The Crystal Cave (Arthurian Saga, #1) in Into the Forest

Sep 30, 2011 Sienna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, 2012

I should love this. Based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of the Arthurian legend, this book introduces us to Merlin at age six, fatherless and scorned, underfoot and often underground, always listening. It concludes with the Uther-Ygraine-Gorlois affair at Tintagel. In between we as readers bear witness to Merlin's growing power, his simultaneous detachment from that magic, and his uncanny ability to creep everyone out.

I'll be honest. This show is our current household guilty pleasure, so I h I should love this. Based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of the Arthurian legend, this book introduces us to Merlin at age six, fatherless and scorned, underfoot and often underground, always listening. It concludes with the Uther-Ygraine-Gorlois affair at Tintagel. In between we as readers bear witness to Merlin's growing power, his simultaneous detachment from that magic, and his uncanny ability to creep everyone out.

I'll be honest. This show is our current household guilty pleasure, so I had the benefit of imagining that young Merlin looks like Colin Morgan (as he should), all winsome charm and messy hair and twinkling eyes and a ubiquitous woolen kerchief 'round his neck: "I grinned, and the mirror flashed a sudden smile that changed the picture completely and at once, from a sullen young animal poised to run or fight, to something quick and gentle and approachable". And there is much to like in The Crystal Cave: Merlin in particular is a rich, complex character who remains a mystery. He's delightfully amoral and refreshingly (mostly) asexual. He seems to have no prescience or even expectations about the future, but when events fall into place he's suddenly filled with the conviction that this was meant to happen. Frustrating and hilarious! And there's beauty:

I was in a globe lined with diamonds, a million burning diamonds, each face of each gem wincing with the light, shooting it to and fro, diamond to diamond and back again, with rainbows and rivers and bursting stars and a shape like a crimson dragon clawing up the wall, while below it a girl's face swam faintly with closed eyes, and the light drove right into my body as if it would break me open.

Really, I should love this. But after the first few chapters I found myself hovering in that difficult space between apathy and affection, and I'm not eager to read the next book in the series straightaway. Stewart's writing is good, but not great, and the plot ambles along so slowly that I found my eyes glazing over. A few paragraphs required re-reading because they didn't stick the first time, or the second. Passages like the one above are few and far between. And then there's the unexpected and unnecessary use of the word "slut." No, The Hollow Hills isn't next on my to-read list. But I won't say never.

One final note: I read this on Kindle as part of Stewart's four-book Arthurian saga bundle. There are a number of typos (eerie and eyrie aren't interchangeable any more than lose and loose) and, more notably, a lot of weird line breaks and cut-offs. Still a bargain at $6.99, but it certainly doesn't do Stewart's work — or her readers — any favors. Three stars for the book, one star for the edition. ...more

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Oct 08, 2009 Chad rated it really liked it

First read this in middle school and was blown away by how much more historically accurate it was compared to any other Aurthurian story I had been exposed to until then. Really sparked my curiosity in history behind legends.

Probably wouldn't enjoy it as much today, but remember it fondly. ...more

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