Revelations, Book One of the Merlin Chronicles by Daniel Diehl

RATED 5 STARS

When Jason Carpenter is put in charge of his first archeological dig, he hopes his life will change.  When he finds a mysterious blue crystal sphere, his life does change but not in the way he expects.

When the blue sphere suddenly explodes, Jason meets up with a man who claims to be Merlin.  Yes, that Merlin.  At first Jason things he is a dotty old man but the more they talk and get to know each other, Jason suspends his disbelief and listens to the story Merlin tells him.

The age long battle between Merlin and Morgana LeFay is still going strong and he has only escaped her wrath by being hidden within the sphere.  Now that he is out his dearest wish is to get back inside a similar sphere and keep hidden from Morgana and her evil plans.

Their quest to find Morgana and defeat her involve recreating the sphere, hacking her entire computer system since she now owns a huge corporation with holdings all over the world and Merlin finding a way to seal the portal that will let Morgana bring dragons back who will ravage the earth as they once did.

During their journey, they meet enemies and friends and finally get to Morgana’s hideout in Mongolia but the journey isn’t ended and the two are about to face the most frightening of beasts.

I loved Jason.  He went from being a skeptical boy to a young man who was worthy to stand alongside Merlin.  His initial hesitation to believe Merlin turned into a trust and bond that was touching and very real.

Jason had a love interest in a fellow student, Beverly.  She was a fine and clear thinking girl as well as attractive and I must say, very understanding of the situation.  She was loving toward Jason and Merlin although she thought Merlin was Jason’s grandfather for a time.  She was stunned to learn the truth but trusted Jason enough to believe it.

Merlin was a delight.  He was smart and clever but just enough in awe of the present to make him loveable.  He had a fondness for Jack Daniels and pizza.  He had been locked away for centuries and to be in this world absolutely fascinated him.  I could just picture him when they bought him a tweed suit and gave him a haircut and a beard trim but was rather glad when he reverted to his old familiar self.

Morgana Le Fay was the meanest, nastiest, evil character that there ever was.  She makes that Maleficent look like an amateur!  She had power and cruelty and she wasn’t afraid to use either.  She was a master manipulator and had plenty of money to back up her insidious plans.

I couldn’t help but root for the good guys in this wonderful novel.  They were a loveable team and their allies were also.  I can hardly wait to find out what happens in the next book because it ended rather abruptly with a creepy Morgana.
Book 2 is on its way and I can't wait to get my hands on it to find out what happens next.
You can find Dan's books here: Amazon