A different take on the Arthurian legend, this book tells the story from the viewpoint of Niviene, a fey mage whose mother is a friend to Merlin. Through Merlin, Niviene eventually becomes caught up in human affairs, particularly those of King Arthur. Familiar events play out through the course of the story, but with a different twist to them, the true identities of some of the players, or the relationships between them, having been changed. Through it all, the writing mangages to conjur up the mystical feel of the land that is part fantasy and part legend.The book started off rather slow, in my opinion, and though the beauty of the writing is intriguing enough to pull you in, still, the story simply rambles along for a long while, with no clear indication of where it's heading. Slowly, the direction begins to take shape, and becomes more interesting, but I found myself rather bored with a lot of the first half of the book, hence why I'm only giving it three stars. The latter part of the story does become much more interesting, and the ending is rather heartbreaking, and that combined with the beauty of the writing pulls it up to nearly a 4, but not quite. Those who enjoy retellings of the stories of Arthur and Camelot will probably want to check this one out, as will those who enjoy fantasy fiction with a highly mystical feel to it. I should preface this by saying I don't read a lot of fantasy. But I like the Arthurian Legend and this was a Kindle freebie so I grabbed it.I liked that the book pulled you into this strange other world of the Fey. It was weird but interesting the way it was written from a Fey point of view, as though their world was normal and the human world was the strange one. But I suppose that happens a lot in fantasy.The thing I struggled with was the concept that Fey were heartless creatures. Though Niviene and her "family" are meant to be different, it was never really explained why so I was left a little confused.I liked the writing style - very poetic which suited the setting. But ultimately, it failed to hold my interest. It's slow and there's not much of a plot. I got about half way through and still nothing much had really happened yet so I gave up.
What do You think about Merlin's Harp (2010)?
The writing style kind of depressed me... but then, I was reading it during blocks, so...
—Rodina
Never quite understood why the story was being told and why I should want to read it.
—max123
A lovely retelling of the Arthurian tales through the point of view of the Fae.
—Jurga
UGH! Hated this book. That's it. No more arthurian legend stories. Ever. Again.
—Brandon
