> Merlin (though to a large extent demythologised)
> foreseeing the future in dreams
> druidism, in the background
> astral travel
Medieval Outsiders
> surviving Romano-Britons in an increasingly un-Roman country
Book 6 of The Camulod Chronicles
Britain, 6th Century
In Books 4 and 5 of the Camulod Chronicles, The Saxon Shore and The Fort At River's Bend, Caius Merlyn Britannicus brought up the orphaned Arthur, first at Camulod, then, following attempts on the boy's life, in an inaccessible spot somewhere on the north-western coast of Britain.
Now Arthur is fifteen, and when trouble erupts in the south west once more Merlyn decides it is time for him to emerge from seclusion and take Arthur to war.
The war is in Cambria (Wales) and has been fomented from Cornwall by Merlyn's old enemy and nemesis Ironhair, who is seeking to have his own candidate, Carthac, recognised as king though the rightful heir to the throne of Cambria is Arthur. Merlyn faces war on three or four fronts but has everything under control until personal tragedy intervenes.
Then he declares a personal vendetta against Carthac and Ironhair, disappearing into the night dressed all in black and inaugurating "Merlyn's Vengeance", and in so doing becoming the sorcerer of legend not difficult for him, who was brought up among druids. He is replaced as legate commander firsy by his brother Ambrose and then, finally, as Arthur comes into his own, by the young king.
This is the third book in which Caius Merlyn Britannicus (otherwise known as Cai, or as Merlin) has been the narrator. It is a great story and one that everybody interested in post-Roman Britain should read and enjoy.
But I want another book. I want one in which Merlyn the leper, the outsider, anonymous in his black robes and moving like a shadow through the land, tells us the story of Arthur's reign, his triumphs, his loves, and his eventual downfall. How about it, Jack? As I observed in an earlier review, there is always the feeling that something is coming soon: Arthur, and Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table, the Holy Grail, Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad
