In The Merman's Children, set against the medieval tableau of Europe and the mustering forces of Christendom, Poul Anderson, the world's most honored author of fantasy and science fiction, has written his biggest and most ambitious novel ever.
For many years Anderson had wanted to write one great fantasy: the story of how the last age of Faery passed and of how the fairy folk gave way before the inevitable spread of Christendom. The Merman's Children is that book -- the tragic chronicle of how the scattered remnants of Faery lived and scrambled to survive in the last days of Magic. During the waning days of the thirteenth century, in a climate of superstition, greed and curious excitement, Western Europe embarked on a great new age of expansion and discover -- a renaissance had begun, a rebirth fostered and urged by the powerful Church.
The Merman's Children is the story of one family of mer-folk cast adrist in a world that had no more need of them. It chronicles the adventures of seven mer-children who return to their underwater city to find it shattered, exorcised and their family and friends departed. The story of how they seek their kind across the western sea in Iceland and Vinland, of their travels down the coast of Europe and through the straits of Gibraltar is buoyant with magic, epic in its tragedy. All the elements are here: Faeries, superstitious villagers, lost treasure, Holy Crusaders, battle, piracy, beautiful women, brave heroes, and magic.