The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider (Emory Merlin #1)

Reviewed by Sam!

What I drank prior: been drinking through dinner cause I’m at WORLDCON!!! I’ve had several beers, two glasses of wine, and a cider and a half.

Goodreads Overview:

Welcome to the great kingdom of Camelot. Prince Arthur’s a depressed botanist who would rather marry a library than a princess, Lancelot’s been demoted to castle guard after a terrible misunderstanding, and nothing is going according to plan. Then Arthur accidentally pulls the sword from the stone (in his defense, he was drunk and mostly kidding), and now everyone’s convinced he’s some prophesied hero.

Emry Merlin is stuck in her small town. Her father, the legendary court wizard, disappeared years ago, and Emry’s been peddling theater tricks to make ends meet. When a royal messenger arrives summoning her far less talented twin brother to serve as Prince Arthur’s right-hand wizard, Emry is understandably upset. But after Emmett becomes indisposed thanks to a bad spell, Emry disguises herself as her brother and travels to the royal court to impersonate him until they can switch.

Studying magic at the castle is everything Emry hoped for. But life in King Uther’s court is full of scandals, lies, and backstabbing courtiers. What’s a teen wizard masquerading as her twin brother to do? Other than fall for the handsome prince, stir trouble with the foppish Lord Gawain, offend Princess Guinevere, and make herself indispensable to the future of Camelot?

When the truth comes out with disastrous consequences, Emry has to decide whether she’ll risk everything for the boy she loves, or give up her potential to become the greatest wizard Camelot has ever known.

Channeling the modern humor of A Knight’s Tale, bestselling author Robyn Schneider creates a Camelot that becomes the ultimate teen rom-com hotspot in this ultra-fresh take on the Arthurian legend.

Drunk Overview: so this is the story of Emry Merlin, Emrys’s daughter. Emrys bring the Merlin we know and love. Emry is the woman of a fraternal male female twinship of Our Merlin and she clearly knows magic better than her bro. Her bro is summoned to Camelot to serve as Arthur’s mage but he gets himself in to trouble so Emry has to impersonate her bro and go in his place. You can imagine the romance/shenanigans that go with all that…

Spoiler-free Thoughts: you all know how much I love my Arthurians so I have very high standards… I was very happy with the results.

Characters: so we meet some of our fave characters like Arthur, Gwen, Lance, and Gawain… I really like how the author takes some of the lore that gives us wiggle room and Palaus with it. Like Gawain is supposed to be the most honorable but because he overcame something,,, this something was totally logical in story and didn’t give the myth injustice but also allowed him to sort of be a villain for a sec? Also, what would it be like to be Merlin’s DAUGHTWR?! No one knows, but this is an interesting imagining.

Plot: the plot seemed a bit disjointed for a bit… but it all came together for the Big Finale and I was not disappointed.

Writing Style: it wasn’t something worth commenting on like. I don’t remember enough which means it was neither the best or the worst thing ever.

World Building: I’m actually excited for more?! Who am I?!

What to pair it with: this is your fave bottle of wine, but trying it for the first time… like you aren’t sure what you’re gonna get but you’re happy with it.

Rating: 4/5

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam