The ancient dragon Valdearg was briefly introduced in T.A. Barron's "Seven Songs." So guess what the antagonist of "The Raging Fires" is!The third volume of this Arthurian fantasy epic introduces some nasty new beasties, magical threats and some explosive dragon action. Barron seems to have overcome his initial roughness, and allows the plot to flow as smoothly as his nature-based writing, as well as the introduction of some interesting new characters.After barely saving his mother's life, Emrys Merlin is relaxing with his family... only to have their peace destroyed when a monstrous magic-sucking monster called a kreelix appears. They were supposedly extinct, but have somehow reappeared -- and to make matters worse, Valdearg (aka "Wings of Fire") has awakened from his slumber, and is on the warpath for whoever killed his hatchlings.The problem is that there is a prophecy that Wings of Fire's clash with his old enemy (presumed to be a wizard) will result in both of them dying. So Merlin sets out to discover what is happening on "Fincayra's darkest day," and finds himself enmeshed with strange sorceresses, a magical conspiracy, a pair of deer-people, and eventually with the ancient dragon himself..."The Raging Fires" sets aside the foresty Celtic symbolism of the previous two books, in favor of fire -- harps burn, lava burns, dragons blast fire, and homicidal anger rages out of control. He also seems to have exhausted his mythological store for the moment, because most of the magical goings-on in this book are pretty original creations.Barron's writing sometimes gets a bit overlush, but it's loaded down with haunting, detailed moments (the deer-people's transformations), eerie threats, and the occasional moment of comic relief (the baby dragon). But the story is overall very grim, particularly since this is the first of Merlin's stories in which his death seems to be assured. Whether or not he will actually die, there's a dark cloud hanging over everything he does.The biggest problem is perhaps the kreelixes -- they're an interesting idea, but they sound more like something out of Star Trek than Arthurian legend. I'm just saying.Merlin is a little older and wiser in this one, and he seems to be feeling the first stirrings of romantic feelings for the bland deer-woman Hallia. And Valdearg is a wonderful antagonist -- he'a an aggressive killer, but he's not evil and at times he even shows signs of dignity and endearing sentiment."The Raging Fires" temporarily ditches the Celtic myth'n'legend, in favor of dragons and a few new inventions of the author's. A solid, richly-written fantasy.
I loved this book. I happened upon 3 of the 5 book series at the DI. This is the second book in the series and so far the best. It covers family devotion, pride vs. humility and the true power of humility versus the false power of pride, life lessons, loyalty to mission, a willingness to sacrifice for a greater good. I thought men's and women's role were exemplified beautifully in this book. Merlin sets out on a quest to save his mother who is dying as a consequence of his pride. His friend, Rhia, comes with him as a "guide". She is constantly sharing her "instinct" with him but when he chooses not to follow, she does not berate or belittle him. She lets him choose but supports and defends him despite his errors. She has an inner power that connects with all living things and can communicate with trees and nature. She has an ability to see below the surface of people to understand what they are really feeling. She uses this for good and to support Merlin in his quest. She believes in him even when he doesn't believe in himself. He goes to the ends of the land to save his mother. He is strong and willing to fight for his family if necessary. He also over time comes to recognize his faults and tries to overcome them and become better. He begins to recognize that although questing often feels lonely, there is a vast support network around you and lessons to be learned from the beginning until the end. Ultimately, he recognizes that each person has individual gifts that collectively make lives better but that an individual gift can't help and bless others in the face of pride. LOVED IT!!
What do You think about The Fires Of Merlin (2002)?
The first two books in this series were extremely well written by my standards and I really enjoyed both their stories, but THE RAGING FIRES was a completely different story. Though it's obvious Merlin grows throughout the book, the story seemed like the same like of thing. There wasn't much originality and I found myself expecting certain things and it was easy to predict how it ended.To top off the less than original storyline, the writing this time around wasn't the beautiful flowing prose of the two previous novels. I struggled much through the eleven days I was reading and there were more than a few times where I couldn't even get to the end of the chapter.This all isn't to say that I won't bother reading the two next books in the series or the two companion series Barron has also written, but I probably won't be going into them with as much enthusiasm as I have before.
—Megan Conway
Ici, on voit Merlin s'engager dans une vraie quête, celle d'affronter un dragon enragé, Valdearg, qui est persuadé qu'un des ascendants de Merlin, voire l'enchanteur lui même, a tué ses oeufs.Comme dans les autres romans, ce livre est découpé en trois parties. Il va devoir faire route seul pendant un moment mais fera vite la rencontre de deux personnages qui vont devenir important dans sa quête et dans la recherche de soi.Il devient plus humble, et donc plus supportable. Les quelques pertes qui vont se produire le rende un peu plus attachant. On voit qu'il commence à prendre en maturité et à mieux comprendre les évènements qui se produisent autour de lui, même si il reste quand même têtu.Il y a quelques trahisons dans ce tome, mais également un peu de tension dans la partie finale.Je reste tout de même sur mon idée que cette série s'adresse aux plus jeunes. Je continue donc à lire cette série avec détachement et sans prise de tête.Après, je me pose quand même des questions sur la légende de Merlin que veut nous présenter l'auteur par rapport à celle que l'on connait. Il parle de la roue de Wye, mais existe-t-elle vraiment dans nos légendes? En tout cas, je n'ai rien trouvé sur ce sujet. Et voilà le point négatif de cette saga, que je reproche depuis le début, ce côté un peu trop fantastique et éloigné du Merlin que l'on connait...En bref, un tome meilleur que les autres, une histoire qui se rend un peu plus immersive grace aux personnages secondaires et à un Merlin moins prétentieux.
—Ptitelfe
The stakes are higher than ever before in The Fires of Merlin, the third book in The Lost Years of Merlin epic. Merlin must save Fincayra once again, but this time it may cost him his life. With Wings of Fire awakening, Merlin and Rhia must go on a dangerous adventure that will take them across Fincayra once more, meeting all kinds of interesting people and creatures.What I really love about T. A. Barron’s writing is that he uses a variety of fantasy creatures, rather than just sticking with all of the familiar ones. I mean, in what other series are you going to find living carnivorous rocks and endangered deer people? Barron uses his imagination and because of my rant about the lack of diversity in fantasy, I really appreciate the effort he put into his series. More fantasy writers should follow his lead.In addition to his excellent world-building, Barron really pays attention to his character development. Merlin has changed slowly over the past two books and his development continues in this book. We are finally seeing a bit of a transition from awkward teenage boy to slightly less awkward, more mature teenage boy.I give this book 4.5/5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars for Goodreads rating purposes.
—Carrie Slager
