ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

As an avid fantasy reader, I was reluctant to try this trilogy because Lawhead is not one of the best known fantasy writers. My husband bought me the book because Lawhead is a Christian and he thought I should try it.

I was very pleasantly surprised! The writing is excellent. The story is interesting, meaningful, and epic in scope while still progressing rapidly enough to finish in three books.

It contains all of the elements I look for in a fantasy: vivid description, many interesting and well-developed characters, problems to solve, quests, romance, war, tension, intrigue, and a happy ending.

I couldn't be happier.
Read more Stephen Lawhead book at Fantasy literature. 30 s Rob511 139

Book 1 of the Song of Albion series first published 1991.

There was a time back in the seventies and eighties when I read nothing but fantasy to the point, I think, that I over dosed on it. Of all the fantasy authors I have read over the years Stephen R. Lawhead was not one of them. So when these series of books came into my possession I rubbed my hands together in anticipation of losing my self in the world of make believe once again. But it didn’t take long before a sense of familiarity overtook me. I have read these storylines so many times in the past that there was no sense of adventure awaiting me.

This is on me and nothing to do with the author Mr. lawhead.

The tale has all the ingredients of a good fantasy.
Two young men, students from Oxford University, are lured to a place in Scotland where a real, if dead, Auroch was found. It doesn’t take long before they are magically transported to the land of Albion, where there is conflict of such magnitude that the very existence of both their world and ours hangs in the balance.
There are two camps facing this evil and our young heroes end up in opposite sides. Their friendship is soon tested to the point where they become enemies.

As with most fantasy stories there are lots of monsters, trials by adventure and the eternal battle of good against evil.

For all that I have said above I have no doubt that I will be reading the next two books in the series. I need to know if our world will survive. Happy days.

It probably deserves more but because of my lack of awe 3.5 stars was the best I could do.

2020-reads adult-fantasy22 s WernerAuthor 4 books648

This is the first book of a trilogy; and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books (which he originally didn't want to separate into three volumes --that was the publisher's idea), the Song of Albion books basically form a unit that should be read and considered together. An evangelical, Lawhead displays the influence of C. S. Lewis in places in his writing; the Christian symbolism in the last volume, The Endless Knot, is particularly clear. But his fantasy vision is his own, heavily influenced as well by Celtic mythology (American born, he moved to England to have better facilities for studying Celtic history and culture), and his fantasy world is supposedly the Celtic Otherworld, with a recreated Bronze Age Celtic culture whose elements of primitive monotheism he stresses (more so than they were in actual pagan Celtic society). He makes very creative and original use of different features of Celtic lore, such as the Silver Hand (which provides the title of the second volume), the endless kettle, Beltane fires, etc.

Lawhead is a capable stylist, skilled at creating absorbing plots, characters, and atmosphere; he does that here, and (as expected from an evangelical writer) there are no problems of bad language or sexual content in the trilogy. It is, however, very violent (a trait more marked in the last two books), with a good deal of grisly killing, massacres, blinding and beheading, often with the innocent, and characters the reader s and cares about, on the receiving end of it. This is a reflection of a clear-eyed awareness of the capacities and results of human evil, squarely faced; but it's definitely not for the squeamish.fantasy21 s Luke TaylorAuthor 15 books301

So what is The Paradise War?

Epic then, epic now, it is one of the first things I remember my mother reading to me when I was young, allowing me to visualize the might and magic of this well-woven portal into Celtic adventure and Otherwordly feats. Beleaguered by the shift from Oxford academia and the more intellectual-style of prose such dictates, Stephen R. Lawhead's first book in The Song of Albion Trilogy finds its legs firmly rooted in grit and gore and snow and song, reminding me that anyone can be a true hero so long as they walk the endless knot-maze path buried down in their heart. This being the first time I've read the book since becoming a published author and writing Celtic fantasies of my own, the effect is profound and surreal, if not subtle and subliminal, as The Paradise War thrills those hungry for fantasy's most famous tropes on the surface, but more than that, stirs a sense of longing and belonging deep within, which upon reading, cannot be denied. As the story at its core is an exaltation and an exhortation of the divinity of the arts and the sublime nature of the search for the song and the spirit of song, the essence of life and the music of ancient bloods and other tongues, I cannot help but be moved to tears that such a seed was sown within my own knot-maze path to becoming an author, the effects of which will forever spread a single sonorous note, or a ripple upon an endless ocean.

Such is the way of the fabric writers weave, the books readers read, and the breath humans breathe.

Recommended for lovers of classic fantasy.

Buddy read with Jackie Boyster. hall-of-fame18 s Gary 209 195

This book read a cross between historical fiction and fantasy. There is enough Celtic history to make a case for a historical novel, but historical fiction purists would turn their noses up at the fantasy elements. I found the blend fascinating.
It read a bit an author's time travel fantasy into a historical period that the writer loved enough to thoroughly research, yet the Mabinogion brand Celticism incorporated enough of an Otherworld blend to allow the author to merge fantasy without breaking historical concepts. Basically, the Celtic view of the Otherworld and its elements of the fantastic were so closely aligned with the fantasy elements in this story that it is still technically historical.
Once the narrator travels back in time, even the ability to distinguish time itself or the desire to return follows a familiar Celtic theme. After a bit of storyline immersion I didn't want to return either.
This is one of those books I found myself picking up at odd times when I didn't really even have time to read just to see what would happen next. The story is definitely plot driven rather than character focused (other than a very of main characters), but it worked well for me in spite of this. I started the second book already and have the final in the series on deck.
Five stars.fantasy historical-fiction15 s Lindsey Rey286 3,060

I really d the first 150 pages or so and thought the last 300 pages were pretty boring. Basically I didn't the actual portal fantasy section. I think I would enjoy it if Stephen Lawhead wrote a contemporary novel, a psychological thriller or literary fiction or something along those lines, but this wasn't for me.2015 fantasy13 s1 comment Wendes44

Although I truly admire the language and prose Stephen Lawhead uses in his novel, the book totally lacked all elements of a good story. There was no plausible plotline or storyline of events that I could follow. All the events were seamlessly unrelated, random and discordant. There was no greater plot, no quest or manner in which the characters followed. There was no goal, no objective, hardly a conflict or an antagonist to defeat. Lord Nudd who I suppose was supposed to be the "villain" of the story had no character, no purpose, or no goal in what he did. The characters were not developed and the attempts to do so fell a long way off the mark.

Many of the characters annoyed me, especially Simon, Tegid, and Meldron (which is pretty much all the characters there were in the book). Their personalities were not defined enough so that their random outbursts and statements made no sense and had no standing. Prince Meldorn who was initially a kind and valiant Prince all of a sudden turned into some sort of usurper and greedy power hungry noble. Simon who was carefree and adventerous suddenly became the instigator of all things evil in Albion. Tegid was a major pessimistic bard who annoyed me with half his attempts of bringer a downer on everything.

Lewis' character (or whatever his name is, really) was not developed enough for me to be annoyed at. He had no personality, and after reading 400-something pages I would be hard pressed to find one adjective to describe him.

All in all, I felt the book had potential to be a lot better, but sadly, that was not the case. fantasy10 s Sara372 162

Solid 4 stars, great read! Can't wait to pick up the next one!7 s Taneil111 59

The first in a trilogy, The Paradise War follows the amazing and fantastic adventure of a young college student by the name of Lewis Gillies. When he follows his friend on an sudden and unly urge to explore the strange appearance of a long extinct beast in Scotland, he is shocked when his friend disappears inside a cairn and does not return. It is only when he attempts to follow Simon that he understands why.

Albion is where he finds himself. It is the Otherworld, and he is thrust into it so quickly and violently that he doesn't even have time to protest the series of events that lead to his warrior training and the events that will follow. Lewis is in Albion, a land so steeped in Celtic myth, lore, legend, and culture that the novel resonates with this fantastic framework and thrills the reader with their own discovery of it.

Lewis comes to love Albion so well that the thought of returning to the drab, gray, meaningless life that he left behind him makes him sick. How could a person desire to take a shadow of a thing over the reality? He comes to realize, though, that the presence of strangers has brought a new influence in to the ancient ways and traditions of the country, and that it is steadily bringing about the downfall of the world. Simon is a changed man, and his greedy words of dissent whispered into the right ear causes waves that cannot be stopped. Lewis realizes that he must prevent anything else from taking place, and though it grieves his heart, he tries to force Simon back to their own world, only to be met with surprise.

This book is my introduction to the works of Stephen Lawhead, and I must say that I am very impressed. He has created a rich and colorful world that so thoroughly held me captive in a way that books have not done for a while. I fell in love with the beautiful descriptions, the wonderful lore that made the skillful foundation for the work, and the very characters themselves caught at my mind and are still clinging there.

I personally loved The Paradise War and can't wait to finish the second book in the series, The Silver Hand, although I would probably not recommend the series for younger teens and below.

Finally, I just want to say, I think I love Great Britain more than ever! At the very least I find the ancient history and mythology fascinating. 2012 adventure fantasy ...more6 s Margaret Chind3,188 250

Well. I must admit I did return this to the library without finishing it. I kept reading and reading, almost to halfway through it just hoping for something to pick up and excite me. But it didn't... even when I got to the Otherworld. Steven Lawhead just did so much better with Hood. With Hood I was enraptured and in love with all the characters and events and could not read fast enough to get what was coming next. But perhaps it is because Hood was from last year (2006) where The Paradise War is from 1991, maybe Lawhead has just gotten better. Who knows. Either way, I do not really recommend this book. There are too many other, better things out there to read. netgalley-expired own sc-fi-fantasy ...more5 s Jacqueline (Fall In Love With The Sound of Words)372 24

4.5 stars. Really enjoyable.5 s RonAuthor 1 book150

A good, easy-to-follow story, well-told, but it didn't quite live up to expectations. The opening scenes included an aurochs and a green giant, then nothing—other than the obligatory portal experiences—really "Other" for 300 pages. Oh, there's lots of "other"--good ancient Celtic words and culture, but little of Fairie.

In fact, if there's a flaw to Lawhead's approach is that he treats even his spiritual beings as super strong, super evil, etc., but they lack the "feel" of Other.

A quibble. Lawhead often tells rather than shows. Often he describes a scene based on his protagonist's emotional response and not what Lewis/Lydd is responding to.

A fun read.
fantasy4 s Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah*1,024 182

Lewis is an American student going to school in Oxford. When his roomate discovers a newspaper article about a legendary beast (an aurochs) that was sighted, they both go on a weekend adventure to try and see it. What they discover however, is a cairn that transports them into another world-the world of Albion.

This book was seriously amazing. I picked it up in the store because the cover caught my eye, but I didn't expect to get swept up in it I did. It is an amazing fantasy story, with writing so beautiful and descriptive I felt almost as if I were in Albion too! I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it to anyone!

Albion Forever! :)fantasy4 s Noel (noelreads)314 233

2.5 stars
I prefer fantasy worlds filled with lots of fantastical elements. Magic, talking creatures, elves, dwarves, fairies, etc. In this book, the Otherworld was fairly realistic (at least historically) for most of the story. That was pretty disappointing. The characters were also rather dull. The ending was decent, and some characters are starting to develop a bit.fantasy4 s Nicholas KotarAuthor 36 books309

This is really good stuff.

Only four stars because the second is even better.

But it needs a long and thought-through review.

You can read that, along with thoughts about other things, at this link:

http://nicholaskotar.com/2018/11/21/t...
4 s Ashley Marie 1,364 393

I'd been hoping to finish this last week, but I got my days mixed up so here we are on Monday (that's not a big deal to anyone except me).

I enjoyed the first half very much; this felt Timeline, only for Celtic mythology and without the STEM. Past that, it descended into a rather middle-of-the-road story. I saw the ending coming a mile off. Audio inconsistencies were a turn-off as well.

I'll ly read the second one, because a) I own it and b) most say it's better. However, most absolutely trash the final book in the trilogy, so... we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.fantasy-misc its-libby-you-freaks mythology4 s Erica Henry365 32

I was so bored for most of the book. Sorry, but this book just wasn't for me.march-tbr-2023 own3 s Tori783 45

*This review contains things that are probably spoilers, or at least things that are really close to spoilers, though shouldn't give away anything you don't learn in the first 1/3 of the book... so no major spoilers?*

So, the beginning is way different than the rest of the book. The feeling was different. I d the first feeling better. Not that the second was bad, it was just really not what I was expecting. But it was a good read and I'm glad I own it and will be happy to dig into the next book really soon.

It was a tad disjointed at times though. A few random characters that are introduced and then not heard from again... And then while you're introduced to the major story arc that's to span the whole trilogy early on in the beginning, it's all but forgotten as the story progressed, (after all, he did spend... 8 or 9 years in this world while putting off saving the world?)

Then there was Simon. I d Simon in the beginning. But his character was changed sooo much after going into the Otherworld that he wasn't the same person at all. And I guess by the time you saw him it was three years later, but there was no real... realness to why he had become this ruthless, mean person. And I was sad because I thought he would have been fun to read about if he had stayed true to his beginning self. And you don't even see much of his meaner side, he's not in the book that much.

A few other random, little things that I found out of place (Lewis's loyalty to a king he really didn't know, it never explaining how Simon knew so much about Celtic lore in the beginning) but overall a very nice read.
i-own3 s Jessica45 61

Three Stars is my perfect rating for this book - no more and no less. It was not by any means a bad book, but was also not something that stood out or grabbed me. While the scenery, history, and lore shines through and is very well written, and I did very much enjoy the vocabulary in this novel, I felt the plot and pace rather systematic and predictable. The depth of most of the characters was mediocre, having a sampling of surface personalities you would find in any medieval story involving a kingdom in peril in the face of evil. I was routinely bored, wanting to get through the bard's long tellings, skimming pages and sections. I didn't even have enough patience to fully read the Song of Albion once it was revealed. It was really only the very beginning that pushed me through the bulk of the book, and the very end (in fact, the very last pages) that might make me read the second.

I feel this book might be better for a slightly younger audience, or new fantasy readers wanting a lighter story. I my fantasy with a lot more grit and gore, romance and suspense - Freak me out, surprise me, make me laugh, and make me cry. This book was far too predictable for any of that, but I still think it would be a good book for a certain audience. 3 s Milly Jones71 1 follower

I really really wanted to this book. I'd read a Stephen Lawhead book about a decade ago, and remembered enjoying it. And this book came with a high recommendation from a friend (5 stars no less!) so I was anticipating a good story, well written.

But I couldn't it. It was dull, dull dull. The two main characters introduced in The beginning pages were irritating and unengaging. The narrative was unbearably slow and pompous. The main protagonist is supposed to be a grad student at Oxford in Celtic studies, and yet he seems to know less than me!

I really tried to persevere. But when you find barely five or six chapters in you are skim reading, skipping whole chunks, and literally having to force yourself to read... Then this is not a book that's working.

So yes, I gave up. Maybe if I'd pushed on a bit futher I'd have gotten into it. But I doubt it.

Very disappointing. 3 s Emma1,105 92

Zzz. Boring! This is only book one of a trilogy, so I guess this book has some excuse for having a LOT of tedious back story, but that doesn't mean I have to it. It seemed the entire first 60% of The Paradise War was blah, blah, blah back story. And then. AND THEN. We get to the so-called "good stuff," and still NOTHING HAPPENS.

The main character whines some more, his obnoxious and arrogant sidekick goes on and does some more obnoxious and arrogant things. There's a kiss. And then... the book is over.

Being the first book of a trilogy, it ends with a cliffhanger, of course but I won't be going forward to the second book because I simply will not reward an author for giving me literary blue balls. Jerk.audio fantasy historical-fiction3 s Courtney Nicole710 17

•Typically I reserve 1 star ratings for books that I loath or gave up on. The only reason I didn't give up on this one was just because I didn't want to give up on another book right now.
•My biggest problem with this book was that I was just so bored with it pretty much the entire time I was reading it. I got stuck in the first 40 pages for almost 2 months, at that point I bought the audio book to help push me through it.
•It seems, after attempting two different series written by Lawhead, that I'm just not a fan of Lawhead's books. 3 s Yolanda Smith244 34

A solid 4.5 ??finished-in-20232 s Amber95 3

VIOLENCE 2/5
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