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Author | H. Warner Munn |
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Cover artist | Gervasio Gallardo |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Merlin's Godson |
Genre | Fantasy |
Publisher | Ballantine Books |
Publication date | June 1974 |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Pages | 366 |
ISBN | 0-345-24010-3 |
OCLC | 901109 |
813/.5/4 | |
LC Class | PZ3.M9262 Me PS3525.U52 |
Preceded by | The Ship From Atlantis |
Followed by | none |
Merlin's Ring is a fantasy novel by American writer H. Warner Munn, the third in a series of three based on Arthurian legend. Originally intended for publication by Ballantine Books in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, it actually saw print only after the series was discontinued. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in June 1974. It was reprinted by Ballantine twice, in September 1975 and August 1981, before going out of print. In December 2005 a trade paperback edition was issued by Cold Spring Press. [1] The novel was nominated for the 1975 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award and World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
The novel is a continuation of the story in The Ship From Atlantis , telling of Prince Gwalchmai's star-crossed love for Princess Corenice of Atlantis in her various reincarnations, along with his centuries-delayed quest to secure aid and settlers to shore up the faltering empire established by his father and refugees from the fallen kingdom of Arthur in the New World. The story opens with Gwalchmai's reawakening after centuries in suspended animation. The Britain he finally reaches is a prostrated land transformed into England by its Saxon conquerors, with his father's exile long forgotten and his countrymen incapable of undertaking any sort of colonization project. Guided by his reincarnated lover, he seeks aid unsuccessfully, his travels taking him from Viking-age Europe to the far-eastern empires of the Chinese and Japanese, and ultimately back to Europe again as it approaches the Renaissance. He is abetted down through the centuries by the magical ring of his godfather Merlin, responsible for his longevity, and by Corenice. Highlights include the hero's visit to Faerie, his service as a companion to Joan of Arc, and his final revelation in Iceland of the secret of the New World to a Genoan merchant, Christopher Columbus.
The preceding books in the series, King of the World's Edge (1939) and The Ship from Atlantis (1967) were later reissued together by Ballantine as Merlin's Godson (1976), a title that has also been used for the series as a whole. Munn's research on Joan of Arc for Merlin's Ring sparked an interest that carried over into his epic poem The Banner of Joan (1975). In his last years Munn was reportedly working on a sequel to Merlin's Ring to be called The Sword of Merlin, which he did not live to finish.
Donald Allen Wollheim was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell, Martin Pearson, and Darrell G. Raynor. A founding member of the Futurians, he was a leading influence on science fiction development and fandom in the 20th-century United States. Ursula K. Le Guin called Wollheim "the tough, reliable editor of Ace Books, in the Late Pulpalignean Era, 1966 and '67", which is when he published her first two novels in Ace Double editions.
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin. He is best known for his work in the 1970s as editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, which introduced readers to many overlooked classics of the fantasy genre.
Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains part of that company.
The Sword of Shannara is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the first book in a titular trilogy.
Ian Keith Ballantine was an American publisher who founded and published the paperback line of Ballantine Books from 1952 to 1974 with his wife, Betty Ballantine. The Ballantines were both inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2008, with a shared citation.
The legendary island of Atlantis has often been depicted in literature, television shows, films and works of popular culture.
The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969, the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which were out of print or dispersed in back issues of pulp magazines, in cheap paperback form—including works by authors such as James Branch Cabell, Lord Dunsany, Ernest Bramah, Hope Mirrlees, and William Morris. The series lasted until 1974.
The Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library was a series of trade paperback books published in the United States by the Newcastle Publishing Company between 1973 and 1980. Presumably under the inspiration of the earlier example set by the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature that had largely been forgotten, being out of print or otherwise not easily available in the United States, in durable, illustrated trade paperback form with new introductions. For a number of works the Library’s editions constituted the first U.S. or first paperback edition. Together with the earlier series from Ballantine Books, it contributed to the renaissance of interest in the fantasy genre of the 1970s.
Harold Warner Munn was an American writer of fantasy, horror and poetry, best remembered for his early stories in Weird Tales. He was an early friend and associate of authors H. P. Lovecraft and Seabury Quinn. He has been described by fellow author Jessica Amanda Salmonson, who interviewed him during 1978, as "the ultimate gentleman" and "a gentle, calm, warm, and good friend." He was known for his intricate plotting and the careful research that he did for his stories, a habit he traced back to two mistakes made when he wrote his early story "The City of Spiders".
The Last Enchantment is a 1979 fantasy novel by Mary Stewart. It is the third in a quintet of novels covering the Arthurian legend, preceded by The Hollow Hills and succeeded by The Wicked Day.
Deryni Checkmate is a fantasy novel by American-born author Katherine Kurtz. It was first published by Ballantine Books as the forty-sixth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in May 1972, and has been reprinted a number of times since. The author released a revised and updated edition of the novel that was published by Ace Books in 2005. Deryni Checkmate was the second of Kurtz' Deryni novels to be published, and also the second book in the Chronicles of the Deryni Trilogy.
High Deryni is a historical fantasy novel by American-born author Katherine Kurtz. It was first published by Ballantine Books as the sixty-first volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in September, 1973, and has been reprinted a number of times since. A revised and updated edition of the novel was released in 2007 by Ace Books. High Deryni was the third of Kurtz' Deryni novels to be published, and the final book in the Chronicles of the Deryni Trilogy. The next Deryni book to be published was Camber of Culdi, which details events that occur two centuries before High Deryni. However, the internal literary chronology of events in the Deryni series is continued in The Bishop's Heir.
A Midsummer Tempest is a 1974 alternative history fantasy novel by Poul Anderson. In 1975, it was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and the Nebula Award for Best Novel and won the Mythopoeic Award.
The Pusadian series is a sequence of fantasy stories by L. Sprague de Camp, begun in the early 1950s and written under the influence of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories. The series, also known as the Poseidonis series, prefigured the numerous sword & sorcery settings of the 1960s and 1970s.
The Sorcerer's Ship is a fantasy novel by Hannes Bok. It was first published in the December 1942 issue of the magazine Unknown, and was first published in book form in paperback by Ballantine Books as the ninth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in December 1969. The Ballantine edition includes an introduction by Lin Carter. The novel has also been published in translation in Polish and Russian. Like much of Bok's fiction, it is the story of a traveler "from our world who found [himself] in colourful, magic lands that are far more attractive than our own".
Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy is a study of the modern literary fantasy genre written by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books in June, 1973 as the fifty-eighth volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series; it was the only nonfiction entry in the series. The book was among the earliest full-length critical works devoted to fantasy writers and the history of fantasy. It was the third of three such studies by Carter, being preceded by Tolkien: A Look Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (1969) and Lovecraft: A Look Behind the "Cthulhu Mythos" (1972). These works, together with his editorial guidance of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, established Carter as an authority on the genre.
The Lost Continent: The Story of Atlantis (1899) is a fantasy novel by English author C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne. It is considered one of the classic fictional retellings of the story of the drowning of Atlantis, combining elements of the myth told by Plato with the earlier Greek myth concerning the survival of a universal flood and restoration of the human race by Deucalion.
The Banner of Joan is an epic poem by H. Warner Munn. It was first published in 1975 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 975 copies in honor of Munn's appearance as Guest of Honor at the first World Fantasy Convention. The poem concerns Joan of Arc and may be seen as an epilogue to Munn's Merlin novels.
The Well of the Unicorn is a fantasy novel by the American writer Fletcher Pratt. It was first published in 1948, under the pseudonym George U. Fletcher, in hardcover by William Sloane Associates. All later editions have appeared under the author's actual name with the exception of the facsimile reprint issued by Garland Publishing in 1975 for its Garland Library of Science Fiction series. The novel was first issued in paperback in 1967 by Lancer Books, which reprinted it in 1968; subsequent paperback editions were issued by Ballantine Books. The first Ballantine edition was in May 1976, and was reprinted three times, in 1979, 1980, and 1995. The most recent edition was a trade paperback in the Fantasy Masterworks series from Gollancz in 2001. The book has also been translated into German, and into Russian in 1992.
Bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction writer Lin Carter: