The Sons of Constance: Merlin, Vortiger, Pendragon and Uther

Merlin takes to the national stage as he moves into his familiar role as advisor to kings—and begins setting the pieces in place that will result in the birth of Arthur.

Discover the legendary story of Merlin’s rise to power

Author Scott Telek walks us through a preview of the book.

In The Sons of Constance Merlin, at seven years old, moves into his familiar role as advisor to kings. The tyrant Vortiger has been told that only the blood of a fatherless boy—Merlin, of course—can protect him against being overthrown by the Sons of Constance. They are the brothers Pendragon and Uther, who fled the country as boys, when Vortiger killed the king. Now they are returning to claim what’s theirs—the rightful rule of Britain.

When they do return, Merlin takes to Pendragon’s side, and saves Uther’s life. He offers the brothers advantages they could never have on their own, but at the same time, they’re never sure whether Merlin is their savior—or if they’re just pawns in his plan to bend the country to his will. When an unwise man who tests Merlin’s abilities receives the harshest possible punishment, both brothers have to wonder exactly who they have gotten involved with.

Filled with action, battles, magic, macabre mysteries and devious court intrigue, The Sons of Constance is a fun, propulsive but thoughtful adventure. It contains a vicious battle between dragons, mass-scale supernatural events, the assembly of Stonehenge and the creation of the famed Round Table—all while Merlin sets the pieces in place that will result in the birth of Arthur.

“If you weren’t fascinated by how Telek depicted Merlin in the first novel, I guarantee you will be here… Vortigern has always been a rather undeveloped figure in Arthurian legend, but here he comes to life as a fully-rounded individual. Telek has created the most real and sympathetic version of Vortigern to date…. Merlin is the star of the novel, although the depiction of the three kings who precede Arthur are, in my opinion, Telek’s triumph simply because they have been sketchy and not fully detailed in most Arthurian works to date.”
—Tyler Tichelaar, Author, “Children of Arthur”

“I really liked this book. It creates an atmospheric world filled with nature, danger, beauty and magic, then lets you relax within this world as you read… Between the two books we can start to see how the author is tilting the story even as he remains faithful to the legends, and what he’s doing is creating credible—and very shaded and sometimes dark—psychologies for each of these people that bring them to life and make them relatable, while also supplying all the majesty and grand sweep we expect from King Arthur stories.”
—Judy K. Jolliffe, Amazon Review

Read all Amazon reviews of The Sons of Constance