I adore these books. Don't let the thought of "young adult" dissuade you from reading them. I read them the first time when I was 13, re-read them again at 18, and now at 23 own them and read them for leisure at various times when I'm in between quality books. They're chalk full of fascinating characters, plot twists, enriching and exotic places, evil villains, beautiful love stories...these five books have it all. In my humble opinion, they're books that don't come along often. I wish they had

Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: I have this entire quintet signed, so... that was a foregone conclusion.This book has me thinking about the definition of 'middle grade' fiction nowadays, because here's this story with a 12 year-old protagonist which follows a narrative pattern I associate with MG - journeying from one interesting place to another in a series of worldbuilding vignettes until the entire map has been covered - and yet. And yet. The writing style, ideas, and even th...

I absolutely adored this book. I usually don’t enjoy shorter fantasy novels since I seem to need 800+ pages to really become invested in a new world and new characters but this time that was not the case. ProsThere was just the right amount of travelling and we didn’t get mind numbing descriptions of every individual leaf along the way. The plot was constantly moving forward while still taking the time to build the world around you. Although it is a YA novel it is not centred around a romantic r...

I could not finish this book after five chapters; it was just so boring and icky. Dull, dull, dull. I didn't like it ok?

3.5⭐️Cute, clean, middle grade novel. I think primary school me would have given this 5⭐️. But being that im in college it was young for me which I expected but i really did enjoy Merlin before he became Merlin. It was a unique interpretation of what the author thinks about the person that Merlin was before he was all powerful

This fantasy novel is rich with creative and lovable characters and a lush environment that will instantly draw you in. The book begins with excitement and mystery, intriguing you to read further. I can't wait to continue on with this series! Barron's writing is fun and he paints a great story of his theory on Merlin's young adult years.

I found this series when I was 11 years old and I couldn't read them fast enough. Here, more than 10 years later, i'm still so very disappointed in myself for not making all of them my own. They all are enriched with the values of friendship, family, courage, and of course magic. I always envisioned it as a pre-harry potter series, even though I discovered it after I began the HP series.

I enjoyed the prose, particularly when it describes the natural world. However, the novel is poorly plotted, with the protagonist bouncing from one coincidental encounter to the next. Nearly every problem is solved by something fortuitously dropping from the sky, appearing out of the blue, etc. No fewer than FIVE chapters end with the protagonist falling unconscious. Once is a cliche; five times is an offense against literature. The protagonist is almost willfully stupid. Either that or the auth...

(review in English below)Não consegui interessar-me por esta história. Tentei, ainda cheguei à página 191 (!), mas desisto.Tudo muito déjá-(l)vu, e uma escrita que não consegue prender-me - o que pode dever-se, em parte, à tradução (de vez em quando, há frases que não fazem muito sentido).Ao contrário do que diz a capa ("Se é fã do género fantástico ou da série Harry Potter, não pode deixar de ler Merlin - Os Anos Perdidos"), este livro é mais adequado a quem ainda não tenha lido (muita) fantasi...

The story is good, but the prose is too young for me. I'd rather re-read Stewart or Lawhead.

Cringe inducing author introduction followed by Book Party Foul: amnesiac main character. I suppose I should know this, but I never read those plot spoiling blurbs. Audiobook DNF.

I enjoyed this tale of Merlin's early years. I've never read much about him except as part of the Arthur legend. The story should appeal to young readers. It is a little bit predictable for older readers who want a complex plot.

It wasn't QUITE as amazing as it was when I was a kid, but revisiting this book after some 20 or so years was a nice nostalgia trip.

"Hidden. The whole world is hidden." This fiction book full of turning events that you wouldn't have imagined that could have happened. I think this book is really good book. I enjoyed reading this book, i found it interesting, every turning page there was something exciting, and interesting. ***SPOILER ALERT*** Emrys and Branwen washed up on shore to an unknown place. Emrys was in pain and he couldn't remember anything. He couldn't remeber who he was or how he had gotten there and he couldn't

The Lost Years of Merlin is the initial installment of the five book series chronicling Merlin’s life as a boy, a prequel to Arthurian legend. It follows the ambiguous details of Emry’s obscure youth and the path he followed leading to the emergence of his magic and the wizarding name he proclaimed of Merlin. Barron’s imagineering of this portion of the great wizard’s life gives new depth to the renowned character as we see his life through the eyes of a young boy.The story opens with a dream se...

In which we learn that good research, lushly-imagined settings, and fine writing can't make up for bad plotting. Our protagonist's one-dimensional motivation propels him through a story populated exclusively by static NPCs. The reading experience is like playing a short linear-narrative RPG where each character is waiting off-screen for the designated hero to show up, trigger an encounter, and move the story forward.A reasonably entertaining series start, but not one I'd bother to repeat or comp...

Real rating; 3.5.Too much description for my taste.If there's one thing I don't like it's a book whose plot is really good but has too many unnecessary descriptions.I don't really care how the sky looked when Emrys woke up or how the grass smelled when he traveled.I kind of liked Shim,but Rhia is a different story-you know I'm not a fan of insta-connection between characters.I'm also not liking the fact that Emrys saved his cruel father but left his mother easily.I mean,the woman took care of yo...

To tell the truth this is a three star book. The story is very predictable and the characters are somewhat bland. Merlin complains a lot and only cares about himself at first which works for his character but causes me to find it hard to relate to him. I guess I have nothing in common with eight year old boy who knew. The thing that caused me to give this book four stars is the world building. For a book that has simplistic writing the world was very detailed and magical. T.A Barron doesn't expl...

(Plot)A young boy named Emerys washes up on shore and he doesn't even know his name or where he came from. Throughout the book he is trying to figure out who he is and trying to find his real name. He travels to this different place called Fincayra where everything lives and talks. Fincayra is taken over by an evil king and Emerys trys to overthrow him and turn Fincayra to its old wonderful self.(Character Analysis)Merlin really showed his true colors when he learns that he can do magic. At firs...

I loved the idea that the author chose to write. It takes great imagination to invent a world and characters that create the beginnings of a character that has been written about for so long. I found the narrative compelling as well as believable.