Avalon

Reviewed by Lesmond: 8 out of 10.

Just when I thought the Pendragon Cycle was all over… Taliesin, Merlin and Arthur, the original fantastical (is that a word) Arthurian trilogy written by Stephen R. Lawhead in the late 80’s – such a great era. Three became five in the mid-90s with Pendragon and Grail rounding out the now well known Pendragon Cycle. But wait there’s more…

Unbeknown to me, the author had another addition that I had failed to discover. It came in the form of Avalon which was published in 1999. I guess I was to busy partying like it was… but seriously. My ignorance of this ’sequel’ to the Pendragon Cycle was overcome by a brief perusal of my local library’s shelves and its chance discovery. Needless to say I was extremely excited as I had thoroughly enjoyed the Pendragon Cycle and rate it as one of Lawhead’s greatest works. History meets artistic license culminating in an unforgeable masterpiece.

Skipping the backcover blurb I plowed headlong into the tale expecting to pick up in the midst of a primitive medieval battle or feasting scene that Lawhead manages to write in such delicious detail. Surprisingly I found myself in modern day Britain on a drab and dreary day. Oh well I’m sure I’ll be transported back through the ages through a ‘lost’ portal in the time between times perhaps. This did not happen to the extent I would have liked. I was pleasantly surprised with Lawhead’s ability to make modern day existence an adventure and the spiritual battles we face as Christians in the 21st Century come alive through courageous and likeable characters that had more than a little in common with their Pendragon Cycle predecessors. Characters emulated great men and women of the faith without entering into the world of ‘Christianese’. This was very well done and I applaud the author for inspiring me to live a life of adventurous Christianity. At this stage I would like to raise the point of the antagonist in Christian Fiction. Sure they are ‘evil’ or at best very ‘worldly’ but how forthright can their characters talk and act whilst still maintaining the boundaries of decency that one would expect of a ‘Christian’ author. I thoroughly enjoy Stephen Lawhead as an author and have read most of his books.

Very rarely have I found fault in the ‘decency’ contained within his books. In Avalon I was grieved by the antagonists constant smatterings of blasphemy (although common enough in real life) I felt it was an unnecessary addition to his vocabulary and a poor choice by the Author in reflecting his character traits. All this being said I thoroughly enjoyed this ‘bonus book’ tagged on the end of the awesome Pendragon Cycle and because of its association with the aforementioned masterpiece I give Avalon 8/10.

Click here to visit Lawhead’s website.

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