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Title: The Iron Lance (The Celtic Crusades, Book 1) by Stephen R. Lawhead ISBN: 0-06-105109-8 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.12 (41 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Incredible research, strong characters, a wonderful story!
Comment: This is a must read! Lawhead has always done an incredible job writing trilogies (the original Pendragon trilogy, the Dragon King trilogy, and the Song of Albion trilogy were all excellent), but The Celtic Crusades just might surpass them all. The reason is the stregth of the historical truth that is behind this novel, and the books to follow. Lawhead has always done a wonderful job at historical research and his study of the Crusades is evident. Words aren't minced - he show's it exactly how it happened (or almost, historically it was bloodier). The Iron Lance is a sequal to Byzantium (a few hundred years later)and the book is just as good. If you enjoyed Byzantium (or any of Lawheads previous books - as I do - note my cool email address), you'll love The Iron Lance. I'm already watching the out-of-print web sources for The Black Rood advance copy. I can tell that this is a trilogy that will get stronger with every book. Read this book, you won't regret it - I guarantee! Also, ignore the bad review a few down from me, he obviously is missing a lot!
Rating: 5
Summary: After a bit of a slow start, it is terrific
Comment: I am one of those people who is finding Lawhead a little later in his career. This is the second book of his I have read - I missed the books surrounding Arthur and others he wrote earlier in his career. I read his novel about Patrick last year and it was pretty good, but it didn't make me a committed fan of his. After reading this one I am much more of a fan.
The story centers around the Crusade of the late 1000's and 1100's. The central character is Murdo Ranulfson, who wants to join the crusade but is too young. His father and brothers go on the crusade but he is unable to and it grates on his terribly. While his father and brothers are gone, his family is the victim of the treachery of some unscrupulous churchmen, and they lose their estate. This sets Murdo on a course of action where he journeys to the Holy Land to try to find his father, in order to bring him back to claim his lands.
On this journey to and from the Holy Land, Murdo grows from a precocious boy into a man of strength and character. As he makes his way across the sea and to his father he has many adventures which shape his character. He is befriended by Celtic monks who help guide and care for him and who show him the way of the True Path.
There are many reasons I liked this story - this is a "Christian" book by a "Christian author" with many Christian themes. But, the characters are not your stereotypical characters that are found in so much Christian fiction. There is a wonderful conversion scene involving Murdo but it is done in a very believable way. We see Murdo's struggles along the way, and he doesn't become a saint nor does this conversion scene wipe away all of his troubles. Instead, a very real and human person struggles along in his faith in a very harsh and brutal time of history.
Speaking of harsh and brutal, there are some scenes of pretty explicit violence. I usually don't get emotionally affected, but in one scene in Jerusalem the brutality took my breath away. This is a vivid picture of man's inhumanity to man, and it is all the more stark in view of the fact that much of this is committed in the name of Christ.
Lawhead doesn't really theorize on the morality of the crusades - he simply tells the story. To my mind, the story shows the futility of the crusades and the sinfulness of the whole project. But the real story in this is the transformation of Murdo.
Rating: 3
Summary: Lawhead drops a notch below Pendragon & Albion
Comment: In the Celtic Crusades trilogy, acclaimed Christian fantasy writer Stephen Lawhead again tries his hand at historical fiction, just as he did in his successful Byzantium. The adventure revolves around Murdo Ranulfson, whose brothers and father leave Scotland to join one of the eleventh century Crusades to rescue Jerusalem from the infidel. When usurpers confiscate his home and property, Murdo leaves his native land and his new bride Ragna, to find his father and brothers and call them to return home and restore their property. Together with three mysterious priests, his quest takes him to the center of the crusaders' action in sacking Jerusalem in 1099, where he soon becomes part of the search for the iron lance, the relic which apparently pierced Christ's side and now seems to magically guarantee the crusaders victory. Juxtoposed with Murdo's personal quest, is the much larger and epic story of the crusade.
In place of Lawhead's usual fantasy, "The Iron Lance" instead is full of historical adventure. But unfortunately Lawhead doesn't succeed in this effort at historical fiction to the same extent as he did in "Byzantium". There are too many loose ends, coincidences, and implausibilities. Unlike some of his other efforts, here the bad guys are neatly vanquished and the good guy gets the gold, the glory, and the girl. The Iron Lance lacks the deep and contrasting passions of glory and tragedy that I came to love from the Pendragon Cycle and the Song of Albion trilogy. And the framing device about Gordon Murray who is initiated into a mystical nineteenth century secret society of brotherhood has little obvious connection with the rest of the book. Ultimately it is a rather incredible historical adventure set in medieval times, somewhat too good to be true, where you must suspend you sense of disbelief to enjoy the plot, somewhat similar to Louis L'Amour's "The Walking Drum" but without the same success in execution and failing to live up to its potential.
Certainly there are some aspects that redeem this book. The portrayal of the crusades is fascinating for those interested in medieval times. Lawhead is not afraid to show the corruption that existed within the ritualistic church of the time, and the brutality and bloodshed of the crusades. But amidst all the religion and the politics, this book lacks the personalities, the passion and the plot that made some of his other works so successful, and compared with them is only second rate. Newcomers to Lawhead would do better to start with Byzantium, or the Pendragon Cycle and the Song of Albion trilogies. I hope the other two entries in this series will rise to the heights Lawhead has reached in the past with those titles. -GODLY GADFLY
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Title: Black Rood, The by Stephen R. Lawhead ISBN: 0061051101 Publisher: Zondervan Pub. Date: 01 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Mystic Rose, The by Stephen R. Lawhead ISBN: 0380820188 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 03 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Endless Knot: Song of Albion Book 3 (Song of Albion Trilogy) by Stephen R. Lawhead ISBN: 0745927831 Publisher: Lion Pub Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead ISBN: 0061057541 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 01 August, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Taliesin : Book One of the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead ISBN: 038070613X Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 01 January, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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