Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle

Postby **K. Ayato** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:25 pm

Has anyone heard of this author or has read any of the books in this series? It's about King Arthur, and I think it covers a lot of areas well. Some things are different, including names, but I think the underlying story is the same for the most part. There's a lot of battles (duh!) so it can be pretty violent. My favorites in that series are Taliesin (the first one, taking place before Merlin is born), Grail, and Avalon.

Postby **Photosoph** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:34 pm

I've heard of Stephen Lawhead -in fact, I've only read a little bit of his stuff, but I've really enjoyed what I've read. The first series I encountered was his 'In the Hall of the Dragon King' trilogy. That was seriously amazing. Then I read Patrick, which was also great, but so far I like the 'In the Hall...' series better. I haven't read the Pendragon Cycle yet... but the next book of his I want to read is 'Dream Thief'. He's a great author, isn't he?

Postby **K. Ayato** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:41 pm

Yeah, he is. I've read most of his books, but there are still several I haven't touched yet.

Postby **Photosoph** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:44 pm

Apparently he's a prolific writer. What's your favourite book so far?

Postby **Namelessknight** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 4:56 pm

the Pendragon Cycle. Yeah!! To be honest tho, i only liked the original trilogy-taliesin, merlin, arthur. the rest i found blase.

as for his other stuff, i have found it hit or miss. i loved his albion series and his iron lance[i think that's the series title] trilogy.

i found dreamthief to be, hmm, unpolished? i could tell it was one of his earlier novels, but if you liked his Hall series, then you should enjoy it just fine.

Postby **Arnobius** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 5:04 pm

I remember the Pendragon trilogy and the Dragon King trilogy. OK, but I've read better...

Postby **Photosoph** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 6:03 pm

I suppose I like it since I enjoy fantasy and sci-fi novels, (though not hard out sci-fi), but find it hard to find a good novel under those categories that actually has some things that make you think about good things; like God, etc, and not just a really exciting, well-written story, though his are that too.

Postby **Mithrandir** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 8:25 am

I liked the Empyrion saga quite a bit. For a while SRL was my favorite. I actually had the first SRL website on the net, and I think I still have a framed letter from the man (I wrote to tell him about the website). It was cool.

Postby **spiritusvult** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 1:57 pm

An "old" friend of mine turned me on to SRL. I think he paints a vivid world, but the two books I've read (1st two in The Song of Albion) of his are... a little on the darker side. On the other hand, I know he does, or at least used to, write for Christianity Today. At least he's not a heretic.

Postby **indyrocker** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 2:18 pm

I liked Patrick sone of Irland vary much

Postby **Mithrandir** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 2:26 pm

spiritusvult wrote:An "old" friend of mine turned me on to SRL. I think he paints a vivid world, but the two books I've read (1st two in The Song of Albion) of his are... a little on the darker side. On the other hand, I know he does, or at least used to, write for Christianity Today. At least he's not a heretic.

MAL · Postby **Kaori** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:35 pm

I read Lawhead's Pendragon cycle but became more unimpressed with his writing as the series progressed; I believe Taliesin was my favorite. His writing isn't too bad as far as Christian fiction is concerned, but on the other hand, this wasn't exactly my favorite retelling of the Arthurian legends.

Postby **soul alive** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 6:28 pm

Lawhead is one of my favorite authors, Christian or secular. i think i've read and re-read all of his books except for the Hero books he wrote with his son.

i liked the first three from the Pendragon cycle, but found the last two too... redundant isn't the word i'm looking for, but i just didn't enjoy them as much. Avalon is great, a sort of sequel to the Pendragon cycle, set in modern times. the Song of Albion (?) series was pretty good too. as well as the Emperion Saga. i loved Patrick. the Hall of the Dragon King trilogy was okay, not as good as some of his other books, but i still liked it. that it retells the story of Job is kind of neat. i loved the first two books of the Crusades trilogy, but was kind of disappointed in the third. I was also disappointed in Byzantium, i just plain did not like 2/3 to 3/4 of the book. Dreamthief was also okay.

Postby **Arnobius** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:49 pm

[quote="Kaori"]I read Lawhead's Pendragon cycle but became more unimpressed with his writing as the series progressed]
I liked the first two. "Arthur" was pretty bad.

I remember back in the late 1980's, and early 1990's his stuff was sold on Christian bookstores. Then they moved to the fantasy labels.

Postby **Maledicte** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:57 pm

Fave books by SRL:

Merlin
The Empyrion Saga
Song of Albion 1-2 (it should have ended with book 2, in my opinion)
Dragon King Trilogy 1-2 (cause I haven't found the last one yet, wah.)
Patrick: Son of Ireland
Byzantium--the first novel I read that was over 500 pages

Avalon was good too.

sould alive wrote:i loved the first two books of the Crusades trilogy, but was kind of disappointed in the third.

I totally agree. The last one seemed to be too...restrained? Soft? Tame? just because the lead character this time was a girl. While it was interesting to have Lawhead write about a female lead, it still seemed a bit weak.

My favorite out of the Crusades was the Black Rood.

Postby **Warrior 4 Jesus** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 8:36 pm

I've read some of his books. I've read the one where some young men sight an Antioch bull or something in the Highlands and then they are transported into the Celtic world. Its a long time ago that I read it and I can't remember what the trilogy was called.

I've read Tailesin and book two and three I haven't got around to yet, even though I've had them for seven or so years now. Some descriptions were downright gory and I had to read those bits quickly. I was going to get the last two books in the cycle but since they don't seem to be liked I may pass. There not essential to the story are they? Is it possible that the books are basically self-contained?

Thanks!

Postby **soul alive** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 8:43 pm

the first trilogy you read is the Song of Albion trilogy: The Paradise War, The Silver Hand, and the Endless Knot make up the trilogy.

the third and fourth books of the Pendragon cycle i found rather boring, because they just go on and on and on. but the story that is begun in Arthur is continued in them and ended in the final book... they are just more than he really needed to write to tell the story. unless you really want to read them, you can skip them. they're decently written, but i found myself thinking multiple times, "When will this be over?" but it's all personal choice, some people might love the books where i didn't. i haven't read them for a while, though.

Postby **The Last Bard** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 8:52 pm

Yeah, I'm reading Merlin right now. (Well, it got pushed back for awhile)
And I must say that he is an AWESOME writer! Or at least what I've read.
Not to sound like a light-hearted wimp or anything, but the end of Taliesin
actually brought tears to my eyes...It was late, you can give me that...

Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle

Stephen R. Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle

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