Thing is, if I wrote a Merlin epic, I'd try and pour everything I know about the Arthurian cycle and it would be thousands of words long and would take over my life. I barely dare write my own original take on the legends because last time I tried I got so obsessed with it I ended up drinking eight litres of Diet Coke in a day just so I could keep writing beyond human limits (it made me hallucinate dragons and walk into walls). So Merlin fic would be a very, very bad idea.

I like the bluntness, on reflection. It packs more of a punch.