A big improvement on the first volume in the series! There's more story and less meandering, as well as a greater focus on character. Of course Stewart has the advantage here in that she's working from set pieces - the sword in the stone, above all, but also Arthur's childhood with Ector. This gives a lot more shape to the narrative as the story moves on, whereas The Crystal Cave was less well-defined and tended towards sprawl because of it. Morgause appears for the first time, and while appropriately menacing there's unfortunately still something very flat about her, sort of evil for evil's sake which has never struck me as a very convincing motivation for any character. The story, though, is primarily Arthur's and his mere presence makes Merlin more entertaining in response - which he sorely needed after Cave.