The Merlin Chronicles [Paperback]

Michael Ashley (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This collection of 72 stories by noted fantasy authors including Tanith Lee, Jane Yolen, and Charles de Lint focuses on the enigmatic figure of Merlin. Many of the stories are original to this volume.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 446 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub (December 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786702753
• ISBN-13: 978-0786702756
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,919,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Literature's most famous magician, June 4, 2011

By 

Chrijeff (Scranton, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Merlin Chronicles (Paperback)

Anyone who's heard of the Arthurian legend knows the name of Merlin, the wise magician who served as Arthur's advisor (and, according to some versions, was not only his tutor but was responsible for getting his parents together). In the third of his four-volume series of original stories based upon the Camelot mythos (they might almost have been called the Mammoth Books of Arthur, having been published by Carroll & Graf, the house responsible for the long list of Mammoths), subtitled "Magic and Adventure from the Age of Legend," editor Mike Ashley presents 22 stories examining the character of Merlin from an assortment of perspectives. Ranging from the humorous to the sinister and looking at Merlin from his earliest youth to his dotage and beyond, these tales (eight of them original to the anthology) come from the pens of fantasy writers including Marion Zimmer Bradley, Jane Yolen, Jennifer Roberson, Vera Chapman, Esther Friesner, H. Warner Munn, and more. Each one offers a slightly different twist not only on Merlin himself but on the times in which he (presumably) lived, and Ashley includes a long introduction that gives useful background on the role and importance of the character in the original Arthurian canon. Fantasy lovers in general, as well as those intrigued by the Merlin legend, should enjoy the collection; I marked half the stories as being worth going back to a second time, which is a pretty good total for me.