Most of us know Merlin, King Arthur, and Morgan LeFay.  We remember the knights of the round table, Camelot, and happy ever after.  But, that was all set in medieval times.  There were wizards, witches, royals, castles, and dragons.  There was magic and wander, wars and hostile kingdom takeovers.  But, there were no known instances of the greenhouse effect or global warming.  No one even imagined there would be a need to fear radiation poisoning or the threat to planetary extinction due to climate changes.  That was then, pre-Devastation and before Yesterday's Magic changed everything.

In Yesterday's Magic, global warming is only one indication that the legend has been rewritten.  Pamela F. Service's sequel to Tomorrow's Magic, finds a young Merlin, known as Earl Bedwas to his friends Heather McKenna and Wellington "Welly" Jones, confronting a new "ice age" and pursued by the ancient sorceress, Morgan LeFay.  Set five hundred years after a nuclear war-the Devastation-which brought on a nuclear winter caused social collapse and destroyed almost all life and civilization on the planet.

Merlin (or Earl) seeks the entrance to Avalon, while aiding King Arthur in reuniting the realm.  This new "ice age" resulting from the nuclear winter has wiped out entire nations, leaving humanity in detached areas with technology disappearing, ice sheets encroaching, sea levels lowering, and all plant and animal life in or near extinction.  Those not completely gone are either part of a primitive kingdom at war with an opposing but equally as primitive kingdom-or, they have mutated into beings whose races are unrecognizable to those remaining humans untouched by this terrible malady. This is a twenty-sixth century Britain few, if any, could have predicted.

Everything is not gloom and doom, however.  Into this maelstrom of mayhem and destruction a wedding occurs, uniting King Arthur and his beloved Margaret, Queen of Scotland in holy matrimony.  Then, amidst the festivities, Heather-beloved of Earl/Merlin-mysteriously vanishes, the only clue a now corroded and pitted, ancient thermos bottle and lunch box.  Gifted to Heather from Margaret the day before, inscribed as it had been with her own name, Heather, both she and the Queen-bride-to-be decided it must be for her.  No one expected it to be the source of her abduction less than twenty-four hours later.  Merlin determines Morgan's hand was at work, though he's not sure exactly how this foul magic got into the seemingly harmless items given with strictly good intentions to the hapless Heather.

To rescue his intended, the rejuvenated wizard, along with mutual friend Welly, and a courageous newly knighted Royal Guard aptly named Troll enlist the aid of the white dragon, star of local myth.  The problem:  this dragon had to be awakened.  Once wakened, and bound by honor to Merlin, the trio learns that their flying mount is a female named Blanche, who has to constantly be reminded she is not to eat her riders.  But, once she undertakes this heroic task of saving Heather (whose magical powers are just beginning to strengthen, the reason Morgan has abducted her) and maybe even the new world, Blanche warms to her duties and pledges herself to the safety of her charges.

The round-the-world pursuit of the evil sorceress, Morgan LeFay, to find and free Heather leads her fearless knights on a trek from Avalon to regions above and below ground.  They encounter foes in the form of mutant humanity, a Hindu goddess of death and her demented minions, as well as creatures escaped from the Otherworld.  Battles are bravely fought on charred, barren land or in mid-air, finally leading our heroes to a land where they find hope that a devastated Earth might yet survive the nuclear holocaust.

Yesterday's Magic is not very difficult to follow, even if the reader did not read its predecessor, Tomorrow's Magic.  I found it mostly engaging, earning it 3-1/2 stars out of 5.  This is a tale that can be as captivating to the adult reader as it could be for a nine or ten year old.  I can joyfully recommend this 2008 sequel by Pamela F. Service to both age groups with no concern for inappropriate language or content.  Read it as a companion to Fire Star, Stolen Magic, Prelude to a Change of Mind, Dark Dreamweaver, and A Distant Magic.  They all have magical and/or time travel and Britain-U.S. themes in common. Each gives the reader a feeling of wonder, taking them to times and lands filled with fantastical dreams and imagination. Go ahead and imagine, again.


Enjoy! Happy Holidays, and thanks for dropping in to read, rate, and leave me a line or two in comments! :)




Originally published on curled up with a good kid's bookat http://www.curledupkids.com/ © Edwyne Rouchelle, 2008

Recommended: Yes