The Merlin Effect - Hardcover

Barron, T. A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399226893 ISBN 13: 9780399226892

Publisher: Philomel, 1994

Synopsis

Kate Gordon travels to a remote lagoon in Baja California, hoping to help her father discover a sunken Spanish galleon that disappeared centuries ago. In time, she learns that the ship may have carried something far more valuable than all the gold and silver aboard—a mysterious drinking horn out of Arthurian legend, which may have led to the demise of the wizard Merlin.

As she explores alone in her sea kayak, Kate encounters several pieces of the puzzle: a terrible whirlpool, a group of ever-singing whales, a seemingly ageless fish, and a prophecy that, under certain conditions, the ancient ship may rise and sail again. She plunges into an undersea world of bizarre creatures and terrifying foes. But to save the life of her father, she must find some way to regain her own free will, and to succeed where even Merlin failed.

This remarkable tale, companion to Heartlight and The Ancient One, weaves together mystery and fact, history and myth, science and faith, all in the course of a compelling adventure.

About this title

About the Author

T.A. Barron is the award-winning author of fantasy novels such as The Lost Years of Merlin epic—soon to be a major motion picture. He serves on a variety of environmental and educational boards including The Nature Conservancy and The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, and is the founder of a national award for heroic children. Following a life-changing decision to leave a successful business career to write full-time in 1990, Barron has written seventeen books, but is happiest when on the mountain trails with his wife, Currie, and their five children.

Reviews

The Merlin effect is a kind of immortality bestowed by Serilliant, a shell-shaped horn fashioned by the craftsman Emrys as a gift for his mermaid bride, Wintonwy. Merwas, king of the mer-people and Wintonwy's father, placed a rainbow colored liquid into Serilliant that would hold the power of eternal life--for those who understood it. Serilliant came into the wizard Merlin's hands and, because of his arrogance (he even renamed Serilliant ``the Horn of Merlin''), Merlin lost it. But all that was over a thousand years ago. Presently, Kate Gordon, 13, is spending the summer with her father, who is doing research in Baja California. Jim Gordon is a historian specializing in Merlin, and he has reason to believe that the Horn of Merlin is buried with a sunken ship, the Resurreccion, just off the coast. The problem is that he can't prove it because an enormous whirlpool makes getting close impossible. Well, not quite impossible: Kate is sucked into the whirlpool during a storm and finds the Resurreccion, Serilliant, and even Merlin himself. She participates in a sorcery-filled adventure, saves Serilliant, and proves her worth by returning it to its rightful place. No matter how you slice them, Arthurian legends are magical. T.A. Barron (The Ancient One, 1992, etc.) may not be in T.H. White's league, but he'll do. (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Grade 6-8-Singing whales, a sunken Spanish galleon, genetics, and Arthurian characters are all jumbled together in this complex fantasy. Kate Gordon, 13, whose previous adventures (Heartlight [1990] and The Ancient One [1992, both Philomel]) involved her in both time and space travel, here accompanies her historian father to the coast of Baja, California, where he hopes to discover one of Merlin's legendary lost treasures. The quest leads Kate to the center of a whirlpool, to the place beyond it, and in the end results in her saving the lives of her father and his coworkers. While Barron's writing style is neither as smooth nor his characters as well developed as those found in novels by Lloyd Alexander, Ursula LeGuin, or Madeleine L'Engle, the plot moves swiftly and background information is generally well integrated into the story. Fans of adventure films, particularly Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, will enjoy the intriguing mixture of contemporary life, historical detail, science, myth, and magic. While this title can be read independently, it will likely appeal most to readers already familiar with Barron's previous books. Fantasy buffs searching for fleshed-out characterizations, strong heroines, and a touch of humor would do well to check out titles by Tamora Pierce and Patricia Wrede, in addition to the classic works by the authors mentioned above.
Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Blending Arthurian legend and modern oceanography, Barron's (Heartlight; The Ancient One) lively tale boasts finely developed characters as well as fast-moving adventure. Thirteen-year-old Kate Gordon is assisting her father, an English-history professor, in his search for a sunken Spanish galleon off the Baja peninsula, when she rescues a whale that has gotten tangled in the expedition's equipment. That event propels the group into a quest for Merlin's legendary horn of power, hidden in the galleon, which in turn is surrounded by a huge whirlpool. After plunging into the whirlpool, Kate and her companions engage in an epic battle with Merlin's mortal enemy Nimue and her cadre of sea demons, who want to use the horn to extend their evil domain. Barron achieves a solid balance of mythology, environmental issues and scientific research procedures. The monsters are appropriately scary and malevolent, while the relationships among Kate, her father and the other members of the expedition are well drawn and touching. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 6-9. If 13-year-old Kate Gordon is the same 13-year-old

While pursuing rumors of a lost Spanish galleon and a mysterious-possibly magical-drinking horn connected with Arthurian lore, a historian and his teenage daughter are drawn into an undersea world where they witness the final confrontation between a pair of legendary enemies. The author of The Ancient One (Putnam, 1992) blends a wealth of sea lore with ancient myth and fast-paced adventure suitable for adult and YA fantasy lovers.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Farther from shore, nearer to death.

With every pull of her paddle, Kate recalled the much-repeated warning about these waters. Yet today felt different. Today the sea looked tranquil, even inviting.

Her arms, brown after almost a month in the Baja California sun, churned rhythmically. The kayak cut through the water, slicing the glassy green walls that rose and fell like a heaving chest. As the protected lagoon receded behind her, open ocean stretched before her. The swollen sun drifted low on the horizon, glowing like a lump of melting gold.

A wave slapped the kayak, drenching her. She shook herself, pulled a piece of kelp off her forearm, then resumed paddling.

She glided past the forest of mangroves lining the mouth of the lagoon. Despite the low tide, she skirted within a few feet of their long, spindly roots. Planted in the mud, they resembled a family of long-legged waders. An immature heron resting on a branch watched her slide by, but Kate's attention had turned to a copper-stained mound at the end of the bay. The last dune. And beyond it, the breakers.

Never been out this far before, she thought. What a place to see the sunset! Too bad she had waited so long to venture out. Now only a few more days remained before she would have to leave all this for good.

She lay the paddle across her lap, licking the salt from her sunburned lips. As the vessel coasted quietly with the current, she listened to the trickle of water running down the ends of the paddle. Slowly, the sun ignited sea and sky with streaks of crimson. Just beneath the waves, a web of golden light shimmered.

A plover swooped past, barely a foot above her head, searching for a crab-meat supper. Meanwhile, two sandpipers, standing one legged in the shadow of the dune, chittered noisily next to the hissing, rushing waves. Kate drew in a deep breath, feeling the warmth of the fading sun on her face. At midday, it had struck with brutal force, yet now it soothed like a gentle massage.

As the current pulled her past the last dune, she scanned the line of whitecaps ahead. The breakers splashed and sucked, a stark barrier of volcanic rock. Yet the ocean beyond looked calm, serene, almost deserving of the Pacific. At this moment, it was hard to believe all those tales of sudden squalls, murderous shoals, and swelling tides that had made this stretch of Mexican coast a sailor's nightmare for centuries. Not to mention the legendary Remolino de la Muert, the Whirlpool of Death, discussed by the local people only in whispers. Or the lost ship Resurrecion, laden with treasure, that the local folk believed might one day rise from its grave far beneath the waves.

True or not, those tales-along with the harshness of the desert landscape-had kept the population of this area to a few scattered fishing villages. Almost nobody came here by choice. That is, until her father plunked his research team at San Lazaro Lagoon.

Surveying the line of turbulence, she picked the best point to cross. Farther out, in the calmer waters of the sea, the team's two buoys floated, decorated with brightly colored equipment. The first buoy seemed surprisingly close; the second, much farther out. In the distance, beyond the second buoy, a spiraling tower of mist hovered over the sea, swirling slowly. For an instant, the mist thinned just enough to reveal an ominous pursing of the waves, rising out of the water like an undersea volcano.

Farther from shore, nearer to...

Kate bit her lip. It was probably nothing more than a reef. And even if it were something more dangerous, it was too far away to pose any risk. Whatever, it seemed to taunt her, daring her to cross the breakers.

Then she saw the moon, rising out of the eastern horizon like an evening sun. At first only a wispy halo lifted above the desert hills, then a slice of gold, then a disc of dazzling orange. Higher the moon rose, climbing slowly into the twilight sky. It cast a fiery path across the water, a path that burned its way to her tiny vessel, flooding her with amber light.

Turning again out to sea, she followed the rippled path to the buoys and beyond. The waves glittered, as if paved with gold.

She took up her paddle. There was just enough time, if she hurried, for a brief sprint to the first buoy before dark. Kitchen duty could wait for once. She grinned, picturing the amazed look on her father's face when she would tell him what she had done.

She began to paddle toward the open ocean.

Edition details

• Publisher: Philomel
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399226893
• ISBN 13: 9780399226892
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272