Book excerpt: What if everything you knew about the Wizard Merlin was wrong?What if Merlin was actually a Buddhist monk prone to hallucinations, who was taken as a slave by the Huns and transported to Europe? Buddha's Thunderbolt tells the tale of this most peculiar man, a 5th Century rationalist, who regards magic as bunk, druids as idiots, and knights as glorified thugs. The last thing he wants is for the inquisitive orphan boy he is mentoring to become a king.Most folks at the bay market think Merlin is a bit mad. He claims to have traveled from Britain through India to China and back. His surrealistic visions, from horrifying flashbacks to a chess match with Ganesha, are a burden he has learned to bear. But what of the mysterious Lady Gopi, who appears to him in various animal forms? Is she a delusion as well?