Merlin's Bones - Softcover

"Is Saberhagen a wizard? You decide. He "is" one of the most gifted writers of our time." --"Quasar Reviews""Wildly, astonishingly different. A truly exhilarating jaunt." --"Kirkus Reviews""An intoxicating blend of romance, adventure, danger and time travel." --"Library Journal""Many have written of King Arthur, but in "Merlin's Bones" Fred Saberhagen has wonderfully connected Camelot, what came after, and what came before, with our own near future through the spiraling coils of time. Nothing is what you were told, nothing is what you remember, nothing is what it seems. It's terrific!" --Robert Jordan, author of "The Wheel of Time""Arthurian legend gets a new face in this fantasy novel." --"Locus""Proving that there's still abundant life in the oft-told Arthurian legends, Saberhagen's reworking weaves together distant past, near future and fairy realm into a compelling and intriguing whole. In the past, a troupe of traveling players is pursued by a rampaging conqueror. Amby, the youngest of the novel's several narrators, uses his powers of second sight to his advantage as he and his fellow travelers enter the fortress protecting the bones of the recently deceased sorcerer, Merlin. In the near future, Dr. Elaine Brusen is confronted with the Fisher King, Morgan Le Fay and Morded, all of whom want control of her hypostator machine, a device capable of altering fundamental reality. Elaine must follow her own twisting road, through the realm of fairy and beyond, if she is to remain safe and find true love. The ensuing battles for Arthur's survival, Merlin's bones, the succession of New Camelot and Elaine's heart prove both suspenseful and delightful. Saberhagen's narrative juggling is dazzling and imbues the novel's many paradoxes with an elusive grace." --"Publishers Weekly"

In post-Arthurian England, ten-year old Amby and the troupe of traveling players he belongs to are on the run from a conqueror. He has been gifted with second-sight, and when the troupe stumbles upon an unoccupied castle he is the only one in the group who senses the power that lies within the stone building. In the near future, the Fisher King, Mordred and Morgan le Fay seek to gain control of Dr. Elaine Brusen's hypostater, a machine capable of altering fundamental reality. Both Amby and Elaine are unwittingly drawn into a power struggle that spans centuries and spills into the realm of fairy and beyond. Saberhagen reworks Arthurian legend and puts Arthur's survival, the succession of New Camelot and Merlin's bones on the line with an exciting blend of romance, danger and adventure.