This book, from the beginning was a bit scary. I say scary in the fact that it is a very thick book. I did not let that stop me, and a beautiful story unfolded before me. It is true that this story has a slow beginning, but if you hang in there you won't want to put the book down. The setting, the characters, the whole meat of this book is will draw you the reader so into the book that you will find it hard to put the book down. I personally love fantasy books. If you don't, after this one maybe you'll reconsider. Basically we get to watch how merlin handles the task of raising the soon to be king Arthur. There are many tasks and obstacles that merlin and his apprentice must overcome. It comes to an action-packed conclusion that you should not miss. Take my word for it and read thisa book. Like I said, it starts off slow but it will go 90mph as soon as you reach the second part of the book.