Saturday, June 15, 2013

GIVEAWAY Merlin's Blade by Robert Treskillard...

About the book:
Author: Robert Treskillard
Series: The Merlin Spiral
Book One: Merlin's Blade
Pages:432 pages
Publisher: Zondervan
Genre: Fantasy/ YA/ Christian
Age Range: 14+

 A Strange Meteorite

A meteorite crashes near a small village in Britain and brings a mysterious black stone. Two worlds collide—Druids and Christians—and the stone is at the center of the conflict.

A Sinister Enchantment

Its lurid flames tempt and ensnare everyone except young Merlin, the blind son of a swordsmith. Soon, his village and all of Britain will be under its power.

And Only Merlin Can Destroy It

Merlin must face his fear, his disfigurement, and his blindness to take hold of the role ordained for him. But when he is surrounded by adversaries, with hope nearly lost, how will he save the girl he cherishes and rid Britain of this deadly evil ... without losing his life?
 
My Review:

I knew Merlin's Blade was going to be good, but I didn't expect it to be this good! This was truly an epic tale and not one to pass by.

I've been eagerly awaiting for Merlin's Blade for a few years now. I was given a few teasers, which pulled me into wanting to read more of it.

I must admit I'm not really a King Arthur fan, especially a Merlin fan. He's usually always portrayed as a wizard or some freaky old dude. Mr. Treskillard's Merlin was... unique and beautiful.  I really loved his version of Merlin from the very  beginning to the end. Truly a great character!

I have noticed that a few reviews have complained about it's length. I personally found it to be just right and read it all in three days. I couldn't pull myself away from it. Four hundred and thirty two pages is a lot, but the book itself is small, making it thicker.

Mr. Treskillard is a very talented man and it shines throughout his book. A neat fact on the cover art, he personally casted and created that beautiful sword. Ya, I'm amazed too. He'll be doing a giveaway in the near future on one similar.

Personally I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone younger than 14. It has nothing sexual or any cursing/bad words in it, just some graphic war scenes. I sort of cringed over them due to Mr. Treskillard fantastic way of pulling you into his story. It also held a lot of symbolic undertones that I believe wouldn't be completely understood by a younger reader. I love the Christian messages woven through out.

The only thing I can kind of say I didn't like about the book was the ending. The ending was good, yet I felt like some things with Merlin could have been held off. Certain things were given to me too quickly for a series. I wanted it, yet I could have waited for it... perhaps. ;-) I'm not sure how far time passes in book two, so maybe that's why certain things were given earlier.

Merlin's Blade was truly an excellent read and one I would highly recommend. Because I enjoyed this tale so much I'm doing a giveaway. To join in the giveaway please follow the Rafflecopter below.
 
To purchase Merlin's Blade follow this amazon link (Paperback)
Ebook version is on sale for a great price (Kindle)
and http://www.kingarthur.org.uk/feastinghall/ remember you can win that epic sword, Contest details are coming soon.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and author. I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you!

8 comments:

  1. Ryan,

    Thanks for the kind review!

    The book is definitely long, but to me that means you get more for your money. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

    Also, the things that came together at the end of book 1 aren't quite as settled as they might appear. Book two brings some new, unexpected wrinkles, so hold onto your hat!

    -Robert

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  2. Woohoo! Totally entering this one.

    ~Sam J

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  3. Great review. And about the length, any one of the Lord of the Rings books is much longer and takes much longer to read. I personally liked the length of "Merlin's Blade"

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  4. My favorite Arthurian character is Arthur in the King Arthur movie because of his loyalty to his men and his desire for their freedom, as well as his own.

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  5. Oh, and my email is brianmcbride97016@yahoo.com :D

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  6. My favorite Arthurian character... probably Sir Marrok, because he was supposedly a lycanthrope. XD It sounds odd for that to be my favorite character; but I just find it intriguing. :)

    My email is teddylarryashcraft@yahoo.com.

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  7. I should really read this book. I've read nothing but good things about it, which convince me that I'm going to like it...

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  8. Theodora ... if you like werewolves, you just may love book 3 in the series: MERLIN'S NIGHTMARE! It'll be out next March.

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