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Mar 22, 2010

Kat rated it:

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 More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 09, 2008

Werner rated it:

This is the first book of a trilogy; and like 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 a More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 14, 2010

Margaret rated it:

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 i More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Dec 07, 2010

Jeremy rated it:

Ancient history has always been a passion of mine, and when a book of Celtic mythology, the journey to the Otherworld, is written, I was peaked. It was not what I had expected, not by a long shot. A story that seemed to me to be a strange look at ancient Britain turned into a potential epic that was fascinating to explore.

That being said, the story did drag in several places. The imagery was lacking, and the book seemed somewhat passive to me. Things seemed to happen, but were no More...

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Apr 11, 2010

Annie rated it:

Definitely just the first act in a larger story, The Paradise War is good. not great. but definitely good.

I have to admit I didn't love the writing or the description. Even in trying to give words to an astounding world I felt like the description was trying too hard, or I was trying too hard to understand. The language is simple and uninteresting, until in brief moments when his words ring absolutely true and then I liked it a lot!

I didn't like the central characte More...

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Dec 06, 2010

Mumbo rated it:

This was a positively dreadful book which had a good idea but a poor delivery. I understand that it has a tremendous following, but I can only suppose there must be hordes of readers out there who enjoy pointless verbosity.

The idea behind the story is time honored in fantasy: Guys from present find their way through a portal to another time/place/age/reality -- in this case something akin to Celtic Highlands, though the development of the Celtic angle was thinner than a razor. Once in More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 08, 2012

Eyebright rated it:

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 unlikely 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 i More...

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Jan 29, 2012

Kate rated it:

First book in the series. I thought it was going to be a book about two college students when the Otherworld invaded England (I was led to think this because of the description on the book cover "Wolves prowling the streets of Oxford. A green man haunting the Highlands. . ." and the first few pages). However, it is a book about a college student (technically grad student) who becomes an Otherwold (basically fantasy Celtic) warrior. Not as interesting. I didn't care much for the main ch More...

2 comments like

Feb 16, 2011

Cass rated it:

I finished this book the day my youngest sister was born. I had attempted the series and struggled with the open section. The first few (actually more than a few) chapters are downright boring. The author drags us through a long narration setting the scene for the two main characters in the books.

My Dad had noticed the books and took this one to the hospital while we waited for the birth. My Dad share a long history of reading the same book together. Every time he put it down I would p More...

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Dec 03, 2010

Jessica rated it:

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 k More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 02, 2011

Frank rated it:

I must admit that I didn’t have much expectation to the new series. Mainly because of the "21 century boy" meets Celtic myths, aren’t my cup of tea. And yes here the “but” is coming in... But Lawhead doesn’t dwell on the part of a modern boy/man experiencing Celtic livelihood and mystic, but are more concentrated on how easily he except the world/universe he is travelled to and tries intellectually to integrate both aspect of the Celtic and "modern living.
The novel is fun an More...

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Aug 13, 2011

Branwen rated it:

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 like I did. It is an amazing fantasy sto More...

2 comments like

Oct 03, 2011

Rena rated it:

Tricky for me to rate this book. I read through sections quickly, but felt that not much was happening. Then I would put the book aside, take a break from it, and then try again. Since this is the first of a series I suspect that much of the action is coming in the next book. I'm just not sure I will continue. I really like it when I get caught up in a story and I feel as if I am in the story. When I feel connected to the characters, and can't wait to see what happens. I just didn't feel that wa More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 28, 2010

Judy rated it:

I didn't realize that this free Kindle book was fantasy -- I started to enjoy it almost immediately, when the hero was at Oxford -- I recognized many of the streets etc. When he followed his friend thru a "time warp" and ended in ancient Albion, the kingdom of the Celts, I was unable to not finish the book. It held me enthralled, all the while I was wondering what would happen. It would have been ideal except for the "human-ness" of all concerned. I think this is the first in More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Jeremy rated it:

As much as I love the Pendragon Cycle, I think an argument could be made that The Paradise War is a stronger story. It's very nearly as archetypal - modern man finds a path into magical land of legend, saves world, etc - but the tensions set up between the two modern characters, the well-executed portrayal of the seductiveness of a world that accepts you as you are, and the mythic, if somewhat muddled, climax create a cohesive and compelling narrative. It does not stand on its own - the ending More...

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May 07, 2011

Daniela rated it:

Although it sounds like most people would disagree with me, I really liked the Pendragon Cycle better. The beginning held potential with the journey to the Otherworld, but once that was reached the story began to loose my interest as many years were skipped over. The comical nature of someone being out of their world and time and not fitting in should not be fast forwarded. Couldn't help but compare it to the Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, which to me was so much better. It was more of a time More...

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Mar 19, 2011

Alex rated it:

Originally published in the early nineties, Stephen R. Lawhead’s bestselling Song of Albion Trilogy has now been released in a gorgeous hardcover edition that immediately catches one’s eye. The first in the series is The Paradise War, followed by The Silver Hand and The Endless Knot. Lawhead pulls from Celtic myths and legends and ancient texts to create story set in modern day of a most unique world.

Lewis Gillies is an American graduate student studying at the eminent Oxford Univers More...

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Feb 20, 2011

Seeker ~ Elarinya rated it:

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" More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 08, 2010

Katherine rated it:

The writing is good but something vital seems to be missing. Or perhaps it's more that this book is heavily-weighted toward being war fantasy (I know the term is supposed to be "Epic" fantasy but I consider this a misnomer as epic denotes heroism instead of the one-dimensional warrior-ism it has come to represent.) which I don't particularly care for. You know where everything else seems to play a second to the battle scenes, things like plot, character development, mythology etc. The More...

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Dec 13, 2010

Lydia rated it:

Hmmmm... What to say...

This book was not particularly engaging. I wanted to know how it ended, but I didn't necessarily need to know. I never found myself thinking about it when I wasn't reading it, and if I was interrupted while reading, it didn't concern me. It ended with a bit of a cliffhanger for the next book, but it didn't make me want to immediately run out to get it. I don't think I am likely to even bother with the next one.

The characters weren't particularly inte More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 07, 2010

Sarah rated it:

This book is not quite a gentle read. It is more violent than many of the readers of this genre would probably prefer. There is very little if any language and absolutely no sex. A reader looking for a purely Christian set of ideas may be disturbed by a “kiss” between two men. In truth, it was a transfer of knowledge and power from a dying man, but that wasn’t explained immediately. There is talk of the excesses of the modern world and a belief that the past may have held a better state for men More...

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Apr 23, 2010

John rated it:

Wow is all I know to say. I was really surprised by this one (as by Lawhead's last series). The first half (not quite half, but whatever) is just okay, but the 2nd half is spectacular! It's very creative, where as the first half seems a little borrowed. I was going to read another book from a different series before I read the 2nd of this series, but I'm not sure that I can resist now!

As far as writing, Lawhead has a great writing style. He inspires emotions excellently in the re More...

2 comments like

Nov 15, 2009

Graham rated it:

My review from http://grahamchops.blogspot.com/2009/10/...

(Whole trilogy reviewed)

This one is over a year in the making. I first read The Paradise War last summer on audio when my mom got me the book for my birthday. I'd read Lawhead's Hood and Scarlet and totally loved them, so I wanted to get into his backlist. The cool thing about this trilogy is that, unlike his other books (which are all period pieces about King Arthur, Robin Hood, Saint Patrick, etc), this trilogy is More...

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Jul 22, 2009

Annette rated it:

Basic plot: a pair of Oxford graduate students from very different backgrounds find themselves in the "Otherworld" of Celtic myth, where there coming presages a terrible war that could break the link between our two worlds with devastating consequences.
I've had this book in my library for years and even started reading it 2-3 times and for some reason or another never went ahead and finished. I guess I'd been concerned that it was going to be more like his "Dragon King" More...

2 comments like

Jan 29, 2012

Rebecca rated it:

The Paradise War, Song of Albion part 1, is an enjoyable journey from current time London, to the otherworld of Celtic myth and legend. I laughed out loud and almost cried from merriment at the start of the book when Lewis and Simon are traveling across London to Scotland in an effort to prove each other wrong. Once the two end up in the Otherworld, the story takes a turn and really takes off in another direction. Events and places in this Otherworld are elusive at times and a little more backgr More...

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Feb 19, 2011

Andrea rated it:

The problem here was not the story, which in retrospect was worth at least 3 stars. What I liked least was the superfluous use of metaphor and simile (and seeming disregard for foreshadowing) which brought to a screeching halt any chance at momentum. It also probably didn't help that I have no knowledge of or passion for Celtic lore. The author did a great job of explaining so I didn't feel lost, but I still just never felt connected. This is a series I will not finish.

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Dec 29, 2009

Annie rated it:

A slow start for me, but by the middle I was enthralled. This is my introduction to Celtic mythology and I will certainly continue the series. The author weaves deeper philosophical threads into his story that make you pause and think. Then it's back to the action. Very satisfying.
I began this book just as I started the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes stories and I am seriously thinking for the first time about a trip to England.

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Mar 26, 2009

Mary rated it:

This is pretty decent. I'm not sure what Lawhead's purpose was in setting this in fairyland vs. just way back in time in actual England, because there sure isn't much magic (there's a tiny bit) or elves (none) or similar in his Albion.

That aside, characters are well done. You root for the heroes and want a large pile of rocks to fall of the villians, which means the author accomplished something at least.

1 comment like

Sep 01, 2011

Sharon rated it:

My second read, first time was some 15 years ago. Enjoyed it both times, though the first time around I was not really aware of the christian underpinnings until the very end of the book (how astute am I). I am more aware of that that element second time but find it's not terribly intrusive and so does not really change my reading in any significant way. Lawhead is a good storyteller.

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Feb 14, 2011

Aaron rated it:

When I picked this up I thought it was going to be pure Celtic fantasy. I was surprised and a little disappointed when the first several chapters were set in modern day Oxford. The set-up took a bit to sludge through, but the story of the Otherworld was compelling. It ends as you would expect the first book of a trilogy to end. Don't pick this up if you want a stand-alone story.

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