The Masque of All Mysteries: No. 4: . a Tale of Merlin

Merlin, King Arthur, the mad witch and me – Jack.
Jack is our 20th Century hero who travels through the five books of this series starting age 9 in Book 1 through to age 18 in Book 5. Merlin – magician and sorcerer extraordinaire - from his Sky Tower, has has been exploring the avenues of time for a modern man who has the Druidic gifts of the ‘Old Way’ and finds that his searching points to Jack. Imagine his surprise when he draws him back – on the dragon’s breath – to Dark Ages Britain and finds him a boy of only 9 summers. ‘But he is fresh and new to mould,’ he reasons; ‘I need to know the future as well as training him up in the here and now,’ Merlin also tells himself and so begins an adventure for Jack as he time travels back and forth through the mists learning the arts required to protect the Once and Future King – Arthur. But from what or from whom?
The mad witch, that’s who! Mab, who has delved into the dark arts and visited places she should never have even contemplated, knows something of the future, albeit in a muddled way, but one thing she’s certain of is that of the prophecy - if she doesn’t kill Arthur first, he will kill her! As the series progresses she appears to get stronger (and smellier as she believes that bathing will not only wash away the dirt but also her power – so it is safe to say that she is often smelled long before she arrives) and also crazier, which make her take risks that could go either way. So – will she achieve her goal?
Further interesting characters include Arthur’s wolfhound, Cabal, who becomes Jack’s best friend and is also able to travel across time. Cabal, like Jack, Merlin and a few others, can mind-speak, a great help in time of trouble; Shake Spear, one of Arthur’s men, a valiant fighter and man of huge stature but who is so short sighted that he is a danger to friend and foe alike, so after being told just to roar out battle cries and shake his spear (hence his name) so that his friends could be safe, he was allowed to join in the battles; Salazar, the African – also a Druid; and, of course, the beautiful Rhianne! When Jack first arrives in Dark Ages Britain he, Arthur and Rhianne are so close in age that they immediately become firm friends. Apart from these main characters, each book brings new, amazing and mysterious beings – dragons, giants, dinosaurs, lions, chimera, the Faerie, pirates, to name but a few, along with magical masks, goblins, ghouls and ghosts galore – some seeming to have come from the pit of hell itself.
Each tale romps along at a cracking pace and though every book is a stand-alone novel there is an overall story that links them all together in the age-old battle of good versus evil.
Jack is now an old man and has begun to tell these tales of his adventures to his two young grandsons. As he does so it seems that the days in 20th Century Britain are getting darker and before long they are all being threatened by a frightening and malevolent force. Has that mad woman found a way to travel across time to take her revenge on him after all these years? And, after all these years without hearing a word, is Merlin about to come once more onto the scene? Well, who am I to say in such a short write up?
These books are aimed purely at fantasy adventure lovers. There is no age restriction. The youngest reader so far was just 9 years old whilst the oldest was 85 and they loved them.