The Hollow Hills We all know the tales of King Arthur from British folklore. But, have you heard the story told in a magician’s perspective. Mary Stewart does an excellent job of recreating that well-known legend being told by the legendary Merlin the enchanter. She was born in Sunderland, England in 1916. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language and later went on to get her Master’s Degree. Before she began writing about legends, she started out writing in the romantic genre of literature (Gates). Mary Stewart already had a reputation as an author of many successful romantic suspense novels, including Madam, Will You Talk?, which was her first publication (Shepherd). She continued to write in this genre well into her 50s.
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However, Mary Stewart takes that story and works backwards. She wrote about the beginning of Arthur and his childhood. I have never heard any story about Arthur’s childhood. This is a beautiful backstory to the biggest legend in the world. There are a few things that I disliked, however. Nonetheless, I would still recommend this book to any friend or family member. But, there are a few things just bothered me. The first one being that there are not enough day-to-day records. The story jumps from place to place about five different times throughout any given chapter. Merlin might be with the King one day, then the story might jump to him cooking dinner in his cave two weeks after he met the king. If Mary Stewart just wrote about the events without it jumping from place to place, I would give it a perfect five-star rating. Another thing would be that it is lacking in action. I love a book with a good fight in it. Because this is sent in a time period with knights, there are rivalries and battles. The problem that I have is that there are not enough battles that happen. Throughout the novel, there are talks of battles that have happened in the past, but a past battle is nowhere as exciting as a battle that is unfolding right in front of your
During …show more content…
However, Mary Stewart takes that story and works backwards. She wrote about the beginning of Arthur and his childhood. I have never heard any story about Arthur’s childhood. This is a beautiful backstory to the biggest legend in the world. There are a few things that I disliked, however. Nonetheless, I would still recommend this book to any friend or family member. But, there are a few things just bothered me. The first one being that there are not enough day-to-day records. The story jumps from place to place about five different times throughout any given chapter. Merlin might be with the King one day, then the story might jump to him cooking dinner in his cave two weeks after he met the king. If Mary Stewart just wrote about the events without it jumping from place to place, I would give it a perfect five-star rating. Another thing would be that it is lacking in action. I love a book with a good fight in it. Because this is sent in a time period with knights, there are rivalries and battles. The problem that I have is that there are not enough battles that happen. Throughout the novel, there are talks of battles that have happened in the past, but a past battle is nowhere as exciting as a battle that is unfolding right in front of your