@transformativeworks The Crystal Cave is book 1 in Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy. The whole thing covers most of his life including the bits with King Arthur. It’s not exactly straight fantasy or magical realism and it’s never clear if Merlin actually has magic or is just really good at manipulating people and politics. The series takes place in 5th century Britain and it’s really realistic. The King Arthur bits (the 2nd and 3rd book) are my favorite retelling of the myths. Like, yes dragons are real but so is the human tragedy.
In an aside, Mary Stewart is really interesting too. She wrote a lot of really good romances (women who were actual people and got stuff done, who fall in love with great guys) then switched tracks into the Merlin Trilogy which is kind of like Lawrence of Arabia in that it’s epic and not a lot of women and takes place in a wilderness.
Arthurian Legends 