Robert Carter

The Third coming of Arthur. The final volume in a rich and evocative tale set in a mythic 15th century Britain, to rival the work of Bernard Cornwell. As civil war tears the Realm apart, the sorcerer Maskulls plans to bring about a catastrophe that will rob the world of magic are coming to fruition. The wizard Gwydion knows that the only hope for the future lies with Willand, the young man he believes to be the reincarnation of King Arthur. But Will is beset with doubts. He is being stalked by the Dark Child, the twin from whom he was separated at birth and who now serves Maskull. And as the magic gradually begins to fade from the world, the powers of Gwydion, his mentor and friend, seem to be fading too, leading Will to despair that the destruction of the war will ever be halted, or Maskull ever defeated. Despite the seeming impossibility of his task, Will is not ready to give up quite yet. With the help of his strong-minded wife, Willow, and friends as wise and generous as the loremasters Morann and Gort, Will journeys the Realm seeking his destiny. And soon it becomes clear that only by solving the riddle of his own identity can he save the world he loves so deeply.

En la tercera y última entrega del ciclo, WIlland se enfrenta a sus orígenes, a su hermano gemelo y al tiempo antagonista, pues se ha puesto al servicio de Maskull, quien intenta hacer vencer mediante magia la Gran Mentira, encarnada en la guerra y en todo tipo de desastres. En realidad, asesorado por Gwydion, lo que hace el joven Willand es enfrentarse a las regiones mas oscuras e inaccesibles de su propio yo, lo que dota a esta tercera etrega de un componente simbolico mucho mayor y, al mismo tiempo, obliga a replantearse el desarrollo de los dos libros anteriores. EL manto blanco es realmente la culminacion de la trilogia pues la dota de un nuevo sentido que hasta ahora estaba solo latente. La critica internacional ha destacado la perfecta combinacion de material procendente del ciclo arturico con la potencia imaginativa del autor que ha creado un mundo completo y complejo, que el lector va descubriendo a medida que avanza en la lectura y que solo en el desenlace permite ver toda la magnitud de la historia.

En "El lenguaje de las piedras" Robert Carter combina la historia antigua de Gran Bretaña con el ciclo artúrico y una poderosísima imaginación le permite crear un mundo completo y coherente. Su historia se centra en la espera de un rey, y en los signos que a traves d elas piedras pueden encontrarse en relacion a el. El anciano y ciego mago, Gwydion, que en su dia conocio a este monarca, sabe bien que el reino corre peligro y que las defensas sobrenaturales que con tanto esfuerzo se construyeron por aquel entonces para ahuyentar la amenaza de una invasion, hoy son poco menos que un monton de piedras caidas de cuyo poder ya nadie guarda memoria. Sin embargo, esas piedras de peligrosos poderes estan empezando a cobrar vida tras su letargo, llamando a los hombres a una nueva y quiza defintiva guerra. Gwydion necesitara de la ayuda de un joven capaz de indentificar esas piedras e interpretar el mensaje que ocultan, y Willand, su joven aprendiz, ha demostrado estar preparado para desempeñar esa tarea, aunque antes de emprenderla tendra que conocer el nombre con que Gwydion paso a la leyenda: Merlin.

Ha pasado un tiempo entre la acción de El lenguaje de las piedras y la de esta novela. Entre una y otra, el joven aprendiz de mago Willand tiene ya una hija con WIllow, por lo cual la nueva misión que emprende le presenta nuevas dificultades. Sin embargo, solo el puede analizar los nuevos indicios del avance de la Gran Mentira y de los progresos de su rival el hechicero Maskull. Sus pesquisas le llevaran al centro de una batalla terrible y a descubrir algo de su pasado que Maskull tiene en su poder.

A rich and evocative tale set in a mythic 15th−century Britain‚ to rival the work of Bernard Cornwell. The Realm is poised for war. Hal‚ its weak king‚ is dominated by his wife and her lover. Against them stand Duke Richard of Ebor and his allies; the two sides are on a bloody collision course. Gwydion is watching over the Realm. Here when Arthur rode to war − they called him ′Merlyn′ then − he has walked the land since before the time of the druids‚ since before the Slavers came to subdue the people. The Realm is a still−magical England‚ its by−ways populated by legendary beasts. It is a land criss−crossed by lines of power upon which standing stones have been set as a secret protection against invasion. A thousand years ago‚ the Slavers broke the power of the array‚ laid straight roads across the land‚ and built walled cities of shattered stone. The dangerous stones are awakening‚ and their unruly influence is calling men to battle. Unless Gwydion and his apprentice‚ Willand‚ can unearth them‚ the Realm will be plunged into a disastrous civil war. But their enemies include men‚ monsters and a sorcerer who is as powerful as Gwydion himself.

A rich and evocative tale set in a mythic 15th century Britain, to rival the work of Bernard Cornwell. In the peaceful village of Nether Norton life goes on as it has for centuries in the Realm. On Loaf Day, as the villagers celebrate gathering in the first of their harvest, Will looks back fondly on the two years since he and his sweetheart Willow circled the fire together, especially the year since their daughter Bethe was born. But despite his good fortune, a feeling of unease is stirring inside him. When he sees an unnatural storm raging on the horizon he knows that his past is coming back to haunt him. Four years ago Will succeeded in cracking the Doomstone in the vault of the Chapter House at Verlamion to bring a bloody battle to its end. It seemed then that the lust for war in mens hearts had been calmed forever. But now Will is no longer certain his success was quite so absolute, and he calls on his old friend and mentor Gwydion, a wizard of deep knowledge and power once called Merlyn, for advice. Gwydion suspects his old enemy, the sorcerer Maskull, has escaped from the prison he was banished to when Will cracked the Doomstone. Now Maskull is once again working to hasten a devastating war between King Hal and Duke Richard of Ebor, with the help of the battlestones that litter the landscape inciting hatred in all who draw near. Only Will, whom Gwydion believes to be an incarnation of King Arthur, has the skill to break the power of the battlestones. When Will last left Nether Norton he was an unworldly youth of thirteen. Now he is a husband and father, he has a lot more to lose. But he has a whole Realm to save.

A rich and evocative tale set in a mythic 15th century Britain, to rival the work of Bernard Cornwell. The Realm is poised for war. Its weak king Hal, grandson of a usurper is dominated by his beautiful wife and her lover. Against them stands Duke Richard of Ebor and his allies. The two sides are set on a bloody collision course Gwydion is watching over the Realm. He has walked the land since before the time of the druids, since before the Slavers came to subdue the people. Gwydion was here when Arthur rode to war: then they called him Merlyn. But for his young apprentice, Willand, a fearsome lesson in the ways of men and power lies ahead. The Realm is an England that is still-magical. Legendary beasts still populate its by-ways. It is a land criss-crossed by lines of power upon which standing stones have been set as a secret protection against invasion. But the power of the array was broken by the Slavers who laid straight roads across the land and built walled cities of shattered stone. A thousand years have passed since then, and those roads and walls have fallen into decay. The dangerous stones are awakening, and their unruly influence is calling men to battle. Unless Gwydion and Will can unearth them, the Realm will be plunged into a disastrous civil war. But there are many enemies ranged against them: men, monsters and a sorcerer who is as powerful as Gwydion himself.