Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Brilliant, 19 Mar 2006
I, like a few of the other reviewers for this book, wondered to begin with how the two stories would come together and for the first few chapters wasn't sure I was going to enjoy the book...then surprised myself with how hooked I actually was. The book took just a few days to get through and came together at the end beautifully.
I think die hard historians and those who have not only an interest in the Arthurian legends but who have researched the subject themselves may find the story disappointing, because it is, as stated on the back cover for all who misunderstand, a work of fiction based around legend. It isn't an historical document and I think the only people who could be disappointed in the book are those who read it expecting facts.
As a work of fiction the book is excellent, the characters are more than likeable, they are lovable, and you truely care what happens to them. There are those you like, those you loathe, and those you want to read the next book to decide about.I'm off to start the next one now!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Where did all the potatoes come from?, 2 May 2007
I first read Taliesin in the eighties (when it first came out), and I loved it. I went on to read and re-read the whole Pendragon cycle, and (even better I think), The Paradise War trilogy. For me, Lawhead took over where Rosemary Sutcliffe and Geoffrey Trease left off. He writes well, at times powerfully, and his retelling of the Arthurian cycle rings true for the most part.
There are niggles: I notice the ham-fisted smearing of Christianity onto an otherwise consistent tale far more now than I did twenty years ago. His use of Welsh is questionable, and (for me the worst of all!!) every feast sees mounds of potatoes being prepared... which is some feat a thousand years before Raleigh brought them back from America (or even two hundred years before Prince Madog).
Overall, though the story overcomes the historical errors, and sweeps you along. The interweaving of the two narrative strands heightens the contrasts between old, jaded Atlantis and the young, passionate Britain. It also sets up Charis, Elffin and Taliesin, as credible protagonists before they even come into contact with one another. As I said, I'm still re-reading these books twenty years after I first bought them.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Tolkein, Scott and St Augustine all rolled into one!, 25 April 1999
By A Customer
This is the first of the pendragon cycle. It was lent to me by a friend, and boy have I been grateful! Stephen Lawhead manages to combine the fantastic with the mundane in such a way as to create 'real' images in the mind. A writer in the Tolkein mould in so many ways, his ability to be complete in his settings takes the reader into the story, rather than leaving them simply reading a book. The combination of Atlantis, Cymru, Roman Briton and the world of 'magic' is breathtaking in its breadth and simple in its presentation. Taliesin in particular is a masterpiece. If you haven't read them, get them. They now have pride of place on my bookshelves, along with 'Lord of the Rings' and the Discworld novels. If that tells you anything, good. If not - buy them anyway. You'll read them again and again.
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