Customer Reviews

The Coming Of The King: The First Book Of Merlin

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Nikolai Tolstoy (Great-grandson of Leo Tolstoy) penned a magnificent work of fanciful art in the magical world of pre-Arthurian Merlin.

As historically accurate as the retelling of history will allow, "Coming of the King" weaves the intricate paths of Merlin and the Kings he associated through many escapades and battles. Beginning with Merlin's birth, this traditional, legendary Welsh fable replaces 'fairy-tale' form with mind-blowing resonance. As tales of peoples and battles and 'lands of yore' where sung by bards in the mediaeval times of western Europe, Tolstoy fully immerses the reader in a world so seemingly real, we begin to interpret his fiction with known facts within our current surroundings. Coming of the King has all the obligatory 'treks through the country-sides,' 'mountain mayhem,' and 'cast of thousands battles' as well as a compelling reality in how humanity in a whole conducts its political regimes. As this work begins before Merlin met up with Arthur, it also tells of the creation of Excalibur, and conceives as to the true purpose of its original creation. Merlin, himself, is shown as a man with his own worries and concerns of what 'is,' what 'will be,' and how he wants things 'to be.' The whole tone of this work is mysterious and dark (as mediaeval as mediaeval can get), and still conjure landscapes and castles so real we can reach out and touch them. The only thing this work lacks, is its characterization. Gone are the 'damsels in distress,' the 'gnomish sidekicks,' and the black and white 'good Vs evil' most fantasy works base their entire ensemble upon. Coming of the King deals only with Merlin and those he comes immediately in contact with. I highly recommend reading this book if you are a die-hard fantasy fan with a penchant for the dark 'reality' of times long gone.

-RasGold@aol.com

Tolstoy weaves a rich tapestry of ancient English mythology which provides both the spiritual and sociopolitical context for the rise of the young Merlin's power and influence, and Arthur's eventual emergence as the saviour of the Britons. Unfortunately, there has been no 'Second Book', so the reader at the end is left somewhat marooned, especially given the effort required to immerse oneself in such a well-researched and painstakingly rendered interpretation of this classic of English folklore.

I first read this book when I was 20 and have read it 3 times since. It is one of those books that is fascinating and complete in its revival every time it is re-read. I rank it up there with the Silmarillion as one of the most comprehensive fantasy books I have ever read.
It is written in epic style and is a tough read, if one is used to the more pulpy entries in the Arthurian cannon. However, I can't stress enough that this book is well worth the read. Having the mabinogi (or a celtic myth primer of some sort) and a welsh pronunciation key nearby definitely help with the daunting scale of the book. Tolstoy's scope of arthurian and celtic knowledge seem inexhaustable. Like many of the former reviewers said this is a difficult book to read but if you can handle Tolkeins Rings trilogy and the Silmarillion you will definitely find this book an enjoyable experience.

While this book is a hard read, I loved it, and appreciated its authentic feel. It is of a much higher quality that much other modern Arthurian trashy fantasy novels. And, in my opinion, should not be compared to them. If you want an easy, simple story to read featuring Merlin, etc, there's lots more to choose from. If you want something with an edge, is more real, and substance, then get this book.

An alternative insight into the life of Merlin and his observation of the passing Dark Ages in Britain. The depth of the book is quite overpowering. Only for die hard Fans of English Mythology, but a good read all the same. As long as you stick at it!!

The Gaelic in the book does make for heavy going, so I do reccommend taking some time to go through the glossary at the back so you understand the pronounciation. This book is full of myth and is beautifully written - a real masterpiece.

...but the reason for the book's dullness is interesting. The entire story (I did read the whole book, but cannot for the life of me remeber why...) is told as a history, as if the action is not happening as the reader reads, but has already happened long ago, and the narrator is simply relating ancient events.

This device lends a bit of interest at the beginning of the book, but it gets terribly dull by about the twelfth page of the book, and the author never shifts the narrative to the present, but continually reminds the reader (through verb conjugation and other devices) that this stuff has already happened.

"The Lord of the Rings", on the other hand, is told as if the action is taking place as the reader reads, and this helps to hold the readers' attention, keeping them interested in what is going to happen 'next'.

In Tolstoy's book (and a case could be made that an Authurian book should be more engrossing than a modern tale) however, there is no 'what happens next', since the whole thing was over long ago--and Tolstoy never lets his readers forget it, and thus one never really 'gets into' the story.

Tolkein suffered from this device in 'The Silmarillion', and Tolstoy should have learned from that epic history that this device makes drama and mystery nearly impossible.

And both drama and mystery are required of any writer wishing to hang onto his audience's attention much past page 65.

Keith Russell

It's thick, it's heavy-going, it's heady. If you've read and enjoyed The White Goddess by Robert Graves, you'll get it. If not, you'll get it if you're not an idiot. The author is an expert on Arthurian Lore and he incorporates all of the legends and gaelic tradition and welsh whatnot and EVERYTHING into the novel. He has a nonfiction book called Merlin about, go figure, Merlin. Check it out. I can't imagine anyone with any sense saying anything bad about this book, but someone did, so I felt I had to put in my two bits, and here they are. Buy it, read it, love it.

This book had huge amounts of potential that it didn't quite live up to. Tolstoy has wrote some great non fiction on British Dark Ages history and pre-Christian European religion (do your self a favor and read his book Quest for Merlin!) but as far as fiction his writing style just didn't flow well. It took some determination for me to get through it and I have a huge interest in the type of subject matter covered in this book. I'm not at all saying this book is bad, its just a disappointment compared to what I thought it could have been. If you have a big interest in Dark Ages British history, Welsh and/or Arthurian lore, or pre-Christian European religion then you may enjoy this. If your more a casual fan of that type stuff then you will probably want to skip it.

As the other two reviewers noted, the book is difficult to get through. I made it past page 65, but I had to push myself. I actually purchased the book over 10 years ago, tried to read it, and became bored. I picked it up again recently, wanting to give it a second chance. I just couldn't stay with it. I am pretty well versed in Arthurian myth, Welsh mythology, etc., and the obscure references to gods, people, and places left me totally confused.

I checked out the reviews here to see if others were having the same experience.

I think this book looks good on a shelf, but not to read.