I liked this one less than the other two in the series, possibly because there's so much time passing, and possibly because Merlin's fading. Either way, it just wasn't as enjoyable as the first two books. I also realized that, if you wanted to, you could read this one as a stand-alone. There's an awful lot of exposition -- which if you've read all three books, is tiresome -- that makes the other two (mostly) unnecessary. That said, I think Stewart's books are an important part of Arthurian lore.