By Merlin’s beard, I’ve discovered a King Arthurian YA fantasy novel!
This book surprised me with its depth and heart, and the battles are epic. It didn’t hurt that I listened to it on audiobook, narrated by a silvery British voice that may or may not have belonged to Gandalf the Grey.
Merlin’s Blade, by Robert Teskilard, is Book One in The Merlin Spiral. It’s a moving, epic fantasy written primarily from the perspective of a teenage Merlin. In the pre-Camelot days of Britain, Merlin is a nobody, the son of a blacksmith. Due to a wolf attack when he was young, he’s also mostly blind. That’s an unlikely hero, if ever there was one. But he’s no helpless victim, bravely brandishing weapons of all sorts in the defense of himself and others.
I’m convinced the author of this story wields an enchanted keyboard to help the reader view this world through young Merlin’s limited eyesight.
The true darkness of the story is found in an ancient druid stone threatening to consume the hearts and minds of all those within Merlin’s village. When King Uther and his queen visit with their infant, Prince Arthur, the royal family is thrown into a conflict that threatens the future of the kingdom.
I’m risking ridicule here, but I might have enjoyed this book even more than The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, a series very much in the same vein as this one. Merlin’s Blade is everything I want Christian fantasy to be: imaginative, immersive, beautifully written, and full of faith without ever feeling preachy.
Please read this book. It’s a fantastic book unicorn, for sure. 5/5 stars