The "Lost Years of Merlin" series is not a must-read series of books for Arthurian scholars nor for fans of Merlin, in general. It is not part of any 'canon' nor does it purport to be the definitive story of Merlin's youth. What it is, however, is a nicely done story, told in a pleasing way and aimed at the YA market. The author does do a good job of recycling some Welsh history and legend as well as tell a fine story.

I had read the first two books quite a few years ago, back when my children were the target audience for this series. But I never did finish up the set and so when I was perusing my shelves for a quick weekend read, I remembered them fondly and chose to dive into this third book.

This is the middle book of a 5-book series but I didn't get any of that "filler" feeling that sometimes accompanies middle books. This is a nicely-paced fantasy adventure, featuring a 14-year-old boy in the land of Fincayra, an "in-between" place before Avalon and a land shrouded in a veil of mist. Lots of traditional fantasy tropes are at play, including a prophecy that would lead you to believe there is just no way out for the hero other than to fight the good fight and die, thereby saving the rest. Just how that prophecy actually plays out, of course, is the basis for the plot. But there are also dwarves and dragons and taverns and forests, and deer-people (weredeer?) and all kinds of assorted fantasy characters and settings.

That probably sounds a bit saccharin for most readers...and it is. There is danger and peril, and some good characters don't make it out alive so it's not exactly a fairly tale for 6-year olds. (Although I do remember some Brothers' Grimm stories that were rather...grim). This story, like the others in the series, is a Nice story. By that I mean the good guys are completely good and noble and forgiving, etc. while the bad guys are pretty much just bad. Now we all know that there is good and evil in everybody and quality literature for adults usually involves characters who are a good mix of the two. I had the chance to meet the author several years ago at a book signing and he is just about as nice a person that there can be. I'm not sure he would have it in him to write a conflicted main character that has a little bad mixed in with the good. But that's all right because this series is aimed at younger readers so I think it is just right for that audience. And this old timer quite enjoyed it as well.

Omg I loved it! T. A. Barron wrote a prefect story again.

- This wasn't as good as the first two. It suffered from middle book syndrome.

- Not a lot happened in the story. If all the fluff and traveling was taken out, this would be a very short book.

- Merlin is so dumb.

- I really liked Hallia and Eremon. They were fun new characters, and I just like the whole idea of deer people.

- I don't think the dragon was evil, and I'm glad that was addressed.

- There was a lot of traveling back and forth, and I just felt like if Merlin had done things in order, he wouldn't have had to travel as much. It would have saved time. He should have gone after the Galator first, like people told him too!

- I want a horse like Ionn!

- I wish there had been more dragon parts.

- I just don't have much to say about this one. I hope the last 2 books are better!

I thought this had a much better pace than the second. The challenges were much more demanding for Merlin.