Status
Available
Series
Collection
Publication
Tor Books (1999), Edition: 1st, 736 pages
Description
Merlyn Britannicus and Uther Pendragon---the Silver Bear and the Red Dragon---are the leaders of the Colony, lifeblood to the community from which will come the fabled Camulod. But soon their tranquility is in ruins, Uther lies dead from treachery, and all that is left of the dream is the orphaned babe Arthur. Heir to the Colony of Camulod, born with Roman heritage as well as the blood of the Hibernians and the Celts, Arthur is the living incarnation of the sacred dream of his ancestors: independent survival in Britain amidst the ruins of the Roman Empire. When Arthur is adopted by Merlyn Britannicus, an enormous responsibility is placed on Merlyn's shoulders. Now he must prepare young Arthur to unify the clans of Britain and guard the mighty sword Excalibur. And, above all, Merlyn must see that Arthur survives to achieve the rest of his ancestors' dreams, in spite of the deadly threats rumbling from the Saxon Shore. "Of the scores of novels based on Arthurian legend, Whyte's Camulod series is distinctive, particularly in the rendering of its leading players and the residual Roman influences that survived in Britain during the Dark Ages."--The Washington Post… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member hlselz
This is an historical fiction series about King Arthur, and they are my favorite books of ALL time. Whyte is an amazing author, and his descriptions are amazing. The books tell a realistic story of King Arthur, without all of the magic and sorcery we see in modern myths. These books start off with
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King Arthur's great great grandfather, and chronicle the family until the death of King Arthur. The charectors are so well developed you feel as if you know them. The other great thing about these books is that they are written in journal-like form. So as different members of the family are "writing" the different books, the writing style and methods change slightly. Show Less
LibraryThing member Iudita
This is the fourth book in the Camulod series and even though I really enjoyed all the books so far, this fourth one has been the best. The series follows many generations of a several families as it tell the story of how Camulod was created. King Arthur does not even show up until the end of the
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third book when he is born. In this fourth book, Arthur is still a young babe and you begin to see the importance that is being placed on him to grow into a king that will unite many groups of people under the rule of Britain. The story and the series is full of rich loveable characters and the plots are full of interesting detail. This series would be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates historical fiction and is an absolute must read for those that enjoy Arthurian legend. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This is the fourth book in the "Camulod Chronicles" series. The first book, The Skystone I rated five stars, the second book, The Singing Sword four and a half, the third, The Eagles' Brood four stars. Notice a trend? Yeah, and this one gets three and a half stars. That first book earned the five
The last book and this one, which center on Merlin, do have elements of the supernatural, at least in term of prophetic dreams and use of "the Sight." I admit I found that disappointing, even though I love fantasy. But the realistic aspect of these books was a lot of what made this series special, so any step into the supernatural for me diminished that, especially since of all the authors mentioned above, I felt Whyte has the weakest prose style. You can't mistake this for literature certainly. This story doesn't have the strength in the writing and characterizations of a T.H. White or Mary Stewart.
One other thing bothered me in terms of the world created in the book. At one point Merlin acts to nip "factions" in the bud, absolutely forbidding them and freedom of association among the people involved. For "faction" think "political party." You can't have a republic or a democracy or anything but an autocracy without them, and I'm not sure if it's that Merlin doesn't understand that, or Jack Whyte doesn't, but it bugged me.
Another thing that I felt was off in this latest installment was pacing. Let's just say the pace defines leisurely. The three previous books each took in decades. While in the case of The Saxon Shore, over 600 pages of the 716 pages take place in the course of less than a year--during Arthur's infancy. The first time I tackled this book was years ago--and I didn't finish. I pushed past the point I lost interest this time, and I do intend to finish with my last book in the series I own, The Sorcerer, but no this didn't much impress me as much as the earlier books.
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stars because I was so impressed with Whyte's attempts to completely ground the legends of Merlin and King Arthur in a realist, historical way. For instance, in the first book, the sword of Excalibur is special both because the metal came from a meteor and because of techniques used in forging the sword. I've read other books that ground the legend more or less historically from Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave to Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon and Gillian Bradshaw's Hawk of May, all of which give more than a nod to the legend's probable historical kernel in sub-Roman Dark Ages Britain. But all three are fantasy, not historical fiction.The last book and this one, which center on Merlin, do have elements of the supernatural, at least in term of prophetic dreams and use of "the Sight." I admit I found that disappointing, even though I love fantasy. But the realistic aspect of these books was a lot of what made this series special, so any step into the supernatural for me diminished that, especially since of all the authors mentioned above, I felt Whyte has the weakest prose style. You can't mistake this for literature certainly. This story doesn't have the strength in the writing and characterizations of a T.H. White or Mary Stewart.
One other thing bothered me in terms of the world created in the book. At one point Merlin acts to nip "factions" in the bud, absolutely forbidding them and freedom of association among the people involved. For "faction" think "political party." You can't have a republic or a democracy or anything but an autocracy without them, and I'm not sure if it's that Merlin doesn't understand that, or Jack Whyte doesn't, but it bugged me.
Another thing that I felt was off in this latest installment was pacing. Let's just say the pace defines leisurely. The three previous books each took in decades. While in the case of The Saxon Shore, over 600 pages of the 716 pages take place in the course of less than a year--during Arthur's infancy. The first time I tackled this book was years ago--and I didn't finish. I pushed past the point I lost interest this time, and I do intend to finish with my last book in the series I own, The Sorcerer, but no this didn't much impress me as much as the earlier books.
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LibraryThing member willowcove
A wonderful retelling of Arthurian mythology from a more realistic and less mythological standpoint. Great read!
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
This book is too long. The major characters are moving at a funeral pace towards their functions in the Arthurian canon, and though there are some efforts made towards placing the work in the chronology of the period, we remain in a sea of technical anachronisms. were this a more direct fantasy,
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Mr. Whyte would be freer to operate. Instead he has chosen to place his concerns inside the demanding world of Arthuriana. Well, in 750 pages, we move only five steps along the arc of the Mallory framework. There is not much "World building" to occupy the verbiage. Only three more books to go, and I hope at some point to discover a third subplot for the reader. to be involved with. Show Less
LibraryThing member zot79
If this were Middle Earth, we'd be done by now. Somehow Jack Whyte is managing to keep this story going 500-700 pages at a time. At moments, I'd like it to go faster. At other times, I appreciate the care and detail going into the story of this time and place.
This book helps round out the character
Of course, Camulod is an amazingly advanced place socially and scientifically. And just the right mix of experts and skills are present in the odd bunch of family and relations surrounding the boy king and his 'wizard'. I think it all could be a bit more acceptable if the author had left out a couple of miracles and coincidences.
This book helps round out the character
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of Merlyn by showing him and us the humanity of those in the world that are not of Camulod. He sees that everyone from lepers through Danes and Ersemen are as human as he and his Brits. This will likely serve him well as he raises Arthur.Of course, Camulod is an amazingly advanced place socially and scientifically. And just the right mix of experts and skills are present in the odd bunch of family and relations surrounding the boy king and his 'wizard'. I think it all could be a bit more acceptable if the author had left out a couple of miracles and coincidences.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1995
Physical description
736 p.; 6.74 inches
ISBN
0812544161 / 9780812544169