Sonderbooks Book Review of The Merlin Conspiracy

Reviewed May 15, 2003.
Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins), New York, 2003. 468 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF JON).
A Sonderbooks’ Stand-out of 2003: #10, Young Adult Fantasy

Hooray! A new story (not a reissue) from Diana Wynne Jones! The Merlin Conspiracy is one of her books with a setting involving alternate worlds and magic users who can travel between worlds. Philosophically, I’m not crazy about the alternate worlds idea, but it makes an entertaining backdrop for a story. The worlds are very like our world in some ways, but intriguingly different in others. As usual, one of the characters comes from our world, so his perspective on the differences matches ours.

The world of Blest is in trouble. Arianrhod (Roddy) and Grundo, kids who travel with the King’s Court, witness the death of the Merlin and then overhear powerful adults plotting further trouble. What can they do? Before long, any adult they turn to is rendered powerless to help. Roddy tries to call a wizard from another world, and gets only Nick, who doesn’t know much about how to use his knack for magic.

The story is entrancing and absorbing and kept me reading late into the night. I like her characters and her world. My only dissatisfaction with the book was that the plot seemed a bit murky. This was one of those stories where the main characters really don’t know what to do, but as they go their magic tells them the next step. This makes their eventual victory seem only like a lucky chance, rather than clever conquering of evil. It also takes away some of the suspense, as the reader never knows what to expect will happen next. We know that something bad is going to happen with the conspiracy, but we don’t really have any idea how Roddy and Nick should try to solve it until their chance finally comes. All the same, the journey to the climax is highly entertaining. Fans of Diana Wynne Jones will be pleased at another chance to immerse themselves in her multiverse.

Reviews of other books by Diana Wynne Jones:
Cart and Cwidder
Drowned Ammet
The Spellcoats
The Crown of Dalemark
Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin
Conrad's Fate
Dogsbody
Unexpected Magic
Wild Robert
The Ogre Downstairs
Witch's Business

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

****The Merlin Conspiracy*

by Diana Wynne Jones