Merlin's Harp (edition 1997)

UGH! Hated this book. That's it. No more arthurian legend stories. Ever. Again. ( )

Touted as a new and different interpretation of Arthurian legend I thought perhaps this book would be a good bridge into fantasy for a reader somewhat interested in exploring the genre. Unfortunately it fell short in that regard. It was such a tough read that it did more to turn me off the genre than on.

The flowery and excessive prose made it, at times, difficult to follow. I never really got a clear picture of what either land looked like. Apple Valley (ie: Avalon) was slightly more vivid than Arthur’s kingdom but all things considered the characters hopped so quickly between different settings it was tough to grasp on to any sense of place or time. Speaking of which, I had no idea if we were in the present or the past or seeing some sort of Fey vision of the future.

Not having read much in this genre or much in the way of Arthurian literature some of the intricacies were lost on me. However, I will say I found some of the characterizations and relationships developed to have quite a bit of potential. I would really have enjoyed seeing more of Lugh and the Fey girl he’d left behind. I actually found that element of the story (while extremely short lived) quite compelling. Heck I would have chucked the whole Arthurian aspect to just focus on that part of the story entirely.

In the end, what I take away from having read this book is that this type of fantasy isn’t for me. Perhaps lovers of the genre will read it and find it’s strengths, I would certainly enjoy hearing a different perspective. ( )

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Nivienne never imagined she'd live in the human world. When Merlin comes to Avalon bringing word of a Saxon invasion and threat of peace to their land, she agrees to journey into the human world. After all, with her child gone missing and her heart torn away from her body, she has nothing left in either world.

Once at King Arthur's court, she recognizes the Queen as the woman who became lost and wondered into Avalon one day. Her brother, Lugh, led the Queen away from the island, never to return. Everyone in the human world calls him Lancelot. She recognizes the King as the father of her lost child. She never saw him again after their one night together.

In this new world, she helps Merlin. However, after many years, they recognize two new threats to the kingdom - the love affair between Lancelot and Gwenevere. Belong long, they realize something must be done, but the second threat lingers in the air, waiting, watching for the lovers to destroy themselves and, in turn, the kingdom. Mordred makes his interest in the lovers known. Will he start a revolution that no one can stop?

MERLIN'S HARP recounts the legend of King Arthur from the Fey Nivienne's perspective in a beautifully poetic voice. ( )

Nivienne lives among her Fey kin on Apple Island, known to humans as Avalon. She’s the daughter of the Lady of the Lake and an apprentice to Merlin, the half-human, half-fey sorcerer who knows King Arthur. Turmoil in Arthur’s kingdom threatens to affect the fey, however, and Nivienne must use her cunning and knowledge to navigate the treacheries of human men.

I don’t get offended by books often. Premarital sex, abstinence until marriage, drinking, backstabbing, pranking, people killing people, etc.—everything is good in my opinion as long as it’s written well and doesn’t sound like an agenda that is out of place within the fictional world. MERLIN’S HARP, however, is a mess of a novel, poorly organized and weakly characterized—unfortunate, because the writing is beautiful and the story held such promise.

For a generation that’s being bombarded with a multitude of sensations, experiences, and information left and right, we need stories that are far more organized—less ADD—than the lives we lead. The story of MERLIN’S HARP is exceedingly difficult to follow. It is almost impossible to tell without dedicating 110% of your brainpower to the task whether Nivienne is narrating something that’s occurring in the present or something that happened in her past—and if it is the latter, which part of her past it occurred, as, yes, she somehow attempts to provide us with multiple flashbacks at once. And it’s less than lack of chronology throughout the story as it is the fact that the flashbacks (or whatever we should call them) provide us with hardly any cohesive information about either the characters or the world in which the story is set.

Crompton’s fey are fairly dissimilar to humans: they’re heartless, free-spirited sexual beings. They would’ve provided an interesting contrast to human characteristics, had their lustful behavior been better developed. I have nothing against any kind of sex in fiction, but when characters are objectifying and rubbing up on one another left and right without first having been developed into characters whose lustful actions are justified, then I DO have a problem with that. MERLIN’S HARP is a very sensual read, but my difficulty in connecting to any of the characters, of understanding their motivations, makes it an awkward read at best.

Overall, I’m afraid MERLIN’S HARP is yet another example of a book that is being marketed to the wrong genre. Readers of adult fantasy may be better suited to appreciate its slow story, meandering plot, and sensual writing. YA fantasy fans, however, may find this book difficult to get through. ( )

Nivienne is Fey. She is different than a human. Unbeknown to her, she spends the story trying to recover her heart. A touching story of King Arthur’s court and the intrigue that surrounded it

Ms. Crompton did a nice job fleshing out the legend of King Arthur. Nivienne is a strong female protagonist. The characterizations are a touch shallow, more detail would have been nice. I felt it started slow but once involved it became more enjoyable. I’ve read a ton of King Arthur books and this turned out to be a good one.

I recommend the book. ( )