T. A. Barron - Reviews

The Ancient One

The Adventures of Kate series, Book 2
T. A. Barron
Tor
Fiction, MG Fantasy
Themes: Girl Power, Time Travel, Trees
****

Description

After the death of Kate's beloved grandfather, her parents sent her out to her eccentric Aunt Melanie's place in rural Blade, Oregon for the summer, in hopes of shaking the girl's lingering depression. Kate always enjoys seeing her aunt, but this year it just isn't the same... all the more because Blade is on the verge of death with the decline of the logging industry. Miraculously, a stand of virgin redwoods has been found in a dormant volcano crater long thought empty for all the mists constantly obscuring its recesses. Though the wood would only squeeze a year at most out of the dying mill, the loggers are eagerly blasting a road up the inaccessible slopes to get there. Melanie has the law on her side to protect the Lost Crater, but desperate men no know law, and plan on doing as much damage (or "harvesting") as they can before anyone can intervene. Kate and Melanie set out to stop them... and Kate finds herself drawn back centuries in time to fight another battle for the forest, against an enemy far more cruel than the worst of the loggers and far older than the Ancient One, the oldest of the redwoods, itself.

Review

Heavy-handed environmental message aside, this is a fairly entertaining story that would've gripped me more had Kate not suffered from an almost maddening inability to connect the dots until it's (almost) too late. Since she's the main character and we experience the story through her, it made for an occasionally tedious read, when certain dangers or solutions are blatantly obvious to everyone else. Still, she has some memorable adventures and fights some frightening foes. I felt something was missing from the end. The ultimate fate of the town rested on whether or not people would kill themselves and the town off before facing the fact that, like it or not, the old ways of life simply aren't working anymore. Not one word is uttered about how the matter is resolved - it was looking to be a rather violent battle before things cut to the epilogue.

The Lost Years of Merlin

The Merlin Saga, Book 1
T. A. Barron
Ace
Fiction, MG Fantasy
Themes: Myth-Based Tales, Twists, Witches and Wizards
*****

Description

Merlin is one of literature's most famous wizards, credited with the creation of Stonehenge and other miracles in long-ago England. He raised and guided King Arthur, who would (if briefly) unite a divided country and usher in the reign of Christianity to a pagan land. A wise man, a powerful magician, real in the world of Arthurian stories if not (as can be proven) in history... but who was he? Where did he come from?
This story tells of the origins of Merlin long before he took that name. Washed up on the shore of Wales with a woman who insists she's his mother and no memories of before, a young boy struggles to learn where he came from, what his great (and sometimes terrible) powers mean, and even his own true name. His only link to his past is the woman who washed ashore with him, who calls herself Branwen and him Emerys. She tells him many tales of many lands, from the Greeks to the ancient Celts, but will not answer his questions of his own origins. As his powers grow, Emerys must set out on a quest to learn what they mean and how to control them. It is a journey that will take him to lands and peoples far stranger than any story Branwen ever told him.

Review

This is an extremely well-written tale, as Barron adds a young, human face to the wizened figure of Merlin. His struggles are real, and his adventures exciting to read. My only complaint - and it's a minor one - is that it's the beginning of a series of books, which (according to the foreword) will take Merlin from a shipwrecked, nameless boy to the wizard who finds and raises the baby Arthur. I keep meaning to read further in the series, but can never seem to find Book 2.