Taliesin (The Pendragon Cycle, Book 1)
by Stephen R. Lawhead
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen R. LawheadEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1990-01-01
ISBN: 038070613X
Number of pages: 496
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780380706136
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Taliesin (The Pendragon Cycle, Book 1)
Book Review: Enthralling, beautiful, almost perfect epic
Summary: 4 Stars
This book really is an epic, in that many different stories play out within its pages. The threads begin on Atlantis, with Princess Charis, still a child, and on the Island of the Mighty (ancient Britain), where the mighty Cymry of the kingdom of Gwynedd celebrate their good fortune in having found a child caught in their salmon weir: Taliesin, or Shining Brow. The descriptions are excellent, coloring each world differently: Atlantis shines in constant reflection of the sun, its palaces and even its food seeming refined, delicate, and very otherworldly, the stuff of legend, whereas Gwynedd is harsher, earthier, made out in brown tones and practical words, with gold bursting through at opportune moments. Yet through each of these strands runs a common theme, something which the druids and seers of both places can sense: there will be a dark time soon. Prophecy, and the journey into the Otherworld, tie seamlessly into the events of everyday life, yet it does not seem far-fetched at all, since it resonates with experience and only goes a little beyond what most people deal with, moving into the realm of the fantastic. At first the characters seem a little too legendary to touch, and one might settle into thinking this book is merely meant to delight the imagination with its sensory descriptions, but, beginning with Princess Charis, as we get to know her, we can care about the people and lands, as through her we see what a real flesh and blood Atlantean’s life might be like. She has real emotions which are as believable as if we’d heard them from a person sitting in front of us. Following her, and also Taliesin, through the various crises, catastrophes, feasts, and celebrations of their respective lands, the reader slowly comes to know each person individually and to realize that each could not be other than what he or she is. Stock characters these are not. Although sometimes the time lapses between sections can be disorienting, as well as the shifts from first person to third person and back, it is easy to care and become truly involved in the stories. One of the more difficult things to swallow is the fact that we first see Taliesin as a boy, just beginning to realize his gifts and to sense that there is something special about him, and then suddenly we see him as a mustached man, full of wisdom and druidic power, and we wonder what the journey was that led him there. As well, during the latter portion of the book, when the two previously separated threads of story intertwine, all of the characters meet up with some priests and all end up hearing about and most believing in Jesus Christ. It stands as believable that there would be Christian missionaries at that time and in that place, but the readiness with which the story takes a twist is somewhat startling. One almost wants to check back to the earlier parts of the book to make sure that it really is the same book. It begins to read, in places, almost like a Christian novel, where there must be a “message” and proseletyzing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that for those who derive inspiration from it, but it seems out of place in this book which up until then was pure fantasy, complete with the gods of that world. Usually it is best to leave the two separate, unless a masterful author can pull it off (in my opinion, the Chronicles of Narnia mostly succeed at this). Lawhead does not seem quite up to the task. Certainly, however, there are moments of sublime truth that shine through the heavy-handedness. Two more points of interest: there are wonderful descriptions of family life and the love between a husband and wife in this book, joyful, never forced or ..., and the way the legends of the ancient Celtic people have been retold is a delight to discover. Many different legends (Atlantis, Taliesin, the coming of Arthur, old Welsh stories from the Mabinogion, etc.) are placed within the same time period and blended, almost as if they all had been thrown up like a deck of cards and then fallen together. The stories are the same and yet different, with familiar details showing up where they are least expected. All in all, this book is recommended to anyone with a taste for long, mythic, epic books, wherein can be found much adventure and a few shining pearls of wisdom and beauty.
Summary of Taliesin (The Pendragon Cycle, Book 1)
It was a time of legend, when the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror faded from the captured Isle of Britain. While across a vast sea, bloody war shattered a peace that had flourished for two thousand years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis.
Taliesin is the remarkable adventure of Charis, the Atlantean princess who escaped the terrible devastation of her homeland, and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. It is the story of an incomparable love that joined two worlds amid the fires of chaos, and spawned the miracles of Merlin...and Arthur the king.
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