From Publishers Weekly
HThe equally suspenseful follow-up to Springer's I Am Mordred again reinterprets Arthurian legend through the eyes of an archetypal villain, this time sorceress Morgan le Fay. In stylish prose, Morgan narrates her transformation from a willful, neglected child to a complex young womanAwho ends up embracing the ugly destiny she has always resisted: "I was the one who would bring down King Arthur.... Damn my fate and damn my future." As a six-year-old child she witnesses an act that she would only later come to understand: King Uther Pendragon, driven by lust for Morgan's mother, murders the Duke of Cornwall (Morgan's father) and, aided by Merlin's magic, disguises himself as the Duke in order to enter his widow's bedchambersAthe future King Arthur would be their yield. Thus, Morgan's filial jealousyAand her fate as one of the "fey" or fairy realm (her mismatched eyes are a tip-off)Alead to her dark deeds. Though she is not always likable, Morgan's power is seductive, and readers will at times summon sympathy for her and her plight. Springer parcels out plenty of magic and adventure to keep fantasy readers hooked. Some parts of the story may be challenging to those unfamiliar with Camelot, but for fans of The Sword in the Stone and other Round Table retellings, Morgan's side of the story will prove engrossing and thought-provoking. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Gr 7-10-As a girl of seven, Morgan has reason to resent her younger half-brother. Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, killed her father and carried off her mother, Igraine the Beautiful. Furthermore, Igraine acts as though Arthur is her favorite child. As she grows into a teenager, Morgan accepts the fact that she is a fay, one of the immortal demigods of legendary Britain. She becomes a powerful sorceress but is undecided about her fate, until the death of her beloved and a final slight by her mother wound her soul beyond recovery. Her long-held resentment turns to hatred, and she realizes she is "the one who would bring down King Arthur." The strength of this story lies in its characterizations, especially of the fierce young Morgan, the mystical fays of Avalon, and the demented Igraine. However, it does not stand alone, since parts of Morgan's story that have been foreshadowed throughout the book are not played out in its final pages. Some of Morgan's tale is also told in I Am Mordred (Philomel, 1998), and her story will seem more complete to readers who enjoy the two books together.-Beth Wright, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, VTCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Gr. 6-10. Some tales must be reimagined and retold endlessly, so close is their grip on the human heart. Springer follows I Am Mordred with a look into the twisted darkness of Morgan, before she became le Fay. In this first-person telling, Morgan recounts her life from a deep well of bitterness and self-pity. She remembers her father's wretched death. She torments her gentle older sister, Morgause, and never quite appreciates the nurse Ongwynn who protects her. And the one person whom she truly adores, the lovely knight Thomas, she shackles with so many fetters that he can only break free to his death. Springer wields language like a sword, and both blood and flowers spring to these pages in vivid hues. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Morgan le Fay, often portrayed as the woman whose goal in life was to ruin King Arthur, gets her say in this mischievous novel by Nancy Springer. Springer covers le Fay's life from approximately ages 6-19. She doesn't hesitate to call attention to Morgan's troublemaking nature or her search for great magical power. Springer's le Fay is a woman who comes into her own by acknowledging her dark side and giving into it. Compelled by some selfish need, Morgan does make it her goal to ruin Arthur, and this novel shows us why.

Nanny Ongwynn raises Morgan and her sister Morgause after their father is killed by King Pendragon and their mother, Igraine, is forced to marry the king. After Pendragon is killed, Queen Igraine becomes a prize for the next king, while local lords war over the throne. The two girls, being the daughters of Igraine, must flee or face death, lest in the future they bear sons who will seek to claim the throne. Nanny Ongwynn sequesters the two girls in her country home where she teaches them to read, write, and learn the old ways of the land. But Morgan gets restless and soon leaves to heed a calling from Avalon. Along the way, Morgan learns what a violent time she lives in, finds love, and comes face-to-face with great magic.

It is a testament to Springer's novelistic skill that she is able to breathe new life into the tired Arthurian legend. I highly recommend I Am Morgan le Fay for fantasy fans of all ages -- young and old alike. (Sierra Phillips)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Morgan is a willful, mischievous girl with mismatched eyes of emerald and violet. A girl of magic, whose childhood ends when King Uther Pendragon murders her father and steals away her mother. Then Pendragon dies and, in a warring country with no one to claim the throne, there are many who want Morgan dead. But Morgan has power, and magic. She is able to change the course of history, to become other, to determine her own fate-and, thus the fate of Britain. She will become Morgan le Fay.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

HThe equally suspenseful follow-up to Springer's I Am Mordred again reinterprets Arthurian legend through the eyes of an archetypal villain, this time sorceress Morgan le Fay. In stylish prose, Morgan narrates her transformation from a willful, neglected child to a complex young woman--who ends up embracing the ugly destiny she has always resisted: "I was the one who would bring down King Arthur.... Damn my fate and damn my future." As a six-year-old child she witnesses an act that she would only later come to understand: King Uther Pendragon, driven by lust for Morgan's mother, murders the Duke of Cornwall (Morgan's father) and, aided by Merlin's magic, disguises himself as the Duke in order to enter his widow's bedchambers--the future King Arthur would be their yield. Thus, Morgan's filial jealousy--and her fate as one of the "fey" or fairy realm (her mismatched eyes are a tip-off)--lead to her dark deeds. Though she is not always likable, Morgan's power is seductive, and readers will at times summon sympathy for her and her plight. Springer parcels out plenty of magic and adventure to keep fantasy readers hooked. Some parts of the story may be challenging to those unfamiliar with Camelot, but for fans of The Sword in the Stone and other Round Table retellings, Morgan's side of the story will prove engrossing and thought-provoking. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

Those who are familiar with Morgan leFay, the treacherous witch of the Arthurian legend, are in for a grand awakening. For in this novel, the second in the "A Tale from Camelot" series, Ms. Springer digs deep into Morgan leFay's past in order to discover the motivation that compelled her to bring down the great King Arthur, her half brother. The second daughter of a king, Morgan finds a magic stone called a milpreve on the same day that her father is murdered by a rival king, Uther Pendragon. Pendragon takes Morgan's mother as his own wife, and she bears him a son, Arthur. Knowing that Morgan and her sister, Morgause's lives are in danger, their nurse secrets them away. Years later, Morgan is summoned to the mystical isle of Avalon, where she learns to perfect her magical powers. Over the years, Morgan sees everything she has ever loved—her father, her mother, her favorite pony and her beloved knight, Thomas—ruthlessly taken away from her. It is the author's special ability to delve into the psychological workings of Morgan's mind that make this book a worthy addition to Arthurian literature. 2001, Philomel/Penguin Putnam, $25.99. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Christopher Moning

VOYA

Morgan is six years old when her father, the Duke of Cornwall, is killed and her mother, Igraine, is taken away by her father's enemy, Uther Pendragon. Forced to flee Tintagel when Uther dies, Morgan hides with her elder sister, Morgause, at Caer Ongwynn, the home of the nurse, until Morgan is summoned to Avalon. Here she finds Igraine ever-grieving for her son, Arthur, who was taken away as a baby by Merlin. The strong character of Morgan￯﾿ﾽthe girl with fey eyes￯﾿ﾽis revealed as she learns to use the power of her druid stone and as she makes those willful choices that lead her to become the powerful sorceress, Morgan le Fay. In her imaginative treatment of Morgan le Fay's earlier years, Springer remains true to the story of Uther and Igraine as told in the first chapters of Sir Thomas Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur. In a story brimming with passion, Morgan expresses through her first-person narrative her feelings for her true love, Thomas, her desperate need for her mother's love, and her burning jealousy of Arthur, whom she vows to destroy. In an epilogue years later, Igraine thinks how Arthur should have retained the friendship of her fey daughter, whom she suspects of harming Arthur, as Morgan, unseen, swoops overhead in the shape of the fateful bird, the Morrigan. The descriptive settings, including the strange loveliness of Avalon, make real a realm in which magic and myth, faerie and knight, love and treachery, and the blood of battle coexist. Springer creates a powerful story written in beautiful prose accompanied by stanzas of poetry that evoke the romance of medieval legend. A companion volume to I Am Mordred (Philomel, 1998/VOYA August 1998), this book should appeal to teens who arefans of Camelot and its lasting magic. VOYA CODES: 5Q 3P J (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2001, Philomel/Penguin, 224p. Ages 13 to 15. Reviewer: Hilary Crew VOYA, February 2001 (Vol. 23, No.6)

KLIATT

So many writers through the ages have taken the Arthurian legends as starting points for their own ideas, and here Springer adds a riveting take on one character found throughout the legends: Morgan le Fay. She first wrote about Mordred, one of the other "bad guys," and made him fascinating and understandable in the ALA Best Book for YAs, I am Mordred. Morgan le Fay is an even larger part of the legend, and Springer stays with her early years, up to the time Arthur becomes king when Morgan is in her early 20s. Springer's story begins in Tintagel, when Morgan is seven years old, at the death of her father, a brutal murder arranged by the king who wants to bed Morgan's mother. Such is Arthur's own beginning, as he is conceived as a result of these evil machinations. It is clear how this is the beginning of Morgan's jealousy and lack of love for Arthur, her half-brother. Morgan and her sister Morgause find refuge with their old nurse, who is not what she seems as she shelters them in a hidden place away from the power struggles that would destroy them because of their lineage. She teaches them about the Old Ways, and how to read and write, and Morgan knows that she herself is one of the Fays, creatures who are not mortal. When Morgan is 17, she is pulled to Avalon by forces she cannot ignore, and there she finds a different life, and her defeated mother, who is still pining for her lost child, Arthur, and cannot find any love left in her for her daughters. There is an overriding love story that binds this together, causing Morgan to appear even more vulnerable since her love for Thomas, a mortal, is a love that cannot find any fulfillment, mostly because of her nature. Thomas's devotionfor Morgan began when she was a small child and he helped the little girls flee with their nurse; it continues when she journeys with him to Avalon and then must send him away because he doesn't belong there in that magical realm centered around females. Springer makes the mythological elements essential to the story, such as Cernunnos, the antlered consort of the moon goddess, and Merlin, the sorcerer who arranges the deception that produces Arthur, present in her narrative. Her language is on the poetic level of great myth telling: "I awoke sobbing, but it was not just a dream. The faces remained before me in the darkness of my chamber, shimmering like the moons and stars on Merlin's midnight velvet cloak, but—but I did not understand...." The mysterious, lovely cover of the beautiful Morgan—with one eye purple and one eye green, touching the magic stone at her throat—and a castle looming in the background will pull in all those readers who love a good fantasy. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2001, Penguin Putnam/Philomel, 227p, 99-052847, $17.99. Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Claire Rosser; May 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 3)

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10-As a girl of seven, Morgan has reason to resent her younger half-brother. Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, killed her father and carried off her mother, Igraine the Beautiful. Furthermore, Igraine acts as though Arthur is her favorite child. As she grows into a teenager, Morgan accepts the fact that she is a fay, one of the immortal demigods of legendary Britain. She becomes a powerful sorceress but is undecided about her fate, until the death of her beloved and a final slight by her mother wound her soul beyond recovery. Her long-held resentment turns to hatred, and she realizes she is "the one who would bring down King Arthur." The strength of this story lies in its characterizations, especially of the fierce young Morgan, the mystical fays of Avalon, and the demented Igraine. However, it does not stand alone, since parts of Morgan's story that have been foreshadowed throughout the book are not played out in its final pages. Some of Morgan's tale is also told in I Am Mordred (Philomel, 1998), and her story will seem more complete to readers who enjoy the two books together.-Beth Wright, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, VT Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. Read all 6 "From The Critics" >

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