Download PDF The Crystal Cave Arthurian Saga Book 1 Audible Audio Edition Mary Stewart Derek Perkins Hodder Stoughton Books
Download As PDF : The Crystal Cave Arthurian Saga Book 1 Audible Audio Edition Mary Stewart Derek Perkins Hodder Stoughton Books
This is what happened. I saw it, and it is a true tale. Â
So begins the story of Merlin, born the illegitimate son of a Welsh princess in fifth-century Britain, a world ravaged by war. Small and neglected, with his mother unwilling to reveal his father's identity, Merlin must disguise his intelligence - and hide his occasional ability to know things before they happen - in order to keep himself safe. Â
One beautiful afternoon, while exploring the countryside near his home, Merlin stumbles across a cave filled with books and papers and hiding a room lined with crystals. It is the home of Galapas, who becomes Merlin's tutor and friend, and who teaches Merlin to understand the world around him...and to harness the power of the crystal cave to see the future. Â
Merlin will rise to power and enter history - and legend - as advisor to King Arthur. But all stories must begin somewhere. And this is his.  Â
The Crystal Cave is the first of Mary Stewart's brilliant Arthurian Saga, telling the story of King Arthur from the perspective of the extraordinary, mysterious Merlin.
Download PDF The Crystal Cave Arthurian Saga Book 1 Audible Audio Edition Mary Stewart Derek Perkins Hodder Stoughton Books
"This has been my favorite book since the mid-1970's, shortly after it was published. I read it, and the entire Merlin series (4 books) by Mary Stewart about once a year. She does what no other Merlin writer seems to do: She makes him seem real. She writes Merlin as mostly just a learned man who travels extensively and learns much from the world around him, aided by a occasional visions, and small bits of magic. There are no dragons, and no one gets (literally) transformed into any kind of beast or insect. Written from Merlin's point of view (until the last book), the story of his life unfolds like an old river, winding here and there, and gently taking you, willingly, along for the ride. Ms. Stewart is an amazingly gifted writer. I highly recommend her books."
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The Crystal Cave Arthurian Saga Book 1 Audible Audio Edition Mary Stewart Derek Perkins Hodder Stoughton Books Reviews :
The Crystal Cave Arthurian Saga Book 1 Audible Audio Edition Mary Stewart Derek Perkins Hodder Stoughton Books Reviews
- I’ve never been a huge reader. The last book I read was in high school several years ago. Recently I decided I wanted to start reading again but I’ve always had trouble sticking to a book. I would read a couple chapters and put the book down and never pick it back up. Recently I’ve gotten into King Arthur stories and media. I decided that a book about King Arthur or Merlin would be interesting. After doing some research I found out about this book. I have been loving this story so much. I’ve been staying up late reading and have trouble putting it down. I have to tell myself that I can only finish one more chapter before going to sleep. After finishing the chapter I want to keep going. And this continues until 400 in the morning.
- This has been my favorite book since the mid-1970's, shortly after it was published. I read it, and the entire Merlin series (4 books) by Mary Stewart about once a year. She does what no other Merlin writer seems to do She makes him seem real. She writes Merlin as mostly just a learned man who travels extensively and learns much from the world around him, aided by a occasional visions, and small bits of magic. There are no dragons, and no one gets (literally) transformed into any kind of beast or insect. Written from Merlin's point of view (until the last book), the story of his life unfolds like an old river, winding here and there, and gently taking you, willingly, along for the ride. Ms. Stewart is an amazingly gifted writer. I highly recommend her books.
- I had my Arthurian period like many readers. There was a time when I found the legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and Merlin irresistible.
The period when I was most susceptible to these stories happened to coincide with the time of greatest popularity of the Lerner and Lowe musical adaptation of them, known as Camelot. Come to think of it, maybe that wasn't a coincidence. How I loved that musical!
At any rate, it had been a number of years since I paid a visit to Camelot, but when Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave was recommended to me, I was intrigued. In spite of the reading I had done concerning the legends, I had never read Stewart's work. Obviously, that was a serious oversight on my part.
Stewart was an excellent writer and she pulls together all the threads of the Merlin origination story and weaves them into a page turner of a tale.
Merlin was the bastard child of a Welsh princess. His mother never told him, or anyone, the name of his father. As a child, he lived with his mother at his grandfather's court, but he was an outcast, without status or friends.
As he got older, he enjoyed wandering the hills on his own and one day he found a strange cave and met the even stranger man who lived there, Galapas. Galapas was old and wise and had the gift of "seeing," as did Merlin although he hardly knew it at the time. Galapas became his teacher and he had other tutors as well who educated him in languages, math, and engineering as well as medicine and religion. And, of course, magic.
Perhaps Galapas' most important lesson for Merlin was this "The gods only go with you if you put yourself in their path. And that takes courage." Merlin learns the truth of that and learns to be open to the gods and always put himself in their path.
The student grows in knowledge and power and, following the death of his grandfather and the ascension of a king who is even less kindly disposed toward him, he runs away from home and ends up on the shores of Less Britain which is under the control of the exiled king Ambrosius.
Ambrosius' brother is Uther, who will one day be known as Uther Pendragon and will father yet another bastard child who will be named Arthur and given into the care of Merlin. But all of that is still in the future.
In the meantime, Stewart shows us Ambrosius attempting to bring the peoples of Britain together under one king and the parts that Merlin and Uther play in his grand scheme.
Merlin's renown grows throughout the land until he is seen as a great wizard, able to see into the future and to affect how that future evolves.
The stories here are very well known and yet Stewart manages to make them seem fresh. She weaves together historical details and myth in a wonderful tapestry that finally reveals to us the whole colorful picture. Her writing is vividly descriptive and makes the reader feel as though she is there by Merlin's side as he works his "magic." Indeed, not just Merlin but all of the characters, including relatively minor ones, were well-developed and one felt empathy for them.
This book was published in 1970 and yet it did not feel dated. It was as timeless as Merlin himself, perhaps still sleeping somewhere in his crystal cave, waiting to be called by Arthur to wake and defend the beloved kingdom once again. - This is my third time reading this book - twice as a teenager and the third time just now. And each time, I can't but marvel at the beautiful and spirit-lifting piece of literature it is. It just takes you right in. If I was told that the book was not written by MS, but brought by Myrddin Emrys himself on the back of a dragon, I'm sure half of me would believe it...
The Crystal Cave is beautifully written, but starts slowly - don't despair. The Hollow Hills builds steam very fast and starts your heart boiling. And The Crystal Cave takes you over the crescendo, almost kills you, and then brings you back gently but with a sigh. Indeed, I've not seen many works as detailed and beautiful as this. What's even more, it is possible to actually read each of them on their own and still get a feel of the whole.
I doff my hat to Mary Sewart! - I have avoided this book for ages because I did not want to believe how good it was. Don't ask me why. I have read countless books on King Arthur but not until Rosemary's "Sword at Sunset" and this book had I realized I had done myself a great injustice. In short this trilogy is every bit as good as the reviews here have already stated. And while the writing, for me, is not as sweet as "Sword at Sunset" it is still very good and strong. By strong I mean there are hardly faults one can find with it.
I see others commenting that this might be suitable for adults but I have to disagree. The writing is not filled with difficult and overly complicated words; it is rather that the tone, mood and thought that one gets from reading it may be better understood and deciphered. This is easier reading than LOTR in comparison.
This is my first 5 star rating for the hundreds of books I've read and after countless debates with myself I think it highly deserves it. I understand a bit more about the legend now that I am reading it. To clarify, I understand now how many of the King Arthur stories are bits and pieces from this great book, from the Disney classic "The Sword in the Stone" to "Excalibur". You won't be disappointed.
