"The Crystal Cave" by Mary Stewart

“The gods only go with you if you put yourself in their path. And that takes courage.” 

Quite enchanting fantasy/historical saga that promises to deal with mythological king Arthur, however at first the stage is set by explaining who the main characters are, therefore this particular book is focused on childhood of legendary Merlin and how he came to be feared and notorious wizard of Bronze Age Britain. Like so many classic literary orphans who later grew from ugly ducklings into majestic swans, this boy (called by his Welsh name Myrddin Emrys here) has to endure cold and loveless childhood, just to find the solace and friendship trough mysterious hermit Galapas who welcomes him in a lonely cave and this is where boy learns to use his clairvoyant powers. Almost everybody in this story is just a piece of a much bigger puzzle, so its not accidental that Galapas is here to teach Merlin what he needs to know later in life, when his main task becomes clear. 

Mary Stewart was already famous author, when in her fifties she came up with this retelling of Arthurian legend - obviously inspired with unforgettable "The Once and Future King". In fact, chronologically and aesthetically this fits perfectly somewhere between T.H.White and later Marion Zimmer Bradley - its not exactly masterpiece like "The Once and Future King", neither pagan-worshipping, dark "The Mists of Avalon"  but their very enjoyable distant cousin with distinctive qualities, poetic language and beautiful imagery completely distinguished on their own. Stewart does her own magic by pulling the reader in a post-Roman Britain with its dangers, treacheries and superstitions, in a world where people put their ears to ground to hear horses arriving and wars are fought frequently left and right (Britain still has to be united as such) - if personally I find one small objection, it would be that Stewart sacrifices the flow of the action for lyrical descriptions of forest and valleys, which pretty as they are, freeze the story cold - but one must take it as a essential part of her storytelling. 

One interesting (and somewhat puzzling) thing is that Stewart completely shies away from any strong female characters. I understand this was written in pre-feminist time, but since writer herself was a woman, you would kind of expect just one powerful woman - not to be found here (if mentioned at all, they are servants, milkmaids, washerwomen and nuns). Perhaps Stewart was just being cautious, since the Arthurian legend has characters set in the stone and she basically weaved her story around the established frame - it took nine more years until Marion Zimmer Bradley arrived with her "The Mists of Avalon" that completely changed this point of view and introduced women as much more than livestock. In fact, where initially I found "The Mists of Avalon"  enjoyable but trashy guilty pleasure, now it seems as much more important progress in variation of ancient legend (it gave Arthurian women voices where previously they were silenced).