Here we go!  Yay!

I love Stewart's lyrical style of writing.

'The moss between the stones had tiny white flowers no bigger than the lizards eyes. I remember the design in them so well as if I carved them myself.'

I also noticed the many covers this book has.  To show you how long I have had my copy mine is from 1971       cost $1.25 

What cover does your book have?

I barely started today.  This is a re-read because I read it originally in 2009 but I read it in the middle of way too many other Arthur books and I've completely lost what that book was.  So I'm re-reading it before continuing the rest of the series.  I have a lot of Arthur books yet to read, but no more intermixing series.  One at a time.

My cover is: http://cc.pbsstatic.com/xl/54/8254/9780060548254.jpg

This is a re-read for me too, and I had forgotten as you say Letty how lyrical Ms. Stewart's writing style is.  It's like re-discovering an old but beautiful friend.  I've got a copy of the same book you have.  I think my Mom bought it originally and I read it and loved it and stole it!

Cheryl, the one I have was my big sisters and I stole it as well.  I don't think she minds, she never saves anything and once she's read a book off it goes.

I'm about 80 pages in now, and a few thoughts:

 I can't believe how little I remember of this and how mixed up I had it with other books.  I remember some of it as I'm reading, but it doesn't trigger further recollections.  Instead it's all jumbled up with Lawhead's trilogy.  And even part of ... a Robin Hood book I skimmed?  (Whaaaaat? That's nuts, but I think so.)

 I really like how she is introducing the fantasy element.  Just a kid who doesn't understand but accepts at face value, because he hasn't yet learned to distrust his senses when reason conflicts, and he's following adults' lead.  But there are tantalizing hints about the future.

Your so right Sharla, just like truly gifted people are asked about their gift for music or intellegence, and it is not something they think about, it just is.

I'm reading this on my Kindle, but over the years I've had several covers, both HC and pb.  At one point I had the same pb Letty; seeing that brought back memories!

I love her writing; like Sutcliff, she can tell you an entire story in just a sentence or two.  When Merlin gets his bigger pony from Dinias, she just says he had a ruined mouth and a beautiful gait, and that once he got over his fear, he was affectionate.  That tells so much about Dinias (the little ass).

I like the way she's handling the fantasy element too.  I recall thinking, when I first read this years ago, that this was the first treatment of Merlin that seemed real; that showed how it could have really been.  Everything I had read up to that point was over the top wizard-magicky.  I was enthralled then, and I still am!

I did remember the scene with Camlach and the apricot; how the little Merlin said he didn't want the fruit because it was rotten and all black inside.  That gave me chills, because like Merlin, I thought Camlach could be trusted!

Just stopping in to say that I do plan to read Crystal Cave in February, but the copy I have is a paper version, and I'm traveling next week.  So I'm going to read something on my Kindle while I'm traveling then start Crystal Cave when I get back!

Doesn't it almost seem that she is a mistress of understatement but in the most beautiful way?  The author says so much by saying so little.  I also really love the way she presents the "magic".  I think it really helps a reader buy into the entire concept because Merlin just accepts the power and so we do as well.

Like others, I love the writing.  Several months ago, in another HF book, I ran into the word, hypocaust and added it to my vocabulary.  It is always a bit a thrill to again encounter the word and understand the concept. Roman engineering was really something!

I didn't trust Camlach and was pleased when the rotten apricot idea backfired.

Linda

She really does use understatement. You can't just skip through mindlessly or you'll miss most of what matters.  I'd forgotten that, along with so much else. (Where WAS my brain on that initial read, I wonder? It retained so little.) I thought maybe I'd skim more than read for the re-read, but no.  It needs to be absorbed thoughtfully.  And savored.

Vicky, how are you reading it on your kindle?  I can't find that it's in e-book form at all.  

I think that I dust it off and re-read it every few years for all these reasons.  Stewart is the kind of author that many writer's want to be when they grow-up. I love the "master of understatement" discription it fits her perfectly.

My cover is ugly! 

That is the one they had in my school library. :)

That's okay Sheila...you didn't steal yours

Oh, I just wanted to add.  This is first person narrative.  I've said over and over that I don't generally like that, except when it's so well done I don't even notice it.  And from the very beginning, I don't notice it.  For me, first person narratives tend to rate at either 3 (or less) when I can't forget that, or when it's so good I do, it's a 4.5 or 5.  Writing this good would have to be very badly screwed up with poor plotting and/or horrid ending to ruin a 5 rating on this book.  And I know, because it's a re-read, that she doesn't.

And once again, I can't believe I don't remember more of this book.  I have a feeling it's going to be my favorite of all the Arthur books/series.  I love the blend of realism and fantasy.

Vicky, how are you reading it on your kindle?  I can't find that it's in e-book form at all.  

Last January I bought all four books in Stewart's Arthur series as a Kindle book for $9.99.  So when you asked, I was curious.  I went back in my account, but when I try to go to the products page, it's no longer available!  I guess I didn't realize that.

Now I'm glad I grabbed it when I did!  It was called Legacy, btw.  

LOL @ Cheryl

I'm so glad you mentioned Legacy, Vicky.  B&N still has it, for 6.99.  I grabbed that up, let me tell you.  I found the trilogy in a single volume hardcover in a Borders clearance and nabbed it, as I knew they were keepers.  But I'm much rather read it on my Nook--well worth buying it again, especially with the 4th book in this, too.

Yay Sharla!  

Thank you Vicky and Sharla!  I just bought Legacy on B&N.

hypocaust (love learning more about unfamiliar phrases)

• The hypocaust is one of the most ancient forms of an HVAC system.  Like many great innovations, it originated with the Romans over 2000 years ago.  A hypocaust is both a primary system and a secondary system, as it creates heat and distributes it as well.

• The main use for hypocausts was found in the large public bathhouses.  Sauna rooms were created by adding a pool of water, heated by the same fire heating the air below.  This created a hot, humid space to clean oneself and converse with friends.  The temperature could have easily reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity could have reached 100% due to the pools.  These parameters are not exact, as the system has not been used is many, many years.

•  Its purpose was to evenly heat the room in the most efficient way possible.  A hypocaust was composed of a raised floor (typically about two feet), supported by columns or pedestals of stone every few feet, with the space below left open.  A furnace, composed of a continuously burning fire, created heat, which was then allowed to flow through the space below the raised floor, thus heating the floor and rest of the room.  Once cooled, the air escaped through flues in the wall and out of vents in the roof.  The furnace takes up a fair amount of space, so it was usually located in a separate room.  The flues were built directly into the walls so they did not take up useful space.

Link to more information:

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~jpm55/AE390/A5/hypocaust.htm 

Thank you Sheila.  That is so interesting to actually see the diagrams of what it looked like