A review by pagesofpins
The Lost Years of Merlin by T.A. Barron
2.0
I think I would have really liked this book as a child; despite the formulaic-adventure plot that has the main character stumbling in and out of danger (and in and out of consciousness) every chapter or so, like an Arthurian Hardy Boy, there's enough action and enough magic and enough wish fulfillment to satisfy ten year old me. And the descriptions are pretty good in places.
Adult me, however, has some beef. The pacing is uneven, like it was written as a serial novel or something. Then, Emrys has just met Rhia, and they connect like they've know each other for years--and in a land full of prophesy and fate and all that, I could be okay with that--if it wasn't for Emrys also accusing his mother of being a stranger masquerading as his mother, ditching her forever, and then later finding out that she is, in fact, his mother. Awk-ward. And then he still has time to save his evil father, which Mom is going to bring up in guilt trip phone calls for yeeeeeears to come. Most of all, we have the really really tiny giant. The joke is funny, but the insufferable giant is not. He's like a cross between Dobby the house elf and Jar Jar Binks, and the audio format with his squeaky voice made me long for his death all the more.
Adult me, however, has some beef. The pacing is uneven, like it was written as a serial novel or something. Then, Emrys has just met Rhia, and they connect like they've know each other for years--and in a land full of prophesy and fate and all that, I could be okay with that--if it wasn't for Emrys also accusing his mother of being a stranger masquerading as his mother, ditching her forever, and then later finding out that she is, in fact, his mother. Awk-ward. And then he still has time to save his evil father, which Mom is going to bring up in guilt trip phone calls for yeeeeeears to come. Most of all, we have the really really tiny giant. The joke is funny, but the insufferable giant is not. He's like a cross between Dobby the house elf and Jar Jar Binks, and the audio format with his squeaky voice made me long for his death all the more.