The Lost Years of Merlin
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The Lost Years of Merlin is a work of children's literature by T.A. Barron, published by Ace.
The Lost Years Of Merlin tells the tale of the legendary Merlin's youth. In it Merlin searches for his true being while overcoming perilous odds. One can watch Merlin as he learns to use his powers for good and discovers his strengths and weaknesses. Merlin is also given the task of ending evil in the land and finds out secrets of his past that change his life. A screenplay is reportedly to being written.
[edit] Plot summary
The book covers the chronology of Merlin beginning with his birth and continuing through his adolescent and post-adolescent years. In the beginning of the book, we find that a young boy has just regained consciousness, and finds he, along with a woman with long blonde hair and a tattered blue tunic, are washed up on a beach in Wales. Seeing as it is raining, Emrys (for such he is called) takes the woman and he tries to climb into a hollow oak tree to seek shelter. Halfway, he is stopped by furious boar. With tusks like razor blades, the boar charges at the boy. A beautiful stag leaps from the forest and stands between the two. The stag and the boar fight. Angrily, the boar retreats. The stag looks at the boy with a gaze he would never forget.
Years later, Emrys uses magical powers to defend the woman (who's name is Elen, known to Emrys as Branwen), now revealed as his mother, against a terrorizing bully who is trying to burn her at the stake. Tragically, he sets a tree on fire, whereupon it collapses on the bully's arms.
Emrys, attempting to save the boy, goes blind from this incident, but learns to see through a visual "sixth sense", after swearing never to use his powers again. After learning to sense well enough to be mobile, Emrys leaves Branwen at the monastery where they had been staying, and sets out to find his true home.
He builds a raft and floats to the magical and mythical island of Fincayra, which is somewhere between heaven and earth; thus called the "in between place".
There he meets a hawk fighting two large rats. He kicks the rats and names the bird Trouble because obviously, it's just trouble. Then he meets a girl called Rhiannon, or Rhia for short, who has been raised by the intelligent trees of Druma Wood. Although neither trusts the other at first, they become friends during the next few days. In Rhia's home, they learn that the evil Stangmar, self-proclaimed ruler of Fincayra, is plotting to destroy the Druma and all beautiful things; thus completing the conquests he has been urged to make by the demon Rhita Gawr. Emrys, though initially reluctant, follows Rhia to the crystalline cave of the giant spider called the Grand Elusa, whom Rhia believes can advise them.
On the way, Rhia attempts to steal [[honey from some bees. In the process, she and Emrys uncover a second would-be forager, a giant called Shim. Shim, despite his heritage, is dwarfishly small; as such, he is very shy. Like all Fincayran giants, the Lledrith, Shim speaks with a mannerism unique to himself, which features the use of such phrases as "certainly, definitely, absolutely" as well as slightly skewed grammar.
Shim, Emrys, and Rhia meet the Grand Elusa, who explains to them that the only way to defeat Stangmar is to destroy his eternally spinning fortress, the Shrouded Castle. She recites, to support this, a rhyme;
Where in the darkness a castle doth spin, Small will be large, ends will begin. Only when giants make dance in the hall Shall every barrier crumble and fall.
With this and not much else as a guideline, the three of them re-embark; they are attacked by warrior goblins, who serve Stangmar. These goblins capture Rhia and Shim, having been told of where to find them by Rhia's nurse, the arboreal spirit known as Cwen. In exchange for the lives of the two, the goblin leader demands of Emrys an amulet called the Galator. This Galator is an heirloom passed to Emrys from his mother Elen. It is believed to be a thing of powerful magic, though its use and the means thereof are known only to two beings in the Universe; Rhita Gawr and his rival Dagda.
Emrys attempts to complete the bargain, but the goblin betrays him be refusing to release Rhia; a beech tree sacrifices itself to save her. Later, when Emrys himself has been captured, Rhia exchanges herself for him, believing that he is Druma Wood's last hope. Emrys, ashamed, sets off to rescue her, accompanied by Shim.
On the way to the Shrouded Castle, Emrys and Shim spend a night with a librarian and poet called Cairpre, who was once a friend of Elen. He tells Emrys many stories: stories of the time when the people of Fincayra had "both the ears of demons and the wings of angels"; stories of Elen herself, and her husband; and the true story of Emrys' birth. Cairpre reveals that Emrys was conceived into embryo on Fincayra, but was sentenced to be born on Earth, because Elen was born on Earth and thus no child of hers may be born on Fincayra. Unfortunately, Elen procrastinated her departure, until she had no choice but to give birth on Fincayran shores. As such, both she and her son were condemned to death.
To escape, Elen sailed to Wales, where since she had lived. Emrys, no longer an infant, had lost his memory of the past times– hence his doubt that Elen had been his true mother.
On Cairpre's advice, Emrys and Shim seek counsel of a Norn-like creature called Domnu. With her aid, and that of a hawk named Trouble, they enter the Shrouded Castle. Inside, they rescue Rhia, but are themselves caught by Stangmar's people. It is here revealed that Stangmar and Emrys' father are one and the same.
Stangmar, once corrupted by Rhita Gawr, has captured many of the sacred Treasures of Fincayra; the Orb of Fire, the Cauldron of Death, the Flowering Harp, the Caller of Dreams, the sword Deepercut, and six of the Seven Wise Tools. Yet one treasure he lacks; his son. Now that he has this, he intends to destroy Emrys and take ultimate control of Fincayra.
Emrys, abandoning his former vow, uses psychokinesis to wield the sword Deepercut, which penetrates the mind as well as the body. Stangmar is forced to see the truth of his dark history. He is only halted from conversion to compassion by Rhita Gawr, who enters the room and silences the sword's cut.
When all seems lost, Trouble the Hawk attacks Rhita Gawr and forces him to retreat. In the process, Trouble is dragged into the Otherworld with his enemy. Shim, breaking free of his fears, sacrifices himself to break the Cauldron of Death. As with the Black Cauldron, his willing entrance into it causes it to shatter. Unexpectedly, Shim's movements begin the dance of giants prophecised earlier, summoning his fully sized kin from all over Fincayra. Shim himself is revived and given his proper size.
The giants' dance destroys the Shrouded Castle; while escaping from the quake, Emrys takes the remaining Treasures of Fincayra, as well as Stangmar and Rhia, to safety. Stangmar is subsequently imprisoned.
As he watches the dance of the giants reach its conclusion, Emrys recovers his childhood memories of Fincayra. With these come new hope for the future. Rhia gives him the name of Merlin, after the hawk that saved them.
