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brendalovesbooks's review
Didn't care for the writing style of this one, and I've got too many other books to read, so I gave up on it about 50 or so pages in.
stephxsu's review
1.0
I don’t get offended by books often. Premarital sex, abstinence until marriage, drinking, backstabbing, pranking, people killing people, etc.—everything is good in my opinion as long as it’s written well and doesn’t sound like an agenda that is out of place within the fictional world. MERLIN’S HARP, however, is a mess of a novel, poorly organized and weakly characterized—unfortunate, because the writing is beautiful and the story held such promise.
For a generation that’s being bombarded with a multitude of sensations, experiences, and information left and right, we need stories that are far more organized—less ADD—than the lives we lead. The story of MERLIN’S HARP is exceedingly difficult to follow. It is almost impossible to tell without dedicating 110% of your brainpower to the task whether Nivienne is narrating something that’s occurring in the present or something that happened in her past—and if it is the latter, which part of her past it occurred, as, yes, she somehow attempts to provide us with multiple flashbacks at once. And it’s less than lack of chronology throughout the story as it is the fact that the flashbacks (or whatever we should call them) provide us with hardly any cohesive information about either the characters or the world in which the story is set.
Crompton’s fey are fairly dissimilar to humans: they’re heartless, free-spirited sexual beings. They would’ve provided an interesting contrast to human characteristics, had their lustful behavior been better developed. I have nothing against any kind of sex in fiction, but when characters are objectifying and rubbing up on one another left and right without first having been developed into characters whose lustful actions are justified, then I DO have a problem with that. MERLIN’S HARP is a very sensual read, but my difficulty in connecting to any of the characters, of understanding their motivations, makes it an awkward read at best.
Overall, I’m afraid MERLIN’S HARP is yet another example of a book that is being marketed to the wrong genre. Readers of adult fantasy may be better suited to appreciate its slow story, meandering plot, and sensual writing. YA fantasy fans, however, may find this book difficult to get through.
For a generation that’s being bombarded with a multitude of sensations, experiences, and information left and right, we need stories that are far more organized—less ADD—than the lives we lead. The story of MERLIN’S HARP is exceedingly difficult to follow. It is almost impossible to tell without dedicating 110% of your brainpower to the task whether Nivienne is narrating something that’s occurring in the present or something that happened in her past—and if it is the latter, which part of her past it occurred, as, yes, she somehow attempts to provide us with multiple flashbacks at once. And it’s less than lack of chronology throughout the story as it is the fact that the flashbacks (or whatever we should call them) provide us with hardly any cohesive information about either the characters or the world in which the story is set.
Crompton’s fey are fairly dissimilar to humans: they’re heartless, free-spirited sexual beings. They would’ve provided an interesting contrast to human characteristics, had their lustful behavior been better developed. I have nothing against any kind of sex in fiction, but when characters are objectifying and rubbing up on one another left and right without first having been developed into characters whose lustful actions are justified, then I DO have a problem with that. MERLIN’S HARP is a very sensual read, but my difficulty in connecting to any of the characters, of understanding their motivations, makes it an awkward read at best.
Overall, I’m afraid MERLIN’S HARP is yet another example of a book that is being marketed to the wrong genre. Readers of adult fantasy may be better suited to appreciate its slow story, meandering plot, and sensual writing. YA fantasy fans, however, may find this book difficult to get through.
soniakarina's review
3.0
This was a very different book from my usual fare, but I did enjoy it. I'll admit it took me a while to get into the story and even longer for me to become attached to the characters enough to care what actually happened to them, but once I did, I really did enjoy the story and found myself engrossed and not wanting to put the book down.
This is the story of King Arthur, his Knight Lancelot and his Queen Gwenevere...as well as Merlin the magician and the world of the fae/fairy kingdom...quite a different take on "history"...but well written and very interesting in its unique perspective.
Although it took me a while to get into it, I realized as I neared the end, that I wanted more. I would read another story by this author if she continued to tell tales of our "history" in line with the fairy world...
This is the story of King Arthur, his Knight Lancelot and his Queen Gwenevere...as well as Merlin the magician and the world of the fae/fairy kingdom...quite a different take on "history"...but well written and very interesting in its unique perspective.
Although it took me a while to get into it, I realized as I neared the end, that I wanted more. I would read another story by this author if she continued to tell tales of our "history" in line with the fairy world...
amberinpieces's review
2.0
Nivienne is Fey and living during the same time as King Arthur. She lives in the woods with the “Lady” and mage Merlin frequently visits. Because of an incident that happens with another Fey, Nivienne throws her heart away and lives the way that humans think Fey live. Once her brother leaves the Fey to join with King Arthur, she is urged by Merlin to help save Arthur’s peace in order to protect Fey lands.
Read the full review here.
Read the full review here.
dtaylorbooks's review
1.0
Well this was, um . . . not good. Really, at all. I don't think it's ever taken me so long to read a book so short. Like wading through snow up to my hips. It's so overwrought and drowning in such flowery language that it's hard to connect to anything that's going on in the story. I often found myself having read a page without really reading it and only skimming it when I went back over it.
To Crompton's credit, she stuck very closely to faerie lore which is to her benefit but even greater to her disadvantage. Because she stuck so closely to the lore, I felt nothing for Nivienne. Faeries are traditionally heartless and don't emote as humans do. That certainly came through in the reading but at the same time it also made me not give a crap about Nivienne. And so help me if she said, "I, Nivienne," one more time, I was going to put my hand through the pages and slap her. I get it goes with the tone of the writing but it's overwritten so, to me, it was just annoying.
Plus Nivienne constantly refers to herself as brown. Maybe my eyes aren't working correctly but fish lips on the cover is a white girl. And can I say how much I hate it when people purposely push out their lips in a vain attempt to make them look fuller? The Olsen twins do it all the time. Makes me want to throw things at them and see if I can get them to stick.
But more to the story, the whole Saxon war I felt was glazed over. I was three quarters of the way through the book before I realized that we'd already moved beyond that. For me, the focus of the story wasn't quite right and what was being talked about was secondary to the greater problem going on in the background. The characters just kind of glided through their surroundings as if they were inconsequential and didn't matter to their greater scope of things. The urgency of the Saxon threat in the blurb is unfounded in the story and barely appears to make a dent in the consciousness of the characters.
It didn't help that the text was, within chapters, non-linear. Nivienne kept having these sort of flashbacks where she'd go off on tangents about what happened in her past because something in the present reminded her of it. It started to ebb towards the end but it was really prevalent in the beginning. I often found myself having to read back a few paragraphs because I'd realize that I had missed a time jump. Very jarring and interrupting. That's one of the motivating issues I had with getting into the story aside from not connecting with Nivienne.
The best part was the last few chapters where Arthur and Mordred got into it. It's really the only part that's not completely glossed over with insubstantial nothing. I think if that part of the story was more played up, not only would Nivenne have become a more well-rounded character, it would have made the story stronger. I got to see facets of Nivenne in those few scenes that were absent the entire story (presumably because of her Fey nature) that I really liked. But too little too late, really.
Overall, I really appreciate that Crompton kept so close to the lore even though it was detrimental to the success of the main character. I liked how she played with the King Arthur legend and made it her own. Other than that, I think the writing style is trying too hard and what story is there is drowned by it. The MC isn't human and thus I couldn't connect with her for 95% of the story because, for all intents and purposes, she remained emotionless. I think if the writing weren't so flowery and the story were told from someone else's perspective, or Nivienne was allowed to emote a little more, it could have been much better. As it stands, I couldn't rightly recommend this one. Read Le Morte d'Arthur. Much better.
My apologies to Paul at Sourcebooks.
To Crompton's credit, she stuck very closely to faerie lore which is to her benefit but even greater to her disadvantage. Because she stuck so closely to the lore, I felt nothing for Nivienne. Faeries are traditionally heartless and don't emote as humans do. That certainly came through in the reading but at the same time it also made me not give a crap about Nivienne. And so help me if she said, "I, Nivienne," one more time, I was going to put my hand through the pages and slap her. I get it goes with the tone of the writing but it's overwritten so, to me, it was just annoying.
Plus Nivienne constantly refers to herself as brown. Maybe my eyes aren't working correctly but fish lips on the cover is a white girl. And can I say how much I hate it when people purposely push out their lips in a vain attempt to make them look fuller? The Olsen twins do it all the time. Makes me want to throw things at them and see if I can get them to stick.
But more to the story, the whole Saxon war I felt was glazed over. I was three quarters of the way through the book before I realized that we'd already moved beyond that. For me, the focus of the story wasn't quite right and what was being talked about was secondary to the greater problem going on in the background. The characters just kind of glided through their surroundings as if they were inconsequential and didn't matter to their greater scope of things. The urgency of the Saxon threat in the blurb is unfounded in the story and barely appears to make a dent in the consciousness of the characters.
It didn't help that the text was, within chapters, non-linear. Nivienne kept having these sort of flashbacks where she'd go off on tangents about what happened in her past because something in the present reminded her of it. It started to ebb towards the end but it was really prevalent in the beginning. I often found myself having to read back a few paragraphs because I'd realize that I had missed a time jump. Very jarring and interrupting. That's one of the motivating issues I had with getting into the story aside from not connecting with Nivienne.
The best part was the last few chapters where Arthur and Mordred got into it. It's really the only part that's not completely glossed over with insubstantial nothing. I think if that part of the story was more played up, not only would Nivenne have become a more well-rounded character, it would have made the story stronger. I got to see facets of Nivenne in those few scenes that were absent the entire story (presumably because of her Fey nature) that I really liked. But too little too late, really.
Overall, I really appreciate that Crompton kept so close to the lore even though it was detrimental to the success of the main character. I liked how she played with the King Arthur legend and made it her own. Other than that, I think the writing style is trying too hard and what story is there is drowned by it. The MC isn't human and thus I couldn't connect with her for 95% of the story because, for all intents and purposes, she remained emotionless. I think if the writing weren't so flowery and the story were told from someone else's perspective, or Nivienne was allowed to emote a little more, it could have been much better. As it stands, I couldn't rightly recommend this one. Read Le Morte d'Arthur. Much better.
My apologies to Paul at Sourcebooks.
amromanelli's review
2.0
I guess you really do need to be familiar with all of the Arthurian legends to understand this book. I was hoping that she would go into more depth about the legend and not rely on background knowledge. I struggled with this book heavily. I don't think I understood a lot of what was happening. It was very pretty, and parts of it were wonderful; but I don't think I could tell you a word of what happened.
sunniek's review
3.0
Really 3.5 stars. I loved the way the story comes from the fey aside of the tale. Yet, it was hard to stay with the tale because it bounced around so much. The story is told from the Fey Niviene and her part in The tale of Camelot. It explains more about the part Merlin played and so much more of the magical side.
zoe_'s review
5.0
Ich habe das Buch das erste Mal gelesen, als ich noch ein Kind war und ich fand es klasse. Ich habe es seitdem noch 2/3 Mal wieder gelesen (ich glaube, insgesamt habe ich es 3 Mal gelesen, bin mir aber nicht sicher) und bin zwar nicht mehr so sehr von seiner Grossartigkeit überzeugt, wie als ich noch ein Kind war, aber ich halte es immer noch für ein sehr gutes Buch (für ein tolles, aber ich ziehe ein wenig wegen des Nostalgie-Bonusses ab). Ich habe Niviene geliebt, angefangen dabei dass ich sie für ihre Fähigkeiten bewundert habe, bis hin dazu, wie sie die Geschehnisse beschrieben hat (ich weiss nicht genau warum, aber ich mochte ihre Gleichgültigkeit irgendwie sehr). Ich bin auch bis heute noch ein riesiger Fan der Herz-Szene, ich liebe die Idee und das Bild dahinter. Die anderen Charaktere haben mich auch unheimlich fasziniert (ausser Arthus, den ich nicht mochte) und ich habe das "verlorene Schaf"-Prinzip, das Mordred in ein sehr hilfloses Licht taucht, während man noch klar vor Augen hat, dass er alles andere als hilflose Intrigen gesponnen hat, toll gefunden.
Das ist jetzt also eine sehr enthusiastische Kritik für ein Buch, dass ich als Kind geliebt habe und deshalb durch die Gläser einer rosaroten Brille sehe. Ein Buch, dass auch der Anfang einer ganzen Reihe von Arthus-Nacherzählungen war, die ich seitdem gelesen habe und die mich immer wieder faszinieren und das, unter diesen Nacherzählungen, zu den Besten gehört.
Das ist jetzt also eine sehr enthusiastische Kritik für ein Buch, dass ich als Kind geliebt habe und deshalb durch die Gläser einer rosaroten Brille sehe. Ein Buch, dass auch der Anfang einer ganzen Reihe von Arthus-Nacherzählungen war, die ich seitdem gelesen habe und die mich immer wieder faszinieren und das, unter diesen Nacherzählungen, zu den Besten gehört.
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