"Our Man on Earth: The Swithen Book 1" by Blaise

Today’s book was about the birth of Merlin. Sired by a demon on a human woman, he was meant to serve their evil purposes in much the same way as Christ had been born to save mankind. The woman they chose, however, was determined not to give in to the fiends. She opposed them every step of the way and fought to prevent her child from being used as a force for evil. But could she remain true to her faith and strong enough to save both his soul and protect mankind?

This story was based on early tales of Merlin and other Arthurian stories written in around 1200 A.D. The characters within have been greatly expanded on and more fleshed out than they were in their original form, thus making them more appealing to modern readers. A good portion of the book is devoted to Merlin’s mother and takes place before his birth. This may seem a strange way to start, but it does give us great insight into both her character and what happens once Merlin is born as well. Without her influence, Merlin would have likely been used as a force for evil rather than someone destined to help Arthur eventually become a great and noble King.

I have always loved Arthurian legends & stories, and this one was no exception. I greatly enjoyed reading this author’s tale of how Merlin came to be born and of what his fate was meant to be, as well as how his mother was determined to prevent him from being used as a force for evil. I think it is the first story I’ve read that started before Merlin’s existence. Most of the tales that I can recall usually start with Arthur rather than Merlin’s birth. This story definitely kept me wanting to read to the end, despite the number of grammatical errors it contained.

The errors were not bad enough to make me want to stop reading as the story itself was quite captivating. Still, I do wish the book had seen another round or two of editing before publication. I am actually looking forward to reading the next book in this series once it has been released. (As I mentioned above, I do greatly enjoy Arthurian tales, and this one definitely left me wanting to know what will happen next.)