The Merlin Effect (Lost Years Of Merlin) [Mass Market Paperback]

T. A. Barron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2004 | Series: Lost Years Of Merlin

Kate Gordon accompanies her father on a quest for a sunken Spanish galleon that contains a treasure beyond price--a mysterious drinking horn which legend states may have been responsible for Merlin's death. Now, to save her father's life, Kate must enter an undersea world of bizarre creatures and terrifying foes, and succeed where Merlin failed.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Blending Arthurian legend and modern oceanography, Barron's (Heartlight; The Ancient One) lively tale boasts finely developed characters as well as fast-moving adventure. Thirteen-year-old Kate Gordon is assisting her father, an English-history professor, in his search for a sunken Spanish galleon off the Baja peninsula, when she rescues a whale that has gotten tangled in the expedition's equipment. That event propels the group into a quest for Merlin's legendary horn of power, hidden in the galleon, which in turn is surrounded by a huge whirlpool. After plunging into the whirlpool, Kate and her companions engage in an epic battle with Merlin's mortal enemy Nimue and her cadre of sea demons, who want to use the horn to extend their evil domain. Barron achieves a solid balance of mythology, environmental issues and scientific research procedures. The monsters are appropriately scary and malevolent, while the relationships among Kate, her father and the other members of the expedition are well drawn and touching. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-8-Singing whales, a sunken Spanish galleon, genetics, and Arthurian characters are all jumbled together in this complex fantasy. Kate Gordon, 13, whose previous adventures (Heartlight [1990] and The Ancient One [1992, both Philomel]) involved her in both time and space travel, here accompanies her historian father to the coast of Baja, California, where he hopes to discover one of Merlin's legendary lost treasures. The quest leads Kate to the center of a whirlpool, to the place beyond it, and in the end results in her saving the lives of her father and his coworkers. While Barron's writing style is neither as smooth nor his characters as well developed as those found in novels by Lloyd Alexander, Ursula LeGuin, or Madeleine L'Engle, the plot moves swiftly and background information is generally well integrated into the story. Fans of adventure films, particularly Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, will enjoy the intriguing mixture of contemporary life, historical detail, science, myth, and magic. While this title can be read independently, it will likely appeal most to readers already familiar with Barron's previous books. Fantasy buffs searching for fleshed-out characterizations, strong heroines, and a touch of humor would do well to check out titles by Tamora Pierce and Patricia Wrede, in addition to the classic works by the authors mentioned above.
Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ace (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441012221
• ISBN-13: 978-0441012220
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

T.A. Barron is the award-winning author of fantasy novels such as The Lost Years of Merlin epic--soon to be a major motion picture. He serves on a variety of environmental and educational boards including The Nature Conservancy and The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, and is the founder of a national award for heroic children. Following a life-changing decision to leave a successful business career to write full-time in 1990, Barron has written seventeen books, but is happiest when on the mountain trails with his wife, Currie, and their five children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting & "Spell-Binding", October 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Merlin Effect (Mass Market Paperback)

The Merlin Effect by T.A Barron is an adventurous novel. It is about a young girl, Kate, and her father, Jim. Jim is a historian who is trying to prove that the legends of Merlin are real. Along the way he meets many "mythical" people. He, Kate, and a few others must battle the evil sorceress Nimue, to save themselves and the cause of Merlin. Nimue and Merlin each know the existenece of a great power; the power of eternal life. This power is contained in a shell called the Horn of Merlin. This exciting, spell-binding book captured the essence of humanity. It tells of wisdom, life, love, and compassion, the elements that make mankind. Also, around every corner is a new surprise. At one moment Kate is hanging on to a boat for dear life in the middle of a storm, and the next minute she is talking to a 500 year old man. You never know where this book will take you. It takes you from the highest mountains, to the ocean floor. You will meet sea monsters, an evil sorceress, sea demons, singing whales, mer-people, extinct fish, and many more. If you are at all interested in Merlin or Magic, or even just a good book, then you will most certainly enjoy The Merlin Effect.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong "Effect", November 23, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Merlin Effect (Hardcover)

T.A. Barron has said that writing this book spurred him to begin his epic "Lost Year of Merlin" saga. That said, "The Merlin Effect" is a book that is only similar to his high fantasy series because of... well, Merlin. The old wizard is only one source of magic and mystery in Barron's third entrancing novel.

Kate Gordon has been tooling around around near her dad's research vehicles in Baja, California. Her father, Jim, has come there determined to prove the validity of the ancient sunken ship, the Resurreccion, and the fabled horn of Merlin that it contains. The Horn of Merlin, the Serilliant, was once filled with a mer-king's gift: the gift of forever remaining young. And the "Ballad of the Resurreccion" mentions this horn.

Now Jim, Isabella and Terry, a marine biologist and an obnoxious sonar expert, are finding some very strange things in the vicinity of an enormous, never-ending whirlpool. When they set out to find out more about the whirlpool, Kate finds herself on the Resureccion -- with a strange old monk who has lived down there, kept alive by the presence of the horn. Now they must find the horn, and battle the evil enchantress Nimue, before a rupture in the ocean floor destroys all of them...

T.A. Barron has made a reputation for himself with his lush, imaginative fantasies laced with little bits of myth and legend. And "Merlin Effect" shows how he can take even seemingly silly ideas -- the horn of Merlin on an old Spanish ship? -- and make them plausible fantasy plots. He also gives a few new twists on Arthurian legend, bringing the character of Merlin forward in time without silly gimmicks.

Barron's writing is typically lush here, with ornate descriptions of the California shoreline and the strange, eerie interior of the shipwrecked Resureccion (an apt name for the ship, considering the horn's effect). He makes the story come alive with little details, sounds and smells and colors; the message of the book is in the true effect of the horn, which will come as something of a surprise. And little tidbits of real Celtic legend are woven in, such as the various treasures at the climax.

Thankfully, Barron doesn't "wise-up" Kate to the point that she seems unreal. Rather, she seems like a teenager who has seen and experienced too much to not be intrigued by the strange and surreal. Merlin himself is pretty easy to spot, but the way he fakes doddering eccentricity is amusing to read. Even the malicious Nimue is given a bit of extra dimension, when Merlin reveals that once she was good and selfless.

T.A. Barron's "Merlin Effect" is a worthy predecessor to the "Lost Years of Merlin" and "Great Tree of Avalon" series, a solid fantasy-adventure full of beauty, magic and color.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Merlin Effect Review, March 24, 2000

By 

Carly (Minnesota,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Merlin Effect (Hardcover)

Kate Gordon, a strong teenage girl, gets trapped in a whirlpool. She meets Geoffrey of Bardsey who is a monk that has been trapped in the whirlpool since the Middle Ages when the ship he was aboard sank. When an underwater volcano threatens to erupt, Kate and Geoffrey desperately search for a way out of the Remolino de la Muerte, The Whirlpool of Death. I really enjoyed this book because it was exciting and had interesting characters. The Merlin Effect is a very exciting book. Every minute the characters Kate and Geoffrey (along with many others)are faced with life and death situations. These situations also make the book unpredictable, which made it hard to put down. The characters are magical, unique, and strange. Nimue the evil sorceress is a cloud of smoke that has the ability to take the shape of anything. Geoffrey of Bardsey is an old monk who is always falling asleep, strongly believes in magic, and has a secret identity(you'll find it out when you read this book!). There is one negetive thing about this book; it is very short(only 256 pages long) and the story seems to fly by because of this. Overall, I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who likes books about magic and fantasy. Old and young will like The Merlin Effect by T.A. Barron.