Reading order

Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy reading order

Mary Stewart

  1. The Crystal Cave1970
  2. The Hollow Hills1973
  3. The Last Enchantment1979
  4. The Wicked Day1983
  5. The Prince and the Pilgrim1995
7.97.9 / 10
169 ratings
Score
5 volumes
Volumes
1970–1995
Published
about 40 h
Reading time
Completed
Status

Quick answer

The Crystal Cave
Start withThe Crystal Cave1970 · Volume 1 of 5

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Publication order

5 volumes1970–1995Completed

  • The Arthurian legend told by Merlin himself, in a grounded, historical-feeling fifth-century Britain where his magic is half foresight and half cleverness.
  • The Crystal Cave, about his boyhood, starts the trilogy; The Hollow Hills, which sees Arthur born and raised in secret, rates highest.
  • The Wicked Day, told from Mordred’s side, and The Prince and the Pilgrim are later companions.

A plan for the whole series

5 volumes, 2,192 pages, about 40 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 8 weeks.

56%

Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: high

Stages

3 stages, with 2 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around December 30, 2026, 8 days later than in one go.

  1. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 25, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
  2. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by December 22, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
  3. Stage 36 h8 daysby December 30, 2026
  4. The end of the series
    December 30, 2026
In one goDecember 22, 2026about 8 weeks
In stages, with breaksDecember 30, 2026about 9 weeks · +5 h of other books

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

How this plan is calculated

The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →

Every volume in order

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Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Which Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy book is the best?

By reader score, The Hollow Hills (8.0/10). The lowest-rated is The Crystal Cave (7.9/10).

Which Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy book is the longest?

“The Last Enchantment” is the longest at 512 pages; the shortest is “The Prince and the Pilgrim” with 308 pages.