The Merlin Spiral Trilogy - Book One by Robert Treskillard
The Third Day of the Merlin's Blade Blog Tour
Bosventor? It's Sure No Camelot!
click image for Amazon link or click link below) Merlin's Blade - available from:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Merlins-Merlin-Spiral-Robert-Treskillard/dp/0310735076/
Author's Web site: http://www.kingarthur.org.uk/
Author's Blog: http://www.epictales.org/blog/robertblog.php
I received a review copy of Merlin's Blade by Robert Treskillard from Zondervon
in conjunction with the May CSFF Blog Tour
in conjunction with the May CSFF Blog Tour
What's a Bosventor you may ask? It's the village where Merlin's part of the tale begins.
Noah Arsenault
Beckie Burnham
Keanan Brand
Jeff Chapman
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Emma or Audrey Engel
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger
Nicole White
I found out from my interview with Mr. Treskillard that a village existed on the same spot as Bosventor in Merlin's Blade. The name might have been pretty close too. I mentioned Camelot because Arthur and Merlin were both involved in the creation of the castle. Of course, in Merlin's Blade, Arthur is still a little young to build any castles or lead any knights.
Since today is the final day for the Merlin Blade Tour, I wanted to mention some things that caught my attention in the story, or even better, made me stop and think. A story with unpredictable twists, and lots of sub-stories is one I really enjoy. Merlin's Blade was all this and more. Merlin's willingness to take Garth's punishment after the wagon mishap was a great illustration of sacrifice for friends and family. Even though Garth makes many bad decisions, Merlin still cares about his friend.
Merlin is quick to leap to the defense of others, even when it often means he takes a beating or worse. This seemed a result of the years of verbal and physical abuse. He knew how it felt for others to look away from your scars, and for others to taunt and mistreat.
In a way, I wondered if the author's purposely portrayed Merlin's suffering and treatment as a reflection of what Christ went through. He took our punishment upon himself, as Merlin did for Garth. Christ was spit upon and called names, yet he cared for those around him. In one vision near the Stone, Merlin was tempted by the World's rewards. Yet he turned down what the four horns offered. Christ spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness, and turned from Satan's three temptations.
Garth struck me as sharing traits with Peter. He claimed Merlin as friend, yet denied him time and again. Peter was a down to earth say what's on your mind type of fisherman. Garth's father was a fisherman, and Garth seemed more concerned with his stomach than his soul at times.
The Stone came from the darkness of space, and would lead first the people of Bosventor, and later Britain, to the darkness away from the Messiah, Jesu. So, the Stone seemed to represent Satan. It was full of promises of riches and power. In the end, all who turned to follow the Stone suffered. Some by burning and suffering, and some by losing what they treasured most.
That brings me to Camelot. See, I haven't forgotten today's title. I thought Camelot represents that future reward that all who follow the One, True King will enjoy. When I think of Camelot, I think of a castle of brilliant white that shines from atop the tallest hill. The series may not turn out this way, but I thought Camelot shows what might be when all follow the True Lord. It's a promise not yet achieved, but all who follow The True King know the promise will be fulfilled.
Merlin's Sword was a great read. The story flowed so quickly, I was surprised I had read so many pages in what seemed only a brief time. Merlin's Blade is a strong, Arthurian fantasy that doesn't rehash the same old stories in slightly different settings.
As I read Merlin's Blade I kept feeling I knew the names and the stories. Names in Merlin's Blade were similar to those in the well-known Arthur stories, but different enough to let readers know - this is a completely new tale. I look forward to the rest of this tale in the next two books.
Book 2, Merlin's Shadow, releases September 24th of this year. Can't wait!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310735084/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p14_d2_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0F45R7GFFG9DK8RKE9S2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846
Merlin is quick to leap to the defense of others, even when it often means he takes a beating or worse. This seemed a result of the years of verbal and physical abuse. He knew how it felt for others to look away from your scars, and for others to taunt and mistreat.
In a way, I wondered if the author's purposely portrayed Merlin's suffering and treatment as a reflection of what Christ went through. He took our punishment upon himself, as Merlin did for Garth. Christ was spit upon and called names, yet he cared for those around him. In one vision near the Stone, Merlin was tempted by the World's rewards. Yet he turned down what the four horns offered. Christ spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness, and turned from Satan's three temptations.
Garth struck me as sharing traits with Peter. He claimed Merlin as friend, yet denied him time and again. Peter was a down to earth say what's on your mind type of fisherman. Garth's father was a fisherman, and Garth seemed more concerned with his stomach than his soul at times.
The Stone came from the darkness of space, and would lead first the people of Bosventor, and later Britain, to the darkness away from the Messiah, Jesu. So, the Stone seemed to represent Satan. It was full of promises of riches and power. In the end, all who turned to follow the Stone suffered. Some by burning and suffering, and some by losing what they treasured most.
That brings me to Camelot. See, I haven't forgotten today's title. I thought Camelot represents that future reward that all who follow the One, True King will enjoy. When I think of Camelot, I think of a castle of brilliant white that shines from atop the tallest hill. The series may not turn out this way, but I thought Camelot shows what might be when all follow the True Lord. It's a promise not yet achieved, but all who follow The True King know the promise will be fulfilled.
Merlin's Sword was a great read. The story flowed so quickly, I was surprised I had read so many pages in what seemed only a brief time. Merlin's Blade is a strong, Arthurian fantasy that doesn't rehash the same old stories in slightly different settings.
As I read Merlin's Blade I kept feeling I knew the names and the stories. Names in Merlin's Blade were similar to those in the well-known Arthur stories, but different enough to let readers know - this is a completely new tale. I look forward to the rest of this tale in the next two books.
Book 2, Merlin's Shadow, releases September 24th of this year. Can't wait!
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2 comments:
Tim,
To quote your review: "As I read Merlin's Blade I kept feeling I knew the names and the stories. Names in Merlin's Blade were similar to those in the well-known Arthur stories, but different enough to let readers know - this is a completely new tale."
This is true! I purposely changed many of the names to accomplish just that. In face, I even had Merlin himself go by a different name, Linnaeus for a long time. My plan was to have this as the name his father called him, and Merlin be the name his mother called him him ... notice the "Lin" in each name.
So he was going to start out as Linnaeus to help the reader think of him without all the old Merlin baggage, and then once the reader knew him, to have him adopt his mother's name for him.
Anyway, I quickly realized the extra confusion this caused and dropped it, but I think you caught onto the fact that I wanted readers to start with fresh eyes.
-Robert
Great review! Thanks for your thoughts.
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