The Crystal Cave plunges the reader into the 5th century Britain, a country in chaos and division after the Roman withdrawal, where minor kings plot against each other in draughty fog-bound settlements.
In the story there is a character called Merlin. He is potrayed as the illegitimate son of a South Wales princess. As his young life is precariously in balance as the shifting tide of events wash over his homeland, he becomes aware at the earliest age of a great natural gift---- The Sight.
Against the background of invasion and imprisonment, wars and conquest, we see his emergence into manhood equipped with learning and wisdom far in advance of his years and his time (which some were to call magic), and his dramatic role in the New Beginning—the coming of Arthur.
It is a very vivid and enthralling novel by the author.