Merlin’s Charge by Peter Joseph Swanson

THE PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title: Merlin’s Charge
Author: Peter Joseph Swanson

Author Site

Buy Link
Publisher: Stonegarden.net Publishing

Genre: Fiction/Sci-fi/Fantasy

Length: 224 pgs.
Reviewed by: Jes

RATINGS FOR:

Cover: 3

Presentation: 4

Editing: 4

Story: 5

Writing Ability: 5

Overall Card Rating: 

                                                  

About The Book: In the wasteland of Britain in the year 500, a cranky Merlin tutors a teenage Arthur. Missing the comfort of the Realm of Dragons, Merlin amuses himself with two simultaneous sneaky marriages to the feuding witches, Nimm and Mother Hubbard. With the help of young Parsifal, they all begin the search for the holy grail, their town's communal cauldron, which was stolen by a Pict witch to make a demon bell. Recovering the cauldron will end the drought in time for Arthur to be King. Along the way they meet a host of colorful characters and face obstacles of a most phenomenal nature. Classic Peter Joseph Swanson—wickedly bawdy.

The Review: Merlin’s Charge is a novel from Peter Joseph Swanson set in 5th century Briton and it focuses on one story of Merlin and Arthur on the quest for the Cauldron of plenty. This is a well written story that takes from classic legend and ideologies of the Great King and his tutor with adding an updated feel to the characters. Merlin’s Charge follows the young prince as he faces and battles the Pict witch who has stolen the Cauldron of Plenty from an already suffering village. The whole land of Briton is in the middle of a drought and a Cauldron which never empties is a dream come true for the starving people, it is truly the grail as it is more important than gold or treasure. Add in the complications of Merlin’s two wives and Parisfal the Inheritor; you have an interesting weave of personalities.

 
I enjoyed the writing that Swanson provided: the quips as well as dialogue between all of the characters. It was light hearted and kept the reader intrigued and involved in the story. I felt that Swanson had revitalized the story of Merlin and Arthur. He managed to create a young Arthur who was learning the ways of being a king and kept light hearted to the ideals of youth, while Merlin had an air of knowing and otherworldliness that you would come to expect from a great wizard such as Merlin.

What I appreciated as a reader was the consistency which the author kept to his characters; they had a solid design and kept to the personalities which were introduced. I find that this is one of the harder things in writing, that many authors forget small details either about the characters or their surroundings, where this wasn’t missed in Merlin’s Charge.
 

I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys fantasy and Arthurian tales or legends. Swanson has managed to refresh very old and popular characters, giving a believable story and respecting the current ideas.

Pagan Elements:

Yes, this is a high fantasy and there are some elements of classic Druid and Celtic pagan leanings. It is light in terms of pagan elements and does not identify to being a pagan by today’s definitions, but I would call it “pagan light”.

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & The Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.

Christma Sin: A Juliette Christmas Epistle by Ed Williams

Title: Christma Sin: A Juliette Christmas Epistle

Author:  Ed Williams 

Author Site

Buy Link

Publisher:  Champagne Books

Genre:  Mainstream Fiction/Humor

Length - 150

Other:  light M/F [Multiple Partners] no graphic sex


Pagan & Pagan Elements: n/n

Reviewed by: Jes L’Heureux

About The Book:

Christmas isn't just about sugar plum fairies and reindeer dancing across the sky. It can also be about red clay chunk wars, cock fighting, dead people who may really not be, and more! Get set for a wild, wild Christmas ride when you read ChristmaSin', Southern Outlaw Author Ed Williams' take on what a true Christmas in a small, rural Southern town is really all about! Learn about Christmas miracles happening in the most unlikely of settings, the early '70s in tiny Juliette, Georgia. A novel that could be true, in some places actually is, and one that will both warm the heart and tickle the funny bone!

The Review:

ChristmasSin: A Juliette Christmas Epistle is part of a series of novels written by Ed Williams, which are all located in the town of Juliette, Georgia. The story is written almost as a series of journal entries in that the reader is placed in the mindset of the main character. It starts off at Thanksgiving and runs through to Christmas, going through the mind of a young teenage male named Ed Williams, III. With the author and his character sharing the same name, the story is essentially a fictionalized version of some events in his own past, and adds to the journaling aspects.

One of the downfalls for me is the language of the story, the entire novel is written in Southern colloquialisms that as a Canadian, I found very difficult to follow at times, and was frustrated as a reader. I thought that using this language as a way of writing the narrative and overall style was a further barrier between the author and the reading audience. I can appreciate some of the writing such as the speech between characters and such being colloquial, but having the entire body done in such a way was distracting and had me “putting down” the book several times.

Past the language, the story is liquid and flows through different events, at times giving a sense of adventure that I can remember having experienced as a child. This was truly a snapshot of events, the anticipation of family gatherings and reminiscing about childhood and family life.

One thing I would say is that if you are from the South Eastern United States or perhaps have a better understanding of the colloquial linguistics of that area, this is a great read. For me it was too distracting in trying to force the language to find it anecdotal or enjoyable.

For our pagan readers, there are references on Christianity and God worship, in being a story about Christmas; but it isn’t enough to distract from the core of the story itself.

Pagan Elements: ~
n/a

Cover (Rated 1-10):  7 – Although on my forwarded copy for review did not have a cover attached, I did peruse the Author’s site and saw the cover that will be on the book. I found it to be well rendered, has a “homey” feeling with the ideal that you are about to read a nice Christmas story.

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Disclaimer: Due to FTC regulations, any book reviewed on this site was sent for free by the author to The Pagan & the Pen. We are not paid to give reviews by Author or Publisher. Once review has been made, said books are deleted.