This is a reprint of two much earlier stories by the author, 'King of the World's Edge' and 'The Ship from Atlantis', collected into one volume. As this reprint is dated after "Merlin's Ring" by the same author, I began reading "Merlin's Ring" first, then realised it was a sequel so stopped reading that in favour of reading this book first - unfortunately the early section of the sequel contains massive spoilers for the second story in the present volume.

Most of the present book is taken up by the story of Ventidius Varro, a soldier in the army of Roman Britain who witnessed the gradual withdrawal of the legions back to Rome. He tells, forty years after the event, of how he had fought in the war against the Saxon invasions, following Arthur of legendary fame. When Arthur was fatally wounded, Myrdhinn (the Welsh name for Merlin) arranged for his body to be entombed in a safe place until he would revive some time in the far future to lead the defence of the British. Ventidius, Myrdhinn, and various others from Arthur's army embarked on a ship and sailed to a land they believe to be a haven: the New World/North America.

Initially meeting friendly people on an island, they are attacked by hostile fishmen on the mainland who kill some of their number and carry off a Saxon who had become part of the crew. That character later returns to cause some havoc. The ship is sunk soon after and many of the crew drown, and the survivors, Ventidius and some of his fellow soldiers, are taken captive by local native Americans. Gradually they learn that these people are oppressed themselves, and Ventidius and Myrrhdin form friendships which will stand them in good stead later on. They are drawn into the conflicts between various tribal groups.

The bulk of the story is a version of the early history of the Americas, including the Mayans who are called Maians and portrayed as very bloodthirsty and oppressive, a somewhat different take on them than I've heard before, and the people who later become the Aztecs who seem more deserving of that reputation. There is a lot of fighting and both Ventidius and Myrrhdin are later viewed as gods. This story has a brief 'frame' which tops and tails it and in which it is explained that this is the first person account of a Roman, uncovered following a storm at Key West and translated by a scholar. Rather incredibly, it was meant to have been delivered by the son of Ventidius, Merlin's godson, to the emperor of Rome in the belief that the Romans require a safe haven to retreat from the barbarians besetting what is left of the empire. I found it hard to believe that the emperor would be expected to read a long novel just to be given that message!

The second story in the book is about Ventidius' son, Gwalchmai, who goes to deliver the message ('The King of the World's Edge') but soon loses it. He is becalmed and, desperate for moisture, drinks a potion of Merlin's (Merlin is only called Myrrdhin in the first story) which he realises later is the substance that his godfather had doled out in occasional drops to prolong his own life. By drinking the potion in one go, Gwalchmai becomes not only long lived but also has great powers of recuperation.

He comes across a strange swan shaped metal vessel, becalmed like his own, which is far in advance of current technology, and turns out to be a survivor of Atlantis. Aboard is a metal statue of a young woman, inhabited by the transferred spirit of Corenice, a young Atlantean woman who had died after the loss of Atlantis, and the two eventually fall in love. But after they help a community who are being attacked by a decadent remnant of Atlantean civilisation, disaster befalls them. I found this second segment a bit boring in places and there were too many farfetched things to have to suspend disbelief about, not least that the Atlanteans were below sealevel and preserved by a forcefield but had nevertheless learned enough of what was going on in the outside world to have been able to send fighting men to the conflicts in the first story. Corenice also has the ability to send her consciousness into other living things and she teaches Gwalchmai how to do this, a skill which becomes crucially useful in the follow up volume.

Despite all the stories about battles, this book is a bit more lively than the sequel as the main part of it is told in first person. The author has a tendency to headhop and act as an omniscient narrator when writing in the third person, which is shown in 'The Ship from Atlantis' and the sequel. So I am awarding it a 3 star rating overall. ( )

I remember reading this series as a post-adolescent geek. The story of Merlin’s trip to the Western hemisphere after Arther's death hooked me. I don’t know if I would enjoy it nearly as much thirty years later. ( )