The King's Wizard

I want Mab so bab...er, so bad. She's a bit of a slag, but you have to love her motivation. Great adaptation of the movie. better, even.

In this, the second of the three part novelization by James Mallory we read the story of Merlin as he first dethrones King Vortigern and then puts Uther on the throne. King Arthur comes into play as well as we read his story from childhood, on through his youth and finally as king when he draws Excalibur from the stone. Queen Mab of the Old Ways meanwhile plots and schemes for Merlin's and Arthur's downfall with the aid of Morgan Le Fay. The story is pretty faithful to the miniseries so if you've seen it there will be no surprises here. What makes this novelization worth reading is Mallory's command of the legend and it's many characters, making them seem fresh and interesting. There are some scenes not in the miniseries but not as many as the previous book which had quite a bit more. The story moves along at a brisk pace (a welcome change from most fantasy novels which plod on forever), and is a worthy addition to Arthurian fiction.