A Man of Our Kind FAQ

These questions are intended for people who have already read the book. If you have not read the book, you will encounter SPOILERS for this book, but not for any other books in the series.

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Why did you completely rewrite the first book?

Short answer: It sucked.

If you weren’t aware, the first book of the series was originally called Our Man on Earth and its main character was named Meylinde. Vortigern was not in it at all. I had a concept that it might be cool to start with a quiet, intimate book that was almost completely unlike what anyone would think of as an Arthurian story. 

I had a lot of process questions to resolve in that first book, like how faithful I was going to be to the actual language of the Medieval sources, where and how I could make changes, and how to add enough to make it compelling without losing fidelity to the sources. I was never quite thrilled with how it turned out. Also, the first book in a series has to be great, and I never felt that Our Man on Earth was up to standard.

I also felt that by Book 4, I had fumbled my way to a writing style I thought was both good and appropriate to the material, and those first three books were not in that style, and could benefit from it. When I found another source that detailed Vortigern’s time before meeting Merlin (originally not in Our Man on Earth at all), I realized that the story really starts there; we need to see how the country fell into ruin, how the Saxons began their invasion, how Pendragon and Uther went into hiding. This would make it a much smoother transition into Book 2 and not the massive shift in genre it had been before. So I added all the Vortigern parts, changed Meylinde to Adhan, and gave the entire thing a big rewrite. I am now quite proud of it, and feel it’s an appropriate starting place for the series.

Do I have to read A Man of Our Kind if I’ve already read Our Man on Earth?

No. If you are past Book 2 in the series, nothing in the revised book is going to fundamentally change the story going forward, so in terms of following the series, there is no need to go back. The main difference with A Man of Our Kindis the addition of Vortigern’s tale, which sets up how the Saxons came to Britain and the situation leading into Book 2. The story of Merlin’s mother is also made more vivid and enriched, but the bare bones of the story are the same. However, if you do go back, there are enough differences that I don’t think reading the new version will feel like a retread.

Why did you change the name of Merlin’s mother?

I had invented the name Meylinde because I could not find a name for Merlin’s mother in any of the sources, so I made one up. It turns out, however, she was named in a very obscure version, so according to my own rules I was required to change her name to match. It took me a while, but I like the name now, especially once I learned the pronunciation; not Ad-HAN, but the softer and more beautiful AH-daan. I feel that the new book is a much fleeter, more fun and rich reading experience that guides the reader right into the series, which is the point. We’ll miss you, Meylinde!

Is this a Christian series?

No. I am not Christian (nor am I against Christianity), and the novels are not intended to promote any one religion or belief. There is a lot of discussion of Christianity in this particular book, because Adhan’s antagonist is the literal devil and her salvation the Christian God, but further books in the series will be less focused on these elements. 

However, in a saga that includes the quest for the Holy Grail and which is kicked off by Christ’s hallowing of Hell, Christianity is very much a core part of the story. I see one major theme of the the overall saga as the triumph of Christianity over the many pagan gods that were observed during the early days of Britain, and the sources are very clear that King Arthur is backed by the Christian church and supports Christianity’s spread across Britain. But I see the series as viewing the transformation of religions as one of the circumstances the saga plays out against, not an endorsement of any one belief system.

Does Vortigern and Vortimer’s story really play out this way?

No, because in the source legends, Vortimer barely appears before he goes to war on his father, then immediately dies. I enhanced Vortimer’s presence in the novel and his relationship with his father in order to bring more humanity to Vortigern and give us a way to understand his character. Also, if Vortimer is going to declare war on his own father, that seems like a major story element that deserves some attention. In the legend, Merlin plays no role in what eventually happens, and Vortigern does not make the suggestion that he does to Rowena at the end. Those elements were added to give shape to the story and deepen the character relationships.

Are the midwives as they appear in the book?

No, in the sources they have no names and no distinctive personalities. They only get a tiny bit of dialogue, when they say they want to hear Merlin speak again and that they will have to let the judge know of it. The section in the tower was challenging… imagine writing a long section based only on patiently waiting. Not very exciting, right? So I thought it was a good idea to differentiate and humanize the midwives, which is why I fleshed them out into Farah and Rossa. Plus, I wanted Adhan to be instructive in Merlin’s moral education, and Farah made an easy target for him to choose, one that Adhan could warn him off from. 

Is Merlin’s father the devil in all versions of his story?

No. In the earliest mentions of the character of Merlin, he is a wild man of the forest. In Geoffery of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain (1136) his father is a nameless incubus. It is not until the Vulgate Cycle (1215) that he is said to be the son of the Christian devil. I chose this version of the story because it adds complication to Merlin’s character and helps make the entire saga—with the later quest for the Holy Grail—more of a cohesive narrative. For more information, check out Who is Merlin? His legendary origins.

Will we see Adhan again?

You will. But in the legend, she is unceremoniously dropped from the story, never to be seen or heard of again. That is probably a result of these stories being developed at different times by different authors, which also results in us never hearing again that the entire Arthurian saga apparently springs from a failed attempt by the devil to control humankind. After we’ve spent so much time with her, and she is so important to the saga, I couldn’t bear to just drop her, so I wracked my brain to find a way to keep her in the story while still remaining faithful to the overall spirit of the material.