This is the second book in Mary Stewart’s Arthurian legend series following The Crystal Cave. Some spoilers may apply.
Arthur is about to be born and Merlin is called on by Igraine and Uther to keep him safe, which he agrees to do until the time is right for the world to know of the new High King who will unite the land of Britain. Keeping a small child safe and well-hidden is not an easy task in a country fighting over land. When the time to reveal Arthur comes, Merlin is left in awe of the gods and Arthur as the new High King.
I love Arthurian legend and I liked The Crystal Cave very much. I’ve read only a few stories told with Merlin as the narrator and that was certainly a reason for picking up the series. However, this second book was extremely slow reading for me. At one point, I considered scrapping it and moving on but decided to keep going. I was rewarded in the end but there were way too many info dumps to get to that point. Stewart takes this story slow telling you everything about Merlin and repeating often told tales more than once. Yes, Merlin is the one telling you these things so he can explain how wrong it is or how valuable the tale is for the ages but, I don’t want all that. Maybe it’s because I’ve read so many Arthurian based books that I get bored with the back story sometimes, but I don’t think that was the case here. Frankly, the first part of the book was just boring. Merlin is roaming around making sure no one knows about Arthur but it’s boring with him meandering around. When he finally settles down, and meets Arthur, it does get more interesting.
Also, I wanted more of the magic and there isn’t much of that here. It’s not necessarily a bad thing as I don’t usually want magic in these tales but honestly, I just wanted something, anything other than what I had here. It was slow moving, meandered just as badly as Merlin rambling about the countryside, and was just boring in parts. Yes, I know I already said that but if Merlin can do it, so can I.
Here’s the deal I made with myself about this series. I have the third book in my house. I will read it and if it gets better, I’ll turn to the library for the rest. If it bores more, the series is done but I can say I gave it a good try. My quest to read Arthurian legend has not come to an end and I’m hoping Stewart’s third book makes up for it.
Did you read this? Thoughts? If you liked it, I want to hear why. My opinion is not the last. Also, here’s my review of The Crystal Cave. As you can see, I loved the first book.
The Hollow Hills
By Mary Stewart
William Morrow & Company
Book Club Edition
Just Book Reading 
I read the series quite a number of years ago- liked it enough to read the trilogy several times over, in fact. It was only until later that I discovered the fourth book, about Mordred, and I didn’t care for that one at all. But I can’t recall enough details to really tell you why I liked this one and didn’t like the last one, so perhaps I should go read them all (gladly) again!
I’m glad to hear you liked the first three books. While this one didn’t thrill me, I’m still interested in reading the third book to see where it goes. I think there’s a lot of potential in this series and I have trouble not wanting to read more Arthurian legend especially with Merlin so prominent.
I’ve read almost all of the Mary Stewart mysteries but only one of the Arthurian legend books. I should pick them up sometime. This one sounds good as I have always loved the stories based on the legends.
You should take a look at them. I found it an interesting take; even with a slow book two. I have high hopes for the third book though.