The Other Merlin is a perfect, fresh imagining of the story of Camelot. It finally gives girls and women a female character to root for, by gender-swapping the traditional old male wizard for a teenage daughter that's much more talented in the magical ways than her lazy, arrogant brother. The trouble is that nobody wants a female wizard. After Emry's brother Emmett, screws up again, she's left with little choice but to go to Camelot - but to avoid getting into trouble she goes as him. Keeping her disguise is a challenge but the chance to go her magical skills and have adventures is a breath of fresh air for Emry. Schneider also makes most of the other major characters - Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, Gawain, Percival and Tristan teenagers as well and imbues them all with the perfect mix of humor, young adult problems and real life ambitions and responsibilities. It's wonderful to see the characters go from being relatively typical teenagers to growing into adulthood and the difficult decisions that go with it. While I didn't realize when I started this that it is going to be the first in a series, I'm so glad it is, because I can't wait for the opportunity to read another story with these wonderful characters. Well done, Robyn Schneider!