The Merlin Effect

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Summary: Merlin Effect
Review: Ah, Baja California, a place of beauty, relaxation, and Aruthurian Legnd? Kate Gordon's father, an avid historical mystery hunter obsessed with Merlin, believes he can find Merlin's Horn there. Carried there by the Resurreccion, a Spanish treasure galleon whose very existence is in dispute, the Horn of Merlin was lost along with the Resurreccion in Remolino de la Muerte, a peculiar whirlpool. But Kate's father is not the only one in pursuit of Merlin's Horn (aka, The Holy Grail). Nimue, the evil enchantress who was the rival of Merlin, seeks the horn also, and will stop at nothing to get it. When her father disappears, Kate must defeat Nimue, or her father will be destroyed.

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Summary: Quevondo ...
Review: I will start by saying that I am HUGE T.A. Barron fan. If there is anyone looking for an amazing fantasy story packed with adventure, T.A.Barron is the author for you. Even though this book starts out a bit slow, it progresses steadily until you can't put it down. This is the third book of his with Kate Gordon as the main character, and it is terrific. This time, her adventure takes place underwater, with an ancient monk, a legendary ship, a massive whirpool, songs of the whales, magic, and much more. READ THIS BOOK!

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Summary: Join Kate in an adventure you can never forget!
Review: Kate Gordon has joined her father and a team of researchers on a search for the lost ship the Ressurection. But while searching for the ship Kate is hurled into a swirling whirlpool. She awakens at the bottom of the sea and meets Geofry of Bardsedy. Together with the unpleastent researcher Terry, they set off on a quest to find the lost horn of Merlin and battle the evil sea enchantress Nimu. T.A. Barron created the absolute best Merlin book ever. His words are as mysterious as the old wizard because of the way they hold you till the last turn of the page. Into adventure and mystery? This is the book for you A must read!

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Summary: The Merlin Effect Review
Review: Kate Gordon, a strong teenage girl, gets trapped in a whirlpool. She meets Geoffrey of Bardsey who is a monk that has been trapped in the whirlpool since the Middle Ages when the ship he was aboard sank. When an underwater volcano threatens to erupt, Kate and Geoffrey desperately search for a way out of the Remolino de la Muerte, The Whirlpool of Death. I really enjoyed this book because it was exciting and had interesting characters. The Merlin Effect is a very exciting book. Every minute the characters Kate and Geoffrey (along with many others)are faced with life and death situations. These situations also make the book unpredictable, which made it hard to put down. The characters are magical, unique, and strange. Nimue the evil sorceress is a cloud of smoke that has the ability to take the shape of anything. Geoffrey of Bardsey is an old monk who is always falling asleep, strongly believes in magic, and has a secret identity(you'll find it out when you read this book!). There is one negetive thing about this book; it is very short(only 256 pages long) and the story seems to fly by because of this. Overall, I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who likes books about magic and fantasy. Old and young will like The Merlin Effect by T.A. Barron.

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Summary: Strong "Effect"
Review: T.A. Barron has said that writing this book spurred him to begin his epic "Lost Year of Merlin" saga. That said, "The Merlin Effect" is a book that is only similar to his high fantasy series because of... well, Merlin. The old wizard is only one source of magic and mystery in Barron's third entrancing novel.

Kate Gordon has been tooling around around near her dad's research vehicles in Baja, California. Her father, Jim, has come there determined to prove the validity of the ancient sunken ship, the Resurreccion, and the fabled horn of Merlin that it contains. The Horn of Merlin, the Serilliant, was once filled with a mer-king's gift: the gift of forever remaining young. And the "Ballad of the Resurreccion" mentions this horn.

Now Jim, Isabella and Terry, a marine biologist and an obnoxious sonar expert, are finding some very strange things in the vicinity of an enormous, never-ending whirlpool. When they set out to find out more about the whirlpool, Kate finds herself on the Resureccion -- with a strange old monk who has lived down there, kept alive by the presence of the horn. Now they must find the horn, and battle the evil enchantress Nimue, before a rupture in the ocean floor destroys all of them...

T.A. Barron has made a reputation for himself with his lush, imaginative fantasies laced with little bits of myth and legend. And "Merlin Effect" shows how he can take even seemingly silly ideas -- the horn of Merlin on an old Spanish ship? -- and make them plausible fantasy plots. He also gives a few new twists on Arthurian legend, bringing the character of Merlin forward in time without silly gimmicks.

Barron's writing is typically lush here, with ornate descriptions of the California shoreline and the strange, eerie interior of the shipwrecked Resureccion (an apt name for the ship, considering the horn's effect). He makes the story come alive with little details, sounds and smells and colors; the message of the book is in the true effect of the horn, which will come as something of a surprise. And little tidbits of real Celtic legend are woven in, such as the various treasures at the climax.

Thankfully, Barron doesn't "wise-up" Kate to the point that she seems unreal. Rather, she seems like a teenager who has seen and experienced too much to not be intrigued by the strange and surreal. Merlin himself is pretty easy to spot, but the way he fakes doddering eccentricity is amusing to read. Even the malicious Nimue is given a bit of extra dimension, when Merlin reveals that once she was good and selfless.

T.A. Barron's "Merlin Effect" is a worthy predecessor to the "Lost Years of Merlin" and "Great Tree of Avalon" series, a solid fantasy-adventure full of beauty, magic and color.

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Summary: Exciting & "Spell-Binding"
Review: The Merlin Effect by T.A Barron is an adventurous novel. It is about a young girl, Kate, and her father, Jim. Jim is a historian who is trying to prove that the legends of Merlin are real. Along the way he meets many "mythical" people. He, Kate, and a few others must battle the evil sorceress Nimue, to save themselves and the cause of Merlin. Nimue and Merlin each know the existenece of a great power; the power of eternal life. This power is contained in a shell called the Horn of Merlin. This exciting, spell-binding book captured the essence of humanity. It tells of wisdom, life, love, and compassion, the elements that make mankind. Also, around every corner is a new surprise. At one moment Kate is hanging on to a boat for dear life in the middle of a storm, and the next minute she is talking to a 500 year old man. You never know where this book will take you. It takes you from the highest mountains, to the ocean floor. You will meet sea monsters, an evil sorceress, sea demons, singing whales, mer-people, extinct fish, and many more. If you are at all interested in Merlin or Magic, or even just a good book, then you will most certainly enjoy The Merlin Effect.

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Summary: The Merlin Effect
Review: This book wasn't that good... It was all this and that abouttheories, the difference between eternal life and renewaling bodies.Okay I'll be nice, I'll point out the parts I LIKE. The only parts I liked was the time she turned into a water spirit and there was things like: I am stream, swift and stong...blah blah blah. I forgot the rest but I just so happen to like descriptive writing and so I read it over and over again even if I don't remember much. I also liked the ballad: An ancient ship, the pride of Spain, Embarked upon a quest. To navigate the ocean vast, and still survive the test. Sorry, I forgot the rest. Except for the prophesy, did you notice the author has a tendency to have prophecies in his books? Anyways: One day the sun will fail to rise, The dead will die, And then, for Merlin's horn to find it's home, the ship will sail again. The other thing I like about the book was the chapter: The thirteenth treasure. It is really nice and Nimue sounds so wicked. I feel for Emyrs, it really was too bad. After you read this book, which treasure would you want to have? I'll tell you what I would say. The knife that could heal any wound. It would be pretty useful. I'm not saying it would be useful because I get beat up often. Come off it! I'm a girl! I'm just saying it would be nice to help other people. Not that I'm very saintly. Well, I really have to go. See ya! Oops, I won't. Whatever.

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Summary: A New Take On Merlin's History
Review: This week I would like to talk about the new T.A. Barron book THE MERLIN EFFECT.

Like Barron's last book that I reviewed this one has the feel of a very good juvenile. Although while the hero is a ten-year-old girl, it is very easy to forget what her age is. All that really matters is that she is with her father on a research trip.

This book tells the story of a new chapter in the myth of Merlin. A sunken Spanish ship off of the California Peninsula coast may contain a treasure often called the Horn of Merlin. Unfortunately the wreck is near a huge whirlpool, thus making direct investigation a chancy affair. Time is at a premium as the local government is uninterested in extending the research visa. Soon it is noted that there is something unusual about the area. The local villagers claim to be hundreds of years old. A pod of whales circling the whirlpool seem to be deliberately singing to jam the sonar equipment used to find the ship. Unusual fish though to be extinct show no signs of aging.

A mishap at sea leads Kate, her father and the rest of the research team to the bottom of the sea where they encounter merfolk, monsters of the deep, the Glass House, Nimue, Merlin himself and an ancient treasure ship.

The story moves quickly and the plot twists frequently. I found THE MERLIN EFFECT to be a very enjoyable read that, while on the light side, does not lack for substance.

Rating:
Summary: A New Take On Merlin's History
Review: This week I would like to talk about the new T.A. Barron book THE MERLIN EFFECT.

Like Barron's last book that I reviewed this one has the feel of a very good juvenile. Although while the hero is a ten-year-old girl, it is very easy to forget what her age is. All that really matters is that she is with her father on a research trip.

This book tells the story of a new chapter in the myth of Merlin. A sunken Spanish ship off of the California Peninsula coast may contain a treasure often called the Horn of Merlin. Unfortunately the wreck is near a huge whirlpool, thus making direct investigation a chancy affair. Time is at a premium as the local government is uninterested in extending the research visa. Soon it is noted that there is something unusual about the area. The local villagers claim to be hundreds of years old. A pod of whales circling the whirlpool seem to be deliberately singing to jam the sonar equipment used to find the ship. Unusual fish though to be extinct show no signs of aging.

A mishap at sea leads Kate, her father and the rest of the research team to the bottom of the sea where they encounter merfolk, monsters of the deep, the Glass House, Nimue, Merlin himself and an ancient treasure ship.

The story moves quickly and the plot twists frequently. I found THE MERLIN EFFECT to be a very enjoyable read that, while on the light side, does not lack for substance.