realms. Each realm has a special characteristic (woods, water etc.). It's a place that I would certainly like to visit. Each region is unique and vividly described.

The characters are interesting, if a bit undeveloped. Everyone knows a Llynia, and we've all teased a boy like Tam. Nuic *might* be my favorite out of the bunch.

Basically, this book is at its best when it isn't trying to be "Harry Potter" meets "Lord of the Rings"

The Bad:
Similar to the problem I had with Eragon, the plot is predictable and a bit cliched. It relies on standard conventions of fantasy story telling (quest to find answers, whiny brat, heroic maiden, clumsy boy, evil wizard etc.)

The writer obviously has an environmental agenda. That's fine, except that it can distract from the plot at times.


In summary, this book is a fun story based in an enjoyable setting. It's good filler, but it doesn't have the level of meat to it that more mature readers may require.

[Aelvana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was nothing like I thought it would be from the cover, which was nice because the cover blurb sounded too clichè. If you liked anything else by T.A. Barron, either the Seven Songs of Merlin quintet, Heartlight, etc, this is a no-brainer. If you've never heard of him... Two brothers were born in the same year, a year a prophecy says two children will be born: the heir to Merlin, and the Dark Child who will destroy the world. Needless to say, people born in that year tended to get killed pretty quickly. I liked how Barron played on the prophecy and twisted it around, neatly avoiding a standard ending. This is something of a sequel to the Seven Songs series, but it doesn't assume you've read them, so it's easy enough to pick up on its own. The ending's a bit open, but the sequel comes out in October, so I suppose that's okay.

Speaking of endings, I was really laughing at the trick Elli plays on poor Tam.... He never would've done it if he had time to think about it. Here's hoping the book hits softcover or used book fairs soon, because I am definitely picking it up. Highly recommended.

[Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Child of the Dark Prophecy is all about the backstory of Merlin, the wizard. The story is Merlin lives in a place called Avalon but has never been seen since he last left. One thing that Merlin left was his staff and only the true heir of Merlin can hold the power. There are hidden symbols on the staff and when the true heir holds it, the symbols will light. The problem is that a dark prophecy was told that a child born in the darkest year of Avalon will soon destroy it. A group of people, Tamwyn, Elli, Nuic, and Henni are on a quest to find the staff, and kill the child of the dark prophecy. This adventure is an eye gluing story which you have to finish in one day and then move on to the next book in the series. T.A. Barron brings the story to life in front of you. The story is perfectly weaved into a tense story with a great ending. If you love fantasy, magic, and a good story, this is a book for you.

[Neil Hepworth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read 180 out of the 400 pages. What on earth do people see in this book? How does it have such a high rating? I did read that some of the reviewers found the characters to be two-dimensional --understatement of the year. The characters are flat, boring, and spout dialogue fit for a toddler. The plot, what little was divulged in 200 pages, was equally cliched and uber tree-huggery. I just ain't gonna waste any more time.

[Ashlin Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

It quenched my thirst for fantasy, with a dash of old myths, and a little bit of magic. This beautifully written and elegantly spun tale was worth every page of paper it was written on.

[Selena · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was kinda slow and hard to get into but I will try again when I am more motivated I am sure it's a great story

[Matthew Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fantasy novel "The Great Tree of Avalon," by T.A. Barron is a highly creative novel with many memorable characters and exciting storylines that the reader will enjoy piecing together as they read. This book takes place in a time of great change for the magical land of Avalon where all creatures from earth, the spirit world, and more have lived in something very near to peace for the past 3 centuries. Many mysterious things begin to occur in the seventeenth year since the child of the dark prophecy was born. It is said that this child will spell the end to Avalon's peace that may never be regained afterward. This causes a council to called by the Society of The Whole, the society that has brought peace and prosperity to the lands of Avalon in the past centuries and whose philosophy is one of love and freedom for all living things. They set a quest to find the heir of the great wizard, Merlin, who is said to be the only one who can stop the child. Meanwhile a dark sorcerer in the north searches for the same person, although he searches for a rather different purpose. This sorcerer will stop at nothing for power, and will do great injustices for the evil gods he worships.

As you weave through the tangles of this story and begin to connect the different storylines, you will be left in amazement of the creativity of this world and the amount of thought and detail put in to every description. That being said, the storyline, although unlike many books I have read before is somewhat dry at points. This is not because of the lack of things going on, but for the lack of suspense and speed of plot. There are rarely times when you are on the edge of your seat hoping something happens or a detail falls into place to complete a story point. Everything seems so fall into place so perfectly and so easily sometimes that it just doesn't even seem like a challenge. You can almost completely predict the next turn of events quite easily because of this. You are also sometimes left indifferent about a characters emotions and not really caring about them too much. Despite these occurrences, the characters are at times very memorable and say quite unexpected things. They all show hugely different morals and character types and their own ways of thinking about a certain situation. This is also helped by the fact that the author switches from one character to another characters point of view and switches between storylines so you can see the situation from many different angles, while the characters are still ignorant to the effects of what they see happening and to what others see happening.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author's Lost Years of Merlin series was one I started off liking very well way back when. But that was during the early-teen nadir of the quantity and variety of my free reading, and even then I cooled off a bit on the series before I finished, so I wasn't sure what to expect from revisiting the author. Child of the Dark Prophecy starts a new series in the same universe, about a thousand years after the Lost Years books, with a new set of characters, also aimed, as far as I can tell, at the younger end of the so-called "young adult" range. The tone reminds me a bit of what I can remember of Redwall, but a lot less consistently violent and more consistently green, and I suspect some stylistic recombination of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is more what the author aimed for. In my opinion the biggest weakness is a fair amount of cliche and coincidence, which I'm sure put some people off. On the other hand, the plot runs along nicely and the characters' antics made me smile in a good way often enough. The timeline-appendix at the end is quite substantial and added enough important backstory to the main text to offset any complaints from me.

It's set in Avalon, which is here a kind of giant island-tree, with the roots inhabited, partway between the ordinary world and the spirit world. The inhabitants are a huge variety of humans, humanoids, and other animals, living in a kind of eco-utopia at the time of the novel, but with quite a bit of war in its past. There is a prophecy about two children, one who will cause the destruction of Avalon and one who might save it. One of the protagonists, in spite of not being the least bit evil, seems to fit the signs of being the destroyer.

[Ava Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this series in my middle school's library and it launched my love for an entire genre!
Every fantasy author who writes about magic describes it in their own way, and I love T.A. Barron's view of it. You can feel his love of nature through what he writes and it makes you want to drop what you're doing and walk in a forest. The fantasy world he writes is rich and lush with ancient magic, enchanted forests, and mythical creatures. Barron takes a really imaginative approach to the Arthurian legend of Merlin and Avalon.
I really fell in love with the characters. Barron does a great job of highlighting that every one may have flaws but it's important to have compassion for each other. I saw myself in these characters and I rooted for them throughout the series. It's a great example of the "found family" trope, one of my favorites. Personally I thought this trilogy was the best part within his Lost Years of Merlin saga.

I will say that upon multiple re-readings as an adult, it definitely reads like a middle school or YA level series. Some of the dialogue is a little goofy. But I love this series with all my heart!!

[AJ Sacerich · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Child of a Dark Prophecy By T.A. Barron published on October 7th, 2004 is a fantasy fiction. The main character, Tamwyn, is very easily liked because he is very funny and he is an adventure guide. He believed he was the Child of the Dark Prophecy because it was said that child was the only one born on his birth year. It turns out he is actually the true heir of the great wizard Merlin. He created the Great Tree of Avalon to be a bridge between mortals and immortals, and living and dead. Tamwyn’s adventures showed him to be accident prone. Scree the eagleman was an eagle and a human. He is able to change between the two forms at will. He was very liked because he was friendly and couragous. To the average high schooler this book would be “lame” or “uncool”. If you like this, then you would probably enjoy the rest of the series and other books that have to relate to fantasy. If this book is considered boring, and you don’t like it, you might enjoy a book about sports or nonfiction.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Child of The Dark prophecy is a a fantasy novel that tells the journey of Elli, LLynia, and Tamwyn's to save the the wizard staff of Merlin. Tamwyn and his brother Scree are both born on a prophesized year where Merlin's heir will be born and so will his nemesis, the child of the dark prophecy. Scree becomes the protector of the wizard staff of Merlin untill it gets stolen from him. Tamwyn, Elli, and Llynia travel across Avalon to retrieve the staff and save Avalon from an evil sorcerer and on their journey, Tamwyn realizes that he is probably the dark child that will bring upon the destruction of Avalon.

Barron is really descriptive with his imagery but the book did feel quite slow, espacially at the beginning. Some characters like the hoolah, the mischieveous cresture, and Nuic, the sarcastic familiar, were enjoyable but many of the characters were pretty cliché. The story was good at the end but it would have been nice to make more conflict considering the journey itself was too easy and expected.

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I might have enjoyed this in my middle school years but my tastes have matured and the tone of this was decidedly... immature. The world seemed interesting but the characters within it just weren't. They all struck me as way too immature for being in their mid to late teens and they lacked the depth I normally desire in my MC's. The pacing overall was slow and the big bad villain dude was very 'rubs his hands together and laughs an evil MWAHAHA while explaining his Eeeevil plans' and that was So annoying to me. It wasn't horrible, just boring and when I put it down for a few days I never really had the urge to pick it back up and find out what happens... and that was around 6 months ago. I kept thinking I would pick it back up eventually but I finally concede to the fact that that's not going to happen and happily, finally, add this one to my DNFed list.

[Bridget Morrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I wanted to find an adventure to lose myself in…and I got lost. There were multiple perspectives throughout the book, but it wasn’t choppy because it was written in third person. The changing of perspectives allowed for me as the reader to get more details and backstory to the main problem in the story, and it was fun seeing everything come together at the end. It was a little slow at the beginning, but I think that was partly because we had to understand everything before we could get into the action, which I did appreciate. Interestingly, most of the book was rising action, the climax happening in the last few chapters, and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It did leave on a cliffhanger, but it was well-written and I can’t wait to start reading the next book.

[Hadiqa · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reasons, I had high expectations from this book, but my expectations were bound to be... DOOMED!

I picked up the book, say, some years ago. That time I didn't like it and thought I would read it some other time. After all those years I picked it up again, few days ago, but oh man! I'm really sorry to say that I couldn't finish it till the end. It felt more like a middle grade than a YA. And too much extra details. The book needn't to be hefty. Could've finished in 200 some pages if it wasn't dragged. Honestly, I really wanted to go till the end but... T_T! I chose to read the plot summary instead. The story is really good but the writings is a bit boring. I enjoyed the non-human character's conversation and found Hoolah and Shim funny :D.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to find out that there were more Lost Years of Merlin books, but largely disappointed in this book. All of the characters are very one-dimensional and feel like cardboard cutouts. The bad guys don't have any depth beyond just being bad, and the good guys don't have any realistic traits that make them feel human. I felt like I was getting literary whiplash when a character would swing from joy, peace, and serenity at the song of a museo to five seconds later throwing death threats at a hoolah and then back again. The author seemed to prefer using choppy transitions that fit each characters' single defining trait rather than finding ways to make them come alive in the story. Great fan of the original books, not a fan of this one.