The Lost Years of Merlin, by Thomas. A. Barron. The first book in the Lost Years of Merlin series.
Washed ashore on the coast of Wales, the seven -year old Emrys has no clue where he has come from, who he is, or where he belongs. A woman who washed ashore with him claims to be his mother, though he has no recollection of her or any shared past. So without friends, family or memory, she and Emrys begin life together as outcasts in the Roman-Saxon-Celtic town of Caer Vedwyd. The lady Branwen earns what she can by using potions and spells to cure the villagers. Emrys, with his pointed ears and dark features contrasts with Branwen’s fair hair and fair visage. This is more proof to Emrys that he could not be the son of Branwen, for as much as she seems to care for him.
When Emrys is twelve, he is bullied by the blacksmith’s apprentice and Branwen is denounced as a witch by the villagers. Emrys calls on strange powers to defend her and himself, bringing forth a fire that ends up burning his own face and killing the bully, Dinatius. Though Emrys is blinded by the fire, he and Branwen escape to the Church of St. Peter where he recovers from the burns and starts to acquire a strange “second sight” that allows him to “see” in spite of being blind.
Convinced that he will never fit in and that he must find out the story of his past, he builds a raft to sail alone across the sea from whence he came to discover the truth about himself, to find his true mother and perhaps even his father. Yet strange and perilous adventures await him when he makes landfall in Fincayra, a land of giants, tree people and other bizarre creatures. Fincayra gives every indication of being his homeland. Can he survive learning the truth about his past and the dangers of saving the land he must now call his own?
Barron, Thomas A. The Lost Years of Merlin. Philomel Books, The Penguin Group, New York, 1996. ISBN 978-0-399-25020-0
