Author
Biography
T.A. Barron is a prolific author of books for children and
young adults, particularly in the fantasy genre, as well as an active founder
and supporter of conservation causes. He lives in Colorado.
Published
By: Penguin Group USA
Year:
2004
ISBN:
0-399-23763-1
Reading
Level: Grades 9 and up
Reader’s
Annotation:
According
to the Lady of the Lake’s Dark Prophecy, a child born seventeen years ago will
threaten to destroy Avalon, and only Merlin's true heir can save it. But when
will these prophesized figures appear – and who could they be?
Plot Summary:
Many centuries have passed since Avalon replaced the
vanished island of Fincayra as the bridge between Heaven and Earth, where
humans and magical creatures dwell together. Seven realms have grown from the
seven roots of the Great Tree planted by Merlin. But seventeen years ago, for
the span of one year, all of Avalon’s stars went dark. According to a prophecy
made by the Lady of the Lake, a child who was born in that year will threaten all
the land with doom. Only Merlin’s true heir will be able to save it.
As fear
of the Dark Prophecy looms, troubles gradually spread. A drought plagues the
land, the colors of nature fade, and a mysterious sorcerer enslaves other
creatures and strives to find Merlin’s legendary staff for some sinister
purpose. Against this ominous backdrop, the lives of four young people
gradually converge: Tamwyn, a wandering wilderness guide, Scree, his adoptive
eagle-boy brother, Elli, the much-bullied apprentice of the arrogant Drumadian
priestess Llynia, and Brionna, an enslaved elf maiden. Unbeknownst to any of
them, one of these young people is Merlin’s true heir… and one is the Child of
the Dark Prophecy.
Critical
Evaluation:
First
published as The Great Tree of Avalon:
Child of the Dark Prophecy and later reissued as Merlin, Book 9: The Great Tree of Avalon, this book begins the Great Tree of Avalon trilogy, the second
series of Barron’s Merlin Saga to be
written, though chronologically the third. Set a thousand years after the
saga’s first series (the Lost Years of
Merlin epic), this book establishes itself from the start as different from
its predecessors. It’s clearly aimed at older readers than the Lost Years epic, with a more complex
structure; instead of a linear plotline from one character’s viewpoint, here
different plotlines and viewpoints alternate until they converge. The world of
Avalon also feels grittier than Fincayra, with realistic homelessness, slavery and
crime in the midst of the magic, and protagonists from rough backgrounds who
are sometimes less likeable than Merlin ever was. These differences take some
getting used to.
Still, the poetry, suspense, humor,
enchantment, and blend of darkness and light that made the earlier series so
captivating are fully present here too. Barron gives us a wide array of new wonders,
including eagle-people, magical portals, and a mute tree spirit who communicates
through the smells she emits. He also creates a captivating vision of Avalon itself: not
just an island, but an enormous tree of which the land is actually the roots,
and whose water flows with magical sap called élano. But amid these wonders are chilling new dangers and villains who brutalize
both the creatures and the ecology of Avalon, as well as the looming fear
of the Dark Prophecy: which, of course, comes with a twist in the end. This
rich, cinematic blend of fear and enchantment, together with the book’s
cliffhanger ending, will make any reader look forward to the next
installment.
Curriculum
Ties:
•Fantasy
worlds
•Arthurian legend
Challenge
Issues:
•Mild profanity
•Violence
•Disturbing
imagery
•Attempted
rape
•Bodily
function references
Why
This Book?
While slightly
darker, grittier and more complex than the Lost
Years of Merlin books, this first book of the sequel series is no less vivid, epic or magical. It will fully engross not only readers of the earlier series,
but readers new to Barron’s Arthurian fantasies as well.
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