The Other Merlin is very straightforwardly BBC Merlin fanfiction with a plot taken from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night combined with Tamora Pierce's first two Song of the Lioness novel. Specifically, it is aimed at people who shipped Merlin/Arthur, Viola/Orsino, and Alanna/Jonathan, as the main relationship here is a combination of all three. This is a compliment. In fact, basically all of my issues with this book could have been fixed if Robyn Schneider had stayed closer to those three source texts.

I personally didn't mind the anachronistic dialogue. It fit with the vibes of the story. If you went into this novel with any expectation of historical accuracy or sticking closer to the most typical versions of the Arthurian canon, I fear it is simply not the book for you.

I really enjoyed Emry as a protagonist. She is a strong young woman who is friends with boys and engages in multiple traditionally masculine activities (acting, wizardry, etc.) but who also engages with the other women in her life in a variety of ways. She is bisexual. She is incredibly powerful but not without limits. I will definitely read the sequels at some point because I want to see where her story goes.

WHY WAS GUINEVERE STRAIGHT? Truly this choice made no sense to me and almost ruined parts of the book. Like I get the direction her attraction goes in due to the Twelfth Night comparisons, but making her sapphic would have been so much more compelling and much more in line with Twelfth Night! Also tragic that any Guinevere/Morgana shipping would be problematic in this particular setting. Booooo.

There is some racial diversity in the cast, but there's a white default to the descriptions that I dearly hope will change in the following installments.

I struggle with chosen one stories generally, but I am cautiously optimistic about how this one will end up going.

Loved that Lancelot was gay. Just wish that more central characters had identified as queer on page in addition to Emry and Lance. Specifically Guinevere, but I would take any side sapphic content at this point. Please.

Overall very fun, if not quite as good as it could have been.