British · b. 1916
Mary Stewart was a British novelist who helped pioneer the romantic suspense genre and wrote the beloved Merlin trilogy of Arthurian novels, beginning with The Crystal Cave.
Mary Stewart was enormously popular for her romantic suspense novels, which combined atmospheric settings, capable heroines, and elegant prose, helping to define the modern genre.
She is perhaps best remembered for her Arthurian sequence — The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment — which retells the legend of Merlin and King Arthur with vivid historical realism and storytelling power, becoming a touchstone of Arthurian fiction.
Stewart is admired for her craftsmanship and versatility, and for bringing both the romantic thriller and the Arthurian legend to wide and devoted readerships.
by Mary Stewart
The first volume of the Merlin trilogy tells the life of Merlin from childhood to the conception of Arthur — a rational, historically grounded retelling of Arthurian legend in which Merlin is a genuine historical figure with remarkable intelligence rather than a supernatural wizard. The finest Arthurian historical novel.
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by Mary Stewart
The second Merlin novel covers Arthur's childhood in hiding, his education, and his discovery of Excalibur — following Merlin as he watches over the boy who will become High King from a careful, loving distance. Less structurally ambitious than The Crystal Cave but emotionally rich.
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by Mary Stewart
The third book of Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy. With Arthur crowned and Camelot rising, Merlin reaches the height of his powers and the beginning of his decline, narrating the king's early reign, the shadow of Mordred, and the enchantment that will end the wizard's story.
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