This book was suggested to me when I was a teenager by a customer at my first job out of high school. She saw a peek of a tattoo on my chest and asked about it. When I told her it was Arthur’s chest armor from the BBC show Merlin, she told me that I absolutely must read this series. I kept it in mind all these years, and I was ecstatic when I finally got it as a Christmas gift this year. It was absolutely a good recommendation, and I’m glad I finally got around to it.

When I first started reading The Crystal Cave, I was a little bit worried. It has sluggish start. And by start, I mean the first half or more was slow going. This could be due the when it was published; this series was started in the 70s when slower, expositional stories were more accepted. And expositional it was. Mary Stewart has a beautiful writing style, though, and it was also clear she had put a lot of research and time into getting the setting right, so I wanted to push through it because I saw promise.

Once we were introduced properly to the world and we began to see adult Merlin make decisions and understand how his magic worked, it picked up a lot. I loved how he was characterized as a bit strange to those around him. He was a touch egotistical as well, confident that if his powers would not be able to help him, he would find a crafty way to weasel out of things. He wasn’t the powerful and benevolent Merlin that you hear about stereotypically. He was pseudo-goth Merlin, and I loved that.

I was surprised by how the female characters were written. Being that the book was written from a female author, I was expecting them to have more substance. It was definitely a sign of the time it was written.

The ending was the perfect blend of tying up the loose ends and leaving you wanting to read the next book. I will be continuing in this series.

I would recommend this to those who enjoy classic fantasy. This is a solid series to get your hands on, if you haven’t yet.