The story is narrated by Clothar (Lancelot) and describes his early life in Roman Gaul, his education in Auxerre with Bishop Germanus, his participation in a civil war and his travels to Britain where he meets Caius Merlyn Britaniccus (Merlin) and King Arthur for the first time.
After Merlyn is defeated, Vertigo steps in and attempts to kill both the hero and Perdita, only to be defeated when Black Canary (revealed to be the arriving girlfriend) knocks Vertigo unconscious with her "Canary Cry".
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Count Vertigo hires Merlyn to assassinate Princess Perdita, Vertigo's niece.
Paul Merlyn Buhle (born 27 September 1944) is a (retired) Senior Lecturer at Brown University, author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism in the United States and the Caribbean, studies of popular culture, and a series of nonfiction comic art volumes.
The original manuscript for The Book of Merlyn was discovered amongst this collection, and was prepared for publication by the University of Texas Press in 1977, as The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to The Once and Future King, with prologue by Sylvia Townsend Warner and illustrations by Trevor Stubley.