The Eternal Flame

Merlin #11

by T.A. Barron, David Elliot (Illustrator)

Avalon, the great tree world connecting the earth and the heavens, is about to be destroyed. The warlord Rhita Gawr is bent on conquest--and using an army of deathless warriors, a corrupted crystal, and a plague of arrogance and greed to succeed. Three unlikely heroes are Avalon's only hope. Tamwyn, the wilderness guide, must travel the secret pathway to the stars. Elli, the brave young priestess, must defeat a terrible sorcerer in a realm of utter darkness. And Scree, the eagleman, must lead his winged people to do what seems impossible . . .

This spectacular final volume of T. A. Barron's bestselling trilogy combines gripping adventure with profound ideas about the powerful connections between humanity and the world.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Arthurian, Middle Grade, Adventure, High Fantasy

377 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2006

About the author

T. A. Barron is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of more than 30 highly acclaimed books, including the Merlin Saga, being developed into a feature film by Disney.

Awarded the de Grummond Medallion for “lifetime contribution to the field of children’s and young adult literature,” he also serves on a variety of environmental and educational NGO boards. In 2001, he founded the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, a national award for outstanding young people.

A lifelong adventurer and conservationist, T. A. Barron draws inspiration from the natural world, especially the mountains of Colorado, where he lives.

Follow along on Instagram or TikTok and sign up for his newsletter  — he loves staying in touch with his fans!

Reviews

[Miss Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

You see this scenario often: the “rite of passage” scenario coupled with the “epic quest.” A world/way of life is threatened – often by larger than life supernatural villains – and the only hope lies in destinies of the unlikeliest characters. There’s something quite extraordinary about the Ordinary Hero: the David Complex, as I like to call it (David vs. Goliath, anyone?) and though in all honesty it’s a scenario we’ve seen countless times (and very likely can predict the outcomes), we still get swept away into the heart-stopping action.

- This was The Eternal Flame. Like I said, the outline of this story is one we’re more than likely familiar with, but the heart of the book manages to keep everything fresh and new. I really don’t want to say a lot about the plot for fear of dropping spoilers... I will say that in the proud tradition of Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Prydain and other classic fantasy works, The Great Tree of Avalon revolves around the transformation of ordinary individuals into extraordinary heroes, complete with vivid, descriptive scenery, detailed backstory, a lush ensemble of characters, and insightful moral truths. Yes, this series is entertaining, but it is so much more than just that – it’s not forgetful, it’s not superficial, it doesn’t leave you feeling strangely empty...it has *substance*.

n a nutshell, the world of Avalon is made of up one great tree: the roots of the tree make up the seven realms, the bark of the tree are the mountains and valleys, and the tips of the branches hold the stars. So it is therefore very possible (and indeed, the goal of the main character) to climb to the stars. As always, careful attention was given to detail!

Each of the principal characters: Tamwyn, Elli, Scree, and Brionna, each have their own perspectives and their own separate missions to complete. Even though Tamwyn is the most important character, I liked how Barron paid attention to the others, as well. I personally would have liked for them to have been reunited or something, since this was the last book—it just felt a little weird that they were all by themselves…but that’s entirely a “me” thing. You don’t have to worry about “flat” characters in the Avalon series, that’s for sure! Well, the villains are flat, but they’re villains, come on!

Ending: I will say that I was a bit…I don’t know, less than amused with the ending. Not ‘disappointed’ or anything. I actually liked the way the story was resolved, it just seemed to end really abruptly. Like, I turned the page, thinking there would be more, but it went to the appendices. I have to admit, I think I blurted out a “what the?!?!” just because I was not expecting that. So the ending of The Eternal Flame definitely could have been better. I guess I’ve just read too many good series endings in the past (Return of the King, The High King, Deathly Hallows, *The Last Freaking Awesome Olympian*) and was expecting too much, maybe. Whatever.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this series when I was in middle school. It is easily one of the most magical, mesmerizing series I have ever read. A decade later and I'm still having dreams that I am Merlin's heir. Or discovering secret passageways to the stars. Or that I can turn into a dragon. So thank you; for being my Name of the Wind before Patrick Rothfuss was even an author, for being my epic fantasy series before the the Stormlight Archive existed.

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finalement terminé! Déçu du livre et encore plus de lasérie. J’avais assez bien résumé ma pensé dans ma critique du tome neuf, alorsje ne compte pas vraiment me répéter ici (vous pouvez aller voir si cela vousimporte), mais une série que je n’ai pas vraiment aimée pour la simple et bonneraison qu’elle n’est pas ce qu’elle prétend être. Et en plus je possède tousles tomes en copies physiques… fort possible que je les revende!

[Jay Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the book where Merlin’s grandson faces the final battle for Avalon. Avalon is like Eden and evil lurks. The forces of evil unite and the entire first part of the book is devoted to marshaling the forces of good and bringing them to the battlefield. I liked the ending. Not a bad read but too predictable.

[Lynn Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent! Many loose ends cleverly woven into the story too.

[Airi · Rating 3 out of 5]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it...I've waited FIVE YEARS to complete this series! And now I've finished it within a month!! D: But the worst part...I'm not entirely satisfied.
Okay--so the Sapphire Unicorn lives on. That's great. BUT WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE!! I still have a million questions!!! Like, what happens to Tamwyn and everybody after they're transported to Earth? And do Scree and Brionna hook up? Does Tam become an even greater wizard than Merlin? What does Elli's harp sound like? Does she become the new High Priestess? Was Belamir always that changeling or was he just murdered/imprisoned and then replaced by the changeling? And and and ARGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! IT'S NOT FAIRRR!!!! I feel like all of the things I came to care about in the first book are kind of rushed and thrown aside in the second and third books! I mean--I loved Llynia as a character! And yet her story is barely told! I mean--I get that the stuff in this book and the second one are really important, and the first book is just the foundation of all that, but but but...DAMMIT! YOU COULD'VE MADE ANOTHER BOOK, MR. BARRON!!! To take more time with the plot..and gosh!
*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* But I guess being vague about what happens next is part of the mystery and timelessness of Avalon, and that even if Barron did devote more time to let things happen more slowly, that it'd be fairly pointless and possibly boring....BUT STILL!!
But..I guess..I'm also just immensely sad about this wonderful adventure ending..Avalon is so magical..*cry* IT'S SO TRAGIC HUMANITY HAS TO LEAVE AVALON!!! D: I mean! Sure we're bad! But what about gobsken? The gnomes? They aren't so nice! THEY'RE ALWAYS FIGHTING! And the fire angels/starkeepers! They messed up big time too, and they were allowed to stay in Avalon!! THAT'S NOT COOL, DAGDA AND LORILANDA!!! THAT'S RACIAL DISCRIMINATION!!! Ok yeah, it's supposed to be an environmental message or whatever. But I don't care! I like having my appetite satisfied, and dammit!, that didn't happen!
.....But I still give it three stars because it was still good...and I loved the first book so much. :'(

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barron does not shy away from the evil in the story, yet I'm unsure what to rate this journey overall. I like most of the characters, settings, the different story lines in all 11 books of this series, yet there were some books, and characters, that stood out from others.

I respect an author who is comfortable taking the time to anchor a story, which Barron does well, but believe the story plods at times. Do so very much love the dark personalities, though, and that with all war comes death and suffering, even of some favorite characters. Barron tackles the vexatious, the vulgar, the evil quite well ~ it's what I feel is fluff that impedes the storytelling at times.

Sadly, a kind of rushed, not well understood, ending to a series. What is it about tying up loose ends? An author doesn't have to tie up all loose ends, as it shouldn't be all nice and neat with a pretty bow, but prophesies and character flaws would rank high as aspects that should be addressed. I felt the conclusion was a bit weak for the series overall, as it had one asking why the humans alone were selected from so many in Avalon that had similar human characteristics.

Series rating? I'm going with 3.6-3.8.

[Karolinde (Kari) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I really did love this book, but I felt like the ending left me hanging and there were times I wanted more depth to certain parts of the story. And while part of the ending made sense, it left so many stories unfinished that I wanted to know.

[Kendra · Rating 2 out of 5]

HUGE SPOILER ALERT.

When I first picked up the first book in the series, I did so because I was going through book withdrawal and I needed a good long series to keep me reading for awhile. I had expected it to be a King Arthur ripoff that would mildly entertain me but ultimately anger me when I thought about it.
And boy, was I wrong. T. A. Barron did an amazing job with The Lost Years. Even though I desperately wanted Hallia to die ("We should turn back," "We should find another way, mirrors are dangerous," "No, don't save this forest full of life from a blight that might spread to other realms," "The marsh ghouls aren't capable of real emotion," etc.), I still loved the books she was in because I loved every other character. I was intensely interested in the Marsh Ghouls (HAH! YOU WERE WRONG, HALLIA!) because of how often they defied expectations and did exactly what I didn't think they'd do (except join the final battle at the end- I knew they'd do that. But didn't they keep any of Nimue's superpowered arrows? Doesn't seem like the thing you leave at home when charging into battle). They made me love this series. I picked up the next one, and I was ready to put it down. Not about Merlin? Ugh. But I'm glad I didn't because the Merlin's Dragon books may have been my favorites. I loved the character of Basil(garrad) and wanted to see more of him. As an added bonus, Hallia died, and as a result we saw Basilgarrad as a solo hero for awhile, always nice development to give a character. They were awesome (though they completely dashed Rita Gawr's chances of being a good or scary villain: things that beat him include a bird, mistletoe, his own soldiers, getting hit in the eye once by a dragon, and a fledgling wizard who is less powerful than Merlin is in his first book) in their suspense, though we never saw Nimue again. That was a bit of a letdown.
And then... these books. Now, I understand that starting over with new characters in the same world can be risky and difficult. I write myself and understand how difficult it is to keep my characters from coming out about the same. But you don't have to make Tamwyn so... stupid. "A hoolah's following me! No way I could throw a rock at him and portal seek while he doesn't know where I'm going!"
"This guy says he won't pay me if I don't finish this bale of hay soon. Let's just wait on this ladder that feels like it's about to break for a little while longer."
"These guys are horrible to me and I hate traveling with them. I have no bondage to them, no promise of pay at the end, and no real motivation for helping them. They also have no idea where they're going while I do, so they couldn't take vengeance upon me if, say, I sneeck off in the night while this annoying hoolah was asleep and went in a portal to keep him from following me."
"My father is Krystallus, the son of Merlin! I am his only son. But I CAN'T be the true heir of Merlin! That doesn't make sense! My name means Dark Flame, that means I have to be the evil child, right?" (Also, what happened to that elf that Krystallus fell in love with during the Merlin's Dragon books? Did they break up? Did she die? Why not just make her a flamelon in the first place to avoid all the implications?)
I also hated the character of Elli. She had an amazing introduction. I actually really liked her in her introduction. Same with Tamwyn. But then she was horrible to Tamwyn for the reason that he... tripped and accidentally landed on her instrument. For some reason she stayed angry at him for this event that he had very little control of, despite the fact that she had felt the same thing over and over when she was discriminated against for being a former slave. And Batty Lad/Basil... did he have to go through a COMPLETE PERSONALITY CHANGE to disguise himself? That doesn't even make sense. I used to love Shim's character, but in these books he was just a constant annoyance. I still liked the books, especially Scree's character, but the last one was... disappointing. THE ULTIMATE DRAGON FIGHT BETWEEN RHITA GAWR AND BASILGARRAD!!!!!
...Only has a few sentences of describing the action during their fight (one of my favorite parts of all the books with Basil in them). and you have to wait 190 pages before you can even get to Basilgarrad, who magically became big in one second again.
Last time he became big in one second, it was because Merlin accelerated his growth. Was Merlin there the whole time? And Rhita Gawr never noticed? Did Tamwyn, a fledgling wizard, perform this perfectly ON ACCIDENT? Without even knowing that Basilgarrad was there? Was Basil on a timer? How did Merlin time it? Wouldn't it have made more sense if Basil had become big again on the 17th year of the Dark Prophesy, since that was the only possible means by which Merlin could have figured out when to set it to? I mean, near the beginning, since being late by a few months (or really thirty seconds, considering he transformed just in time to save Tamwyn) could mean the extinction of Avalon? In fact, setting the countdown like that probably still would have been a good thing, considering how often the characters needed some method of flight, or maybe a superweapon like an elanodragon.
Also, Merlin had to stay away from Avalon because he was too powerful or something. Okay. I could buy that...
...if Basilgarrad weren't MORE powerful. Really. They left Basilgarrad to fight Rhita Gawr later, even though they took away every other character who could have stood a chance against him. Merlin never even beats Rhita Gawr. Aylah sort of does. His pet bird does it twice. But Merlin has never defeated Rhita Gawr. Basil has. Yet they leave the one who is MORE powerful when they're taking out the good side's most powerful contenders.
Furthermore, taking Merlin out of the equation to keep free will in play doesn't even make any sense. There's a very thick line between keeping free will and abolishing a people's only line of defense.

At the end, Tamwyn concludes that people are the problem and need to go to Earth.
What? What about the gobsken? Or marsh ghouls or ghoulaces or dragons (all of them are villains except the water ones, Basil, and Gwynnia, more or less)? What about Dactyl birds or gnomes or even dwarves or eaglemen? Or the flamelons, or maybe those people who tried to sacrifice Tamwyn? What about the changelings? How are those guys not causing problems?

That leads to another question. Why does Kulwych use a changeling to rally the humans? Didn't he think that was a bit risky, considering that changelings can never copy something exactly right? He couldn't get a human from his human-run organization to volunteer to live in comfort as a figurehead for human supremacy?

Then there's that changeling guy. At the end we see that changelings move too fast for a human to get them before they die. But in all the previous books, the characters have been able to kill changelings as long as they figured out what they were in time. Suddenly they're more deadly in their true form than they are in any other form? Why do they ever shape-shift?

Also, there's the staff thing. Merlin sort of sends Tamwyn after it, but... what? What about Nimue? Isn't she still after the staff? As far as we know, she's on earth, right? She's on earth in the future timeline in the mirror one, and she can't be in Fincayra or the spirit realm. Was she in Avalon the whole time? And didn't do anything? She has to be on earth, right? So... you're more or less sending Tamwyn alone against her, staffless. Merlin, you couldn't beat Nimue in your fourth adventure, and your powers developed way faster than Tamywn's. And you had a staff. And an army of marsh ghouls. And a dragon. Shouldn't YOU go after the staff? Or maybe your shadow? Was this one of its weeks off or something?


T. A. Barron, I love your work. But this book made no sense.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book of the trilogy, and like all of them it's on the short side, so the plot moves very quickly. The first part is more exploring - some in the branches of the Great Tree, some in Shadowroot, which fills the "Mordor" role but is less evil, just dangerous. Then you get two to three simultaneous Big World-changing Battles, depending how you count them. Since the books' overall tone tends more towards the cutesy than the grim, I found the combination a little jarring, but I'm not sure if that's their problem or mine. The Tolkien feel comes through strongly, with some dumbing down for the target age range, but including cosmology and ethics, not just the superficial trappings. Certainly I don't remember seeing anyone else do things with trees that are this much in Tolkien's spirit. As well as the same timeline as the other volumes, this one includes a glossary of characters and places, mostly repeating information from the main text, but there are some extra anecdotes.

[Masyn Archie · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE ETERNAL FLAME by T.A. Barron is a book set in Avalon, a world that is beyond our reach. The main characters are Tamwyn, the heir to the great wizard Merlin, Ellie, a young priestess and Scree a young eagle boy. I found this book by reading the previous books in the series and just wanted to finish the series as this is the last book in the Avalon Trilogy.

THE ETERNAL FLAME is set in Avalon where Tamwyn, Elli and Scree live. In this book they are trying to protect Avalon from an ancient warlord called Rhita Gawr. Rita Gawr plans to destroy Avalon with an undead army so that he can go and take over Earth.

I thought how the book ended was fantastic and my favorite part of the book is when Tamwyn rode a Pegasus.

I enjoyed THE ETERNAL FLAME and some similar books to this would be any fantasy or fairytale type books. Someone who may like reading this book would be someone who enjoys fantasy and the old take of Avalon.

[Tony Mush · Rating 3 out of 5]

“There were always dark elves who resented the City of Light. They feared its power—and even more, the power of its stories. Suspicious of outside influence, they longed for the bygone times of quiet darkness. Of isolation from all these foreign myths, customs, and ideas. And in our arrogance, those of us who cherished the wider world simply ignored those who disagreed, deriding their foolishness but never trying to help them understand the beauties beyond our borders.”

"their victory has come only at a terrible cost. And even with that victory, the deeper seeds of disaster—arrogance and greed—remain. They need only another season of darkness to flourish once again. For they are seeds ever present in the human soul.”

“What makes this danger so terrible is that humans tip the balance of your world. No other species can make such a difference, for good or ill. If humans can live in harmony with other forms of life, the world rejoices. If not, the world suffers—and may not survive.”

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amazing book! I loved all the action. All the main characters had their own story going on which would have been okay for half of it, but I was hoping they would come together a little sooner than the last 2-3 chapters. It was hard to rate this book because I loved the journey, but was a little disappointed with the ending. I felt it was a little too abrupt, I felt like there were some things that could have been raped up a little more.

This series had essentially three different stories within it. The first was with Merlin, the second was more with Basil, and the third was with Tamwyn. I felt that the stories with Basil had a little less action than the others. The ones with Merlin and Tamwyn were definitely my favorites. Everything about them was wonderful except for how the series ended.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barron, T.A. The Eternal Flame, 293 p. (and an extensive appendix) Penguin –

Tamwyn, Elli, Brionna and Scree each have separate and essential parts to play during the final battle over the fate of Avalon. With the help of their many friends they may just find a way to defeat Rhita Gawr and his minions forever.

I have been read several books with a lot of action lately and this one does not disappoint. I was worried that the author was handling too many points of view, but I should have had more faith. Elementary and middle school fantasy readers will enjoy this series.

EL, MS – ADVISABLE

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book was just as good as the first two, he wrapped up the story lines nicely. There were a few twists and surprise in this book. I look forward to reading more of the books he has written on Merlin and i wouldn't mind seeing more on where the characters in this book go from here.

[Ranger Fiercestar The Falcon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an AMAZIN book! It is full of twists! I find the Merlin series is quite interesting, but the best stuff is in books 6-11! I can only hope you read it!!!

[Judith Chelekis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third of three about Tamwyn, Scree, and Elli. A rousing ending. Again, consistant with his previous writings within this series.

[Eduardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Fair Avalon, I cry farewell,
A death within me waking;
So many seasons did I dwell
In wondrous realms forsaking.
You are my home! My highest goal,
Kept firm beyond all shaking.
Your mist shall ever stir my soul,
A distant music making.”
—

So concludes my re-read of the works of Thomas Archibald Barron. I’ve got to say: I remember being disappointed with the ending of this book the first time, but now? I’m kind of okay. Maybe it’s because I knew what was coming. Really, if you ignore the “Dark Prophecy” thing entirely, the trilogy and its conclusion work better.

The main problems of the trilogy come when, I think, Thomas Archibald tries to copy the motions of Epic Fantasy without really thinking things through. This is exemplified by the Battle of Isenway. There is no reason for people to be fighting on this particular patch of mud, other than Barron needs an open space for a typical fantasy battle. There’s also no reason for the bad guys to patiently wait for the good guys to all get together before announcing an attack there.

That’s a fairly minor thing, though? It’s overshadowed at times at the battle between Tamwyn and Rhita Gawr, which is AN AWESOME FLYING DRAGON BATTLE AMONG THE STARS THIS IS AMAZING. A bit much? Yeah. I don’t know if it’s as cool as it could have been, but it’s still pretty darn cool, and I think that Barron gets points for attempting to do something like this, a massive escalation over what he’s done in

And again, Tamwyn’s Plot/character arc is the one that works best here. Elli’s is good, Scree’s feels like a speedrun, Brionna’s… also feels like a speedrun. At one point, Lleu is basically like, “Hey, I heard a rumor about Plot-critical information that I have no real way of organically having gotten,” which is just odd, but is clearly put in because it moves the story along.

I’m not thrilled with how, the villains’ entire schtick being using human arrogance, the idea that humans think they should be in charge because they’re better, and then Dagda’s like, “Yeah, humans are the ones who actually make a difference,” which, uh… kind of proves the human supremacy thing, huh? I think the idea is that they’re special, but need to be responsible, yet Dagda says we’re the ones who tip the scales which, uh, doesn’t seem that different from what the original point of the Humanity First movement was, when it was trying to appear benevolent.

This book is also pretty short? Shorter than the last two, and a chunk of it is the appendices. It again makes me think it should be combined with the previous one.

Anyway! I enjoyed this on this read-through more than I expected. I don’t think it’s Barron’s best, but it DOES have a sky dragon battle, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe Barron should follow up this?

Basilgarrad FTW.

[Rus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time I ever reviewed on a story, so bear with me ya'll!

When I picked up this book, it wasn't recommended by a friend, I just saw it on the shelf by its lonesome and decided to buy it. I confess to not reading the other ten books (sue me), but I thought the first chapter of the Eternal Flame was great.

Also, the words didn't drag on and on. But as it went on, I noticed that the story doesn't really focus much on the personalities of its characters and I found them lacking.

I mean, they're heroes but they didn't show much flaws. There wasn't any intense mental struggle or anything else that delved in their personas.

Action was aplenty in The Eternal Flame but is there some sort of Deux Ex Machina? Because I find it terribly convenient how Brionna, in a few minutes, found a fool-proof way of freeing themselves in the cell. Not to mention the librarian in the City of Light. While there was foreshadowing, its sort of telling and I wholly expected someone to suddenly be alive in that City before I even read the part about Grikkolo. And how did the old elf survive without food and water? I know he loves books so much but books can't be consumed, really. T.A. Barron needs to work on subtlety and learn to add things in his story that isn't for the convenience of plot or whatever.

The fighting scenes were alright but I have an issue with the chapter where Scree was dealing with the rebel tribe. He also has to work on 'struggle' scenes where some of the characters' thought processes are explained. They were, but there needs to be more of them to add suspense in the story line. I feel that their personalities would greatly influence and make the plot unexpected that it would be an excellent read, not just great, but excellent.

I'm not saying that this is a bad read, it was alright but it needs a whole lot of work. Even so, he deserves my respect. It takes a lot of guts and awesomeness to write a great story after all!!!

[Ethan Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the last book in the Merlin series. It is about Merlin's grandson, Tamwyn. He has to save his world, and use his wizard's powers to do it. Avalon is the name of his world. It is a giant tree, instead of a sphere. There are seven roots, also known as the root realms of Avalon. Each realm is about the size of the average state. The trunk of the tree is larger than you can imagine. It leads up into the branches, which are about the size of the roots. There are many of these, and at the end of each is a star. The stars are portals to other realms, such as Earth or the Otherworld. One constellation, known as the Wizard's Staff, is seven stars lined up in a row. They have all gone dark by the power of Rhita Gawr. He is basically the immortal villain in this book.
Tamwyn is journeying to the stars to relight them. It is said that they are doorways to the Otherworld, where Rhita Gawr is calling his immortal warriors through to take over Avalon. He has to close the doors by relighting them. Meanwhile, Rhita Gawr's servants are gathering in one of the roots, Mudroot, to battle the people there. Tamwyn's friends, Elli (human), Brionna (elf), Leu (human priest), and Shim (giant that shrank to the size of a dwarf), are rallying an army to fight Rhita Gawr. As Tamwyn is climbing the tree, he feels it is too late to stop Rhita Gawr. He has one week left to reach the branches and relight the stars.
I can relate to Tamwyn. He feels like everything he does goes wrong, and he, as one of his friend puts it, is just a "clumsy man."
I really liked this book. It is was full of adventure and really good cliffhangers at the end of chapters. My favorite part was when Tamwyn fought Rhita Gawrs immortal warriors. It is full of action and has a really big plot twist in it.
I would recommend this book to anyone who liked Harry Potter or Ranger's Apprentice. it has a lot of similarities.

[Lavender911 · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the Avalon triology comes to an end, the warlord Rhita Gawr, now a vengeful dragon bent on conquest, leads an army of imortal dragons to conquer Avalon, and the only thing that stands in his way is a trio of unlikely heroes, Tamwyn, Elli, and Scree. The three kids are fighting for Avalon in three different places. Tamwyn is fighting Rhita Gawr, Elli is in Shadow Root, hoping to defeat the vengelo crystal with her own elano crystal, and Scree is leading his fellow eagle-men to the Battle of Isweny.

I liked this book because it would show you three different points of wiew, at three different places, but all fighting for Avalon. What I didn't really like though, was that since it was three different places, it was confusing. I thought that this book was suspensful and adventerous. It also was a bit overloaded with information. My favorite part is when the three come together, and make a difficult decision.

I would reccomend this book to anybody who likes mysterybooks, suspensful books, magic, or Merlin the magician. I would also reccomend it to anyone who likes nature and animals.

[JD Waggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hands down the best of the trilogy, which is something. Again, Barron has some pretty predictable moves--although I must admit, I was surprised exactly three times by plot twists in this, which was great. I repeat my assertion of the first two books that Barron's world is super neat and something I would love to explore, but the characters are just too flat. Even the major battle of Everybody Ever at Isenwy wasn't enough (though the battle with Rhita Gawr was actually pretty well done, if Barron would stop expositing in the middle of it).

Glad to have finished the trilogy, maybe would have liked it better before I read all the other fiction that seems to have informed this. (Why is the mudwoman Maker a linguistic disciple of Yoda?) Also, the ending confused the dickens out of me; I have no idea why humans were singled out (trying to avoid spoilers), since elves have also proved themselves capable of duality. No idea. Glad Batty Lad finally got interesting, though Henni and Shim remained not at all helpful to the plot. Ah, well.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way cool!
I am SO going to go back and read this again. I got SO many story ideas, and the huge climax in book three was totally epic and amazing and something I wish I could mimic. The three main characters were likable, believable, and lovably annoying all in their own ways. Hearts to Tamwyn and Elli, some of the best main characters ever written! (Scree was only so-so.)
And the book wouldn't be the same without supporting characters Batty Lad, Henni, and Nuic. Rhiannon was pretty darn awesome. Llynia was annoying, but you were forced to feel for her by the end of book 3. Brionna and Scree were a waste of my time, but I liked Scree's world of the eaglemen.
Batty Lad's ending was the best ending EVER. Totally completed my already perfect image of him. Tamwyn and Elli also had pretty good endings.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plotwise as well as on the topic of excitement, this book definitely made up for the last one.
It’s a lot shorter than the first two but the quality of what happens is much greater in my opinion. Right from the beginning, it is one big whirl of excitement and reminded me a bit of Star Wars VI, because different people were fighting against different evils on different fronts.
Some things that were revealed came totally unexpected while I had already guessed others.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this last book in the series (even if it did try to hammer its point of the selfishness of men and their exploitations of nature into every single reader) and although the ending came kind of abruptly, it was still a worthy one to the whole trilogy.

[Caryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I flew through this book.

Holy cow.

Sadly, this is the book I was reading as I made plans for my own novel, so I might be stealing quite a few little ideas. Okay, not so much stealing as turning on that literary charm to change things around, you know?

There's something so easy about Barron's narrative style. He's not afraid to do some things, narratively speaking, that I wouldn't dream of doing. Things like "He smelled something new on the morning fog. Dragons! They loomed over him, their tails flexing idly and their teeth gleaming like so many glittering diamonds."

*Note: That wasn't actually something he wrote... it was just something I threw together.

[AuthorsOnTourLive! · Rating 5 out of 5]

We met T.A. Barron, bestselling Colorado author, when he visited the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver.

In this podcast, T.A. Barron reads from and discusses The Great Tree of Avalon: The Eternal Flame, the spectacular final volume of his acclaimed Avalon trilogy. Avalon, the great tree world connecting the earth and the heavens, is about to be destroyed. Three unlikely heroes are Avalon's only hope, and their epic tale combines gripping adventure with profound ideas about the powerful connections between humanity and the world.

You can listen to him talk about The Great Tree of Avalon: The Eternal Flame here: http://www.authorsontourlive.com/?p=84

[Paul Lunger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The penultimate book in T.A. Barron's Merlin saga, "The Eternal Flame" is a book that even by itself could wrap up the series on its own. This time around we continue the final quest to relight Merlin's constellation & fight Rhita Gawr in order to save Avalon. The story follows Tamwyn, Elli & Scree as they each continue their own role in the final battle from the stars to the different levels of the Tree of Avalon. Barron's story is as entertaining as it is fast moving & literally at times is breathtaking in its descriptions of the stars, battles & realms that have made this series the pleasure that it has been to read. Another fine entry as the finale with Merlin himself remains.

[Heather Heffner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun return to a favorite childhood series. The world T.A. Barron has envisioned is so vivid, right up to a journey into the stars and the showdown with Rhita Gawr (Always loved him as a baddie!) Dragons, elves, and more clash on the battlefield, and Tamwyn discovers what the prophecy means. Enjoyed the return of some old characters from the Lost Years of Merlin series, and I thought Barron sent a very thoughtful message with the human race's choice in the end. Great children's author who writes such beautiful prose to really make you think.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final installment in The Great Tree of Avalon Trilogy. The end of my Favorite book series.

The end is near and war is eminent, but not if the three main characters can stop it. Each one is still on their own in separate parts of the world of Avalon. In the end they all come together to save Avalon, but not without having dangerous and numerous obstacles in their way.

A very entertaining book that will have you asking "Omg! What's gonna happen next?!"

[Kieran Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book! T. A. Barron is just a wonderful author, in general. His work's been much easier to read than other authors', and the characters seem more human in personality.

I very much liked that one of the chapters was called 'Out of Avalon'...and the battle scenes (plus Scree) were of epic proportions. I also very much liked the stars and Ahearna, and everything made an interesting mythological kind of sense. It was all quite dreamlike.