A Man of Our Kind: Merlin’s Origin Story

This bold new retelling of the actual Arthurian legend begins with the strength of one woman—and the power of her incredible son; Merlin, King Arthur’s legendary wizard.

Author Scott Telek introduces the first book.

The Swithen Starts Here

Adapted from the original legend of Merlin as found in the Prose Merlin and Vulgate Cycle of the 1200s, our decidedly modern reworking of the legend of King Arthur starts small and intimate, with this surprisingly tender mother-son story.

The devil wants a man on earth to lure people into temptation. He chooses an innocent woman to bring his child into the world. That woman, Adhan, soon finds her life turned into a nightmare as a demon picks off her family one by one, drawing ever closer to her. Soon the demon’s work is done—in a time when an illegitimate child incurs the punishment of death—and she is desperate to save her own life while thwarting the devil’s plans for her child. But the demon who attacked her didn’t count on her indomitable strength—or the unique gifts of her incredible son… a child that will become Merlin, the greatest wizard of all time.

Elsewhere, evil mastermind Vortigern treacherously twists the natural succession to install himself as king, sending young heirs Pendragon and Uther (King Arthur’s future father) into hiding. When armies of Saxons arrive seeking to settle and slowly conquer Britain, Vortigern allows them in, even marrying the daughter of their leader. As the tyrant king kills this person and betrays that one, it becomes not a matter of when he will be overthrown, but which of his rapidly-multiplying enemies will do it.

This new novel is a completely rewritten version of “Our Man on Earth,” the former Swithen Book One, and includes the Vortigern story for the first time while completely transforming the previous book’s contents, including changing Merlin’s mother’s name from Meylinde to Adhan, a name located in an obscure Arthurian source.

Combining elements of horror, fantasy, action and unexpected humor, this novel contrasts an intimate tale of faith and mother-son tenderness with the violent story of a tyrant king running Britain asunder in his quest for power. It brings the world of Britain in the year 450, when magic was as real as the air we breathe, to life for the present day—and offers fresh insights into the characters and stories we thought we knew so well.

“I do want to say is how very powerful the end of the novel is. …one would think Merlin perfect in his being all-knowing, but this is not the case. He is logical, but he is not quite human—he lacks emotional intelligence and human compassion. The conversations between him and his mother on this topic are the culmination of the book and bring the story to a powerful close. For me, this was the best part of the story because it showed true human emotion, character development, and the humanity of the characters. Too often, the Arthurian characters become stick figures in modern retellings but that is far from the case here.”
—Tyler Tichelaar, Author, “Children of Arthur”

“Once Merlin is born, it starts getting fun, and once he can talk, it gets really fun–you have this talking baby that knows everything… The whole thing is different than the “king arthur fiction” you know, it’s not swords and knights and “forsooth, milady!” this is a very personal story, and one of the cool things about it is that you just get involved with the characters, and then you realize that THAT is MERLIN. If you like Merlin, or King Arthur stories, I would give it a try, because it’s different than most, rather than the typical magic and sweep of history and all that, this just shows them as real people.”
—RC, Amazon Review

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