- Paperback: 512 pages
- Publisher: Eos; Reprint edition (May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060548258
- ISBN-13: 978-0060548254
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.7 x 3.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,009,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'Mary Stewart brilliantly recreates the Britain of the fifth century' (Books And Bookmen )
'Her style is simple yet vivid, displaying a love of words and the sounds they make, and her story is poetically imaginative' (Daily Telegraph )
'A deft colourful . . . re-creation of Merlin's early life' (Sunday Times )
'A fascinating story which lays a firm hold on the imagination' (The Scotsman )
'Mary Stewart lightens the Dark Ages with legend, pure invention and a lively sense of history.' (New York Times )
'Vivid, enthralling, absolutely first-class' (Daily Mail ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
'Her style is simple yet vivid, displaying a love of words and the sounds they make, and her story is poetically imaginative' (Daily Telegraph )
'A deft colourful . . . re-creation of Merlin's early life' (Sunday Times )
'A fascinating story which lays a firm hold on the imagination' (The Scotsman )
'Mary Stewart lightens the Dark Ages with legend, pure invention and a lively sense of history.' (New York Times )
'Vivid, enthralling, absolutely first-class' (Daily Mail ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Daily Mail
'Vivid, enthralling, absolutely first-class'
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The day my uncle Camlach came home, I was just six years old. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The day my uncle Camlach came home, I was just six years old. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Crystal Cave is one of a multitude of fictional works pertaining to the times and life of the legendary King Arthur. It differs from the others however, in that it focuses on the life of the great enchanter Merlin, who although intrinsic to the legend, rarely is considered by authors as a principal character of their stories. Generally, Merlin is presented as a learned sage of whose earlier life little is known. Mary Stewart shows Merlin to be more human, than the reader has encountered him in the other Arthurian tales. She achieves it by creating for him a childhood and parentage. In the popular myth it is believed that Merlin was a devil- begotten child, hence his magical powers. The Crystal Cave shows him a very real person possessed of heightened perceptions and extraordinary intellect, which a medieval audience, whence the original stories of Arthur stem, would very likely have equated with powers beyond an ordinary mortal. The book is an engaging and highly probable tale, beautifully written and entertaining. Mary Stewart cleverly links her story with original legend and her fresh approach makes for excellent reading. Even an adult reader well familiar with the legend will be transported to another world, one he might not have visited since his childhood days.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First read this series (Crystal Cave - Hollow Hills - Last Enchantment - Wicked Day) in the seventies and it stands the test of time well.
Mary Stewart makes the best attempt I have so far read to combine most of the legends passed down to us (especially Geoffrey of Monmouth who is her main source) with such historical knowledge of the period as was available at the time. And she does it in a way that is highly readable, with convincing characters, good pace, and a version as near plausible as anything that must cover some magical element can be.
Monmouth would have voted for it.
Mary Stewart makes the best attempt I have so far read to combine most of the legends passed down to us (especially Geoffrey of Monmouth who is her main source) with such historical knowledge of the period as was available at the time. And she does it in a way that is highly readable, with convincing characters, good pace, and a version as near plausible as anything that must cover some magical element can be.
Monmouth would have voted for it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read this book about 10 years ago and it has vividly remained with me as one of the best books i have ever encountered. I love the detailed description of Britain at the end of the Roman empire, with its reflection in the names of people and places. It gives Merlin an origin and a family as well as explaining his extraordinary gifts of mathematics, science, music, philosophy and human perception. The other characters are well developed and totally believable and as others have said before me, the author has woven much historical fact in with the threads of legend. This book is where i go when i want to escape from the modern and mundane world.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A wizard is born
One of the most enduring legends of British culture is the story of King Arthur and his magician Merlin. The Crystal Cave is another re-telling of that story. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. A. Davison
simply magical
You need to read these in order, in my view. This trilogy is at the top of my all-time favourite reads - and as I am nearly 60 and have read all my life, that is saying something!
Published 13 months ago by kittiwake
Facinating
Wow what a story, I felt everything author described in her story as if I was living at that time side by side with her characters. Loved it so much. Read more
Published 19 months ago by USD
Merlin from boy to profit... and it's actually quite believable...
Mary Stewart's much lauded Merlin Trilogy starts here. As a regular reader of fantasy novels, and a sucker for King Arthur and everything related to him since I was little, I must... Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2008 by Robbie Swale
Merlin's Cave!
This wonderful book captures the legend of Merlin beautifully. I felt like I was in the cave, surrounded by crystals and magic. Read more
Published on 19 Jun 2007 by John-Joel D'ersma
A fantastic Read
I read "The Crystal Cave" and the following books this year for the first time. I thought they were spell-binding. Beautifully written and the dialogue is so real. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2006 by Rebecca Bryant
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