So this book has been published for 20 years now, so I'm not too concerned with spoilers. I picked this up on recommendation of an internet friend without knowing much other than it was children to young adult and fantasy based. As soon as I realized it was a King Arthur related tale, I made the connection betweek Great Uncle Merry (Gumerry) and Merlin. I was pleased to see Barney make the same connection at the end of the book. :-)

I really enjoyed the characters in this book as well, they felt like real people, which seems rare in the current popular books. They are children and siblings - they fuss with each other, keep secrets together from their parents, and are there for each other when needed. These are proper relationships. The plot didn't seem rushed or overly drawn out. The villains were believable without coming on so strong that the parents would have to be brain dead not to notice. Finally, the story itself was just plain fun! Nothing overly complicated or ridiculously simple; just an amazing adventure story bordering on fantasy (I think we encountered a bit of Merlin's magic towards the end, but nothing was confirmed).