Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy refers to the first three of Mary Stewart's quintet of Arthurian novels. It consists of:
The Crystal Cave (1970) The Hollow Hills (1973) The Last Enchantment (1979)
They were published under this title in an omnibus volume in 1980 by William Morrow and Company.
The other two novels in the quintet are: The Wicked Day (1983) The Prince and the Pilgrim (1995)
The Crystal Cave is a re-telling from Merlin's point of view of his childhood and youth up to the time of Arthur's conception. The Hollow Hills is Merlin's recounting of Arthur's birth and boyhood until he is made king. The Last Enchantment is the story of Arthur's kingship as told by Merlin. The Wicked Day is a re-telling of the story from Mordred's point of view.
In my copy of The Wicked Day (now gone to a nephew) Stewart wrote in the afterword that the original stories don't necessarily make Mordred the villian. In the last battle, for example, they don't say he was fighting against Arthur. She was stuck with her original research into having Mordred fight Arthur, but she did what she could to make him a sympathetic character, and the final conflict an accident rather than evil plot.
I haven't read the last one, because I just learned about it today. Not certain if I should, or if I'd find it disappointing.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2015-11-10 11:32 am (UTC)Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy refers to the first three of Mary Stewart's quintet of Arthurian novels. It consists of:
The Crystal Cave (1970)
The Hollow Hills (1973)
The Last Enchantment (1979)
They were published under this title in an omnibus volume in 1980 by William Morrow and Company.
The other two novels in the quintet are:
The Wicked Day (1983)
The Prince and the Pilgrim (1995)
The Crystal Cave is a re-telling from Merlin's point of view of his childhood and youth up to the time of Arthur's conception. The Hollow Hills is Merlin's recounting of Arthur's birth and boyhood until he is made king. The Last Enchantment is the story of Arthur's kingship as told by Merlin. The Wicked Day is a re-telling of the story from Mordred's point of view.
In my copy of The Wicked Day (now gone to a nephew) Stewart wrote in the afterword that the original stories don't necessarily make Mordred the villian. In the last battle, for example, they don't say he was fighting against Arthur. She was stuck with her original research into having Mordred fight Arthur, but she did what she could to make him a sympathetic character, and the final conflict an accident rather than evil plot.
I haven't read the last one, because I just learned about it today. Not certain if I should, or if I'd find it disappointing.