Não consegui interessar-me por esta história. Merlin abandons his loving mother but rescues his evil father. Shim, the tiny giant, speaks like Jar Jar Binks and is equally insufferable. They don't behave like people who have known each other for only a few days (particularly when Merlin confirms he's not a ghost to Rhia by wrapping his index finger around hers, as if they've had time to make that a gesture with personal history/significance to either of them). Similarly, Rhia and Merlin know each other for a few days, but some passages infer that we're meant to think of them as lifelong friends. Everything is articulated in the most heavy-handed way possible. Either that or the author assumes his reader is equally thick. The protagonist is almost willfully stupid. Once is a cliche five times is an offense against literature. No fewer than FIVE chapters end with the protagonist falling unconscious.

Nearly every problem is solved by something fortuitously dropping from the sky, appearing out of the blue, etc. However, the novel is poorly plotted, with the protagonist bouncing from one coincidental encounter to the next. I enjoyed the prose, particularly when it describes the natural world. His favorite pastime is hiking, camping, or skiing in Colorado with his family.

Barron serves on many boards including Princeton University, where he helped to create the Princeton Environmental Institute, and The Wilderness Society, which recently honored him with its highest award for conservation work. He recently produced a documentary film, Dream Big, profiling seven winners of the Barron Prize. In 2000, he founded a national award to honor outstanding young people who help their communities or the environment: the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, which honors 25 highly diverse, public-spirited kids each year. So in 1990, he surprised his business partners by moving back to Colorado to become a writer and conservationist. He joined a successful business, eventually became president, then decided to try again. Though he’d dreamed as a young man of becoming a writer, he couldn’t find anyone to publish his first novel. They include The Lost Years of Merlin (now being developed into a feature film), The Great Tree of Avalon (a New York Times bestselling series), The Ancient One (the tale of a brave girl and a magical tree), and The Hero’s Trail (nonfiction stories of courageous kids).

Barron is the author of more than 30 highly acclaimed books, many of which are international bestsellers. He is the winner of the de Grummond Medallion for “lifetime contribution to the field of children’s and young adult literature” and many other awards. Barron grew up in Colorado ranch country and traveled widely as a Rhodes Scholar.

Merlin book 1 the lost years