Merlin [Audio Cassette]

He was born to greatness, the son of a druid bard and a princess of lost Atlantis. A trained warrior, blessed with the gifts of prophecy and song, he grew to manhood in a land ravaged by the brutal greed of petty chieftains and barbarian invaders.

Merlin: Respected, feared and hated by many, he was to have a higher destiny. for It was he who prepared the way for the momentous event that would unite the Island of the Mighty -- the coming of Arthur Pendragon, Lord of the Kingdom of Summer.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

An enchanting tale of love and loss, glory and grandeur, set in the twilight of Rome's power . . . where the Celtic chieftains of Britain battle to save their land from an onrushing darkness . . . In this modern classic, Stephen Lawhead presents a majestic retelling of Western literature's most compelling epic. Merlin. His golden eyes saw the shape of a world yet to be. His wisdom would light the path of the coming King. Born of a union between druid and faery, he was trained as a bard and schooled in the ways of battle. But his heart and calling were greater than a warrior's. Son of the great Taliesin, the song of his father coursed through his soul. Yet his life and mission were to be his own. And though sovereignty was his, he would lay it aside to serve a king of his own choosing. As his powers transcended those of mortal men, so, too, would his trials, his griefs . . . and the dark might of his most fearsome enemy. In the twilight of Tome's rule over the Island of the Mighty, as smaller men vied for ascendancy, his would be the hand to lay the foundations of a new order -- the Kingdom of Summer . . . and Arthur, Pendragon of Britain. Merlin is book two in the Pendragon Cycle. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Stephen R. Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. His works include Byzantium and the series The Pendragon Cycle, The Celtic Crusades, and The Song of Albion. Lawhead makes his home in Austria with his wife.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

These two books, filled with Celtic mysticism, take us back to the sixth century. The first follows Merlin, or "Myrddin" as he's called, from tribal bard to wise prophet and king-maker. Arthur takes place 15 years later when Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone and prepares to lead the army of petty chieftains who must unite to drive out the invading Saecsons. This is a much simpler society than that described by Malory in the fifteenth century. There's no romance, no chivalry, no glamorous Camelot, no fellowship of noble knights riding out on quests. Nevertheless, despite the rough existence of Arthur's warriors and despite the brutal battles they must fight constantly to drive out the Saecsons and the Picts, these Celtic people show surprising civility in the way they live together. In fact, this early Arthur seems even nobler than Malory's Arthur, "Myrddin" even wiser than Merlin. And the stories, alive with the mystery and magic of the "fair folk," cannot easily be forgotten, nor can the superb narration of Frederick Davidson as he captures the voices of hundreds of characters. His storytelling becomes as magical as the stories told around the fire by ancient bards. Merlin himself could do no better. J.C. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine