Customer Reviews

Merlin's Harp

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Reading Merlin's Harp, I realized something about novels that portray the interaction between the human world and Faerie. They usually don't tell the stories of fae folk in their own homeland. There are exceptions, of course, but authors tend to focus on faeries stuck in the human world, or humans encountering Faerie. I think I may know why that is. When writing about faeries living in Faerie, it's all too easy to have nothing happen.

Anne Eliot Crompton uses beautiful, if occasionally stilted, language to draw us into her take on Arthurian legend:

"When I was yet a young woman I threw my heart away.

I fashioned a wee coracle of leaf and willow twig and reed, a coracle that sat in the hollow of my two palms. In this I placed my wounded, wretched heart, and I set it adrift on the rain-misted wavelets of the Fey river, and I watched it bob and whirl, sail and sink. Ever since I have lived heartless, or almost heartless, cold as spring rain, the way Humans think all Fey live. Humans I have known would be astounded to learn that I ever had a heart that leapt, brightened, fainted, quickened, warmed, embraced, froze or rejected, like their own."

The narrator is Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake. In the ensuing chapters, Niviene endeavors to tell us how she came to the point of throwing her heart away. This ornate, image-rich prose continues, and Niviene meanders and digresses in her tale. She'll mention an old family friend, then backtrack and tell us all about how she came to meet him before going back to the main thread of her narrative.

By combining the flowery style with a narrative that is ever looping back on itself, Crompton conveys a sense of what Faerie is said to be like. It's beautiful and hypnotic, and time doesn't flow in Faerie the way it does in the human realm. The trouble is, it's *too* hypnotic. Lulling. Dreamlike. Reading Merlin's Harp made me sleepy. While falling into an enchanted slumber and waking on the cold hillside is very much in keeping with Faerie tradition, it doesn't help propel one through a novel.

It also doesn't help that not much happens in the first hundred pages or so, which is as far as I got before giving up. Roughly the first ninety pages are taken up with an interpretation of the Lady of Shalott tale, and a rather uninteresting one. The main problem is Gwenevere, who spends this entire sequence drugged and being toddled around like a doll. Sure, she's gorgeous, but can physical beauty alone account for the trouble she unwittingly causes here? I've seen sympathetic Gweneveres and unsympathetic ones, but all the best portrayals afford her some charisma that helps explain why she is so loved.

This is followed by a four-page sequence (I counted) in which Niviene gets pregnant and gives birth to a son, the son grows to the age of five, and then the son goes missing. All in four pages. That was when I decided to give up. If it takes ninety pages for a young boy to break a young girl's heart in favor of a pretty woman in a stupor, and four pages for a fetus to become a five-year-old, the pacing is just a little too strange for me, Faerie or no.

Merlin's Harp contains some lovely language and an interesting perspective on the Matter of Britain, but finally the pacing and the hypnotic effect were too much for me. I recommend it to fans of lush prose who have plenty of coffee on hand.

Merlin's Harp is an exquisite addition to Arthurian literature. Anne Crompton's writing is lyrical and beautiful. It
leads you into the story and keeps you there. Her very
original presentation of well known characters, well known
story lines, and even objects such as the Grail is so very
intriguing that you do not want to put the book down until
you have finished it. Her central character Niviene is
delightfully "odd" and fantastical. This is a Niviene no
one has seen before. I cannot recommend this book highly
enough. It is one of the few books that really does take
you into another world. When you put it down, when you have
read every page, you are left with a feeling of amazement
and sheer delight in the experience.

This is a rather unique look at the legend of King Arthur. This is the tale of Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake.

We see Niviene grow up from a young Fey still learning about her surroundings and follow her through becoming a mother and a companion to Merlin at the Court of King Arthur. Arthur starts as just a tale Niviene hears from Merlin during his visits to Avalon. Then there is their chance encounter and finally Niviene encounters him at Camelot.

But While this is an Arthurian tale there is very little about Arthur actually in it. Instead we learn about the Fey, how they feel about this human king and the plots and reasons of Merlin. We find out the truth behind Sir Lancelot and where he came from. We learn about Mordred's shadowed history. We even learn the truth behind the Holy Grail and why someone as wise as Merlin sent the knights of the Round Table looking for it.

All in all a very entertaining book that is both well-written and freshly plotted. I recommend this one to anyone interested in Arthurian legend.

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.

Merlin's Harp is a great short read (one day ), that will transport the reader back to Arthurian times through the eyes of an important, but not much talked about player. The book reminds me of 'Forest House' by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It is light reading, yet keeps your interest. Merlin's Harp will give the reader new insight on Lancelot and Melwas, with a new revelation on Merlin and the Holy Grail

I think one of the problems some have with Crompton's novels is that they are more literature than popular in style, and many modern readers, unfortunately, have lost almost all sense of even minor abstraction, instead needing things to be told simply. This is one of the problems with much of contemporary fantasy being written by and for a more game/SyFy Channel crowd than a literary one. That aside, Crompton has really done her homework on the Fey and their point of view. Also some nice twists and turns on the Arthur myth. One of the problems some readers seem to have is following the story chronologically, but considering the narrator isn't human and lives in a world of immortality and non-human motivations, I find this an interesting device. I wish the author had written more than just the three books in this universe. She seems to share with Joy Chant the same burst of three good novels and then silence, although I see she has written several children's books as well.

A refreshing new perspective for Arthurian legends we thought were thoroughly explored. I was not able to put it down. The characters and their relationships all had fresh twists. "Lyrical" is the most appropriate term used by other reviewers. Surprisingly well thought out were the interactions between the "old" religions and Christian beliefs during a time of transition.

If you liked Mists of Avalon, here is another book you will enjoy. The book is based on the perspective of a Fey woman. The first few chapters focus entirely on the life of the Fey and I found it a very interesting perspective. Merlin is introduced as is Guenevere and Arthur and Lancelot - though you don't know this at first. The introduction of characters is subtle and almost elusive. Not until later in the book does the plot twist and turn and bring you to the familiar aspects of the Arthurian legend we all recognize. It is a fast and intriguing read. I also liked her inclusion of Merlin's songs throughout the novel. They brought the poetic oral tradition of the legend into the book to show how the story evolved over time to the tale we know today. I highly recommend this book!

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.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

Merlin's Harp by Anne Eliot Crompton is a retelling of the legend of King Arthur and his times from the perspective of Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake, known to Niviene as Nimway. They live on Apple Island, also known as Avalon, with Niviene's brother, Lugh. Niviene is happy in her Fey world, living apart from most of her kind except when she and Lugh and their friend Elana slip into the villages and pretend to be Human.

The basic elements of the Arthur legend are here--Gwen's relationship with Lancelot (though there is a surprise there), Mordred's arrival at the court, the forces that ultimately threaten Arthur's rule. But what sets Merlin's Harp apart is Niviene's perspective.

Niviene is 100 percent Fey, or so she believes, and as such she doesn't understand the Human emotions of love, honor, greed, lust and longing. She has special powers that allow her to see the future through the flames of fire and speak to animals. Her forested world is rich in fantastical elements. And yet, Niviene is drawn into the Human world by Merlin, a frequent visitor to Apple Island and a friend of her mother's. Merlin asks Niviene to help Arthur by going with Merlin to Arthur's court. She risks losing her own power, and if she does, she will not be able to help Arthur.

Merlin's Harp weaves a tale that blends the lines of mythical and historical worlds. Poems of Merlin's Song and his life history are woven through the chapters, and they create a subtext of interest in Merlin's birth and adolescence, not just as the old man we usually see him as. While the premise of the story may be well known, the details of Merlin's Harp make it seem freshly told. Niviene's perspective made me thing of the Arthur legend in a different way and imagine new possibilities for the reasons behind the actions of each player. The ending surprised me as well, and I thought it was fun to think of new possibilities for a tale so often told. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.