Returning to 'The Crystal Cave' thanks to a new edition of Pendragon

I mostly read new books these days; rarely do I revisit favourites as often as I'd like to, but over the last week I've been diving back into Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy (which is actually six books if you include the three extras that she subsequently wrote). These were published in the early 1970s originally, and take a post-Roman view on the Arthurian legend. The original trilogy focuses on the magician Merlin, and tells the story from his perspective, starting from his boyhood.

I was originally introduced to the series by my paternal Grandmother, who absolutely loved them and lent me her set of books to read, telling me that she thought that I would enjoy them. She was correct about that and the stories became firm favourites. 

My Grandmother also bought me the first edition of the Pendragon roleplaying game from Chaosium, which I ran as a lunch time campaign at our school roleplaying club. My take was far more Roman in flavour than Greg Stafford's more traditional La Morte d'Arthur approach, but it works just as well with the slight refocus.

I was prompted to re-read the book after I picked up a copy of the core books for the new edition of Pendragon (which on an initial skim looks like it could be the best since the original for inspiration). It set my mind wandering back to the old campaign we had and Mary Stewart's books.  I can't help but smile and think of my Grandmother (OG, or Other Grandma, as she was known) who - although she rarely saw me - knew me enough to share a fantastic set of books. 

This isn't the only set of books I've started to dig back into; recently I also read the first of Michael Scott Rohan's Winter of the World Series, and I plan to return to that as well. I also need to pick up the Iain M. Banks reread at some point, and I suspect that the AppleTV+ adaptation of Neuromancer will see me revisiting William Gibson's Sprawl. 

Obviously, I really recommend the Merlin Trilogy. I also recommend checking out the third of Rosemary Sutcliff's Eagle of the Ninth related books, The Lantern Bearers, which also has a great more Roman flavoured take on the Arthurian legend. 

From a non-fiction perspective, Lost Realms by Thomas Williams is worth a look, as it tries to explore the history of the realms that sprung up after the Romans withdrew and the economy collapsed; there is a fantastic description on the impact on Lincoln, with the city becoming a shadow of its former self. Fantastic in the sense that it was inspirational for ideas for gaming.

13 July 2025