Taliesin

Rating:
Summary: Lawhead's Mythos is breathtaking
Review: I wasn't going to write a review for this book until I read all of the others. Of course this is a marvelous story and a great work of literature, which I have come to expect from Stephen Lawhead. But I decided to write this to point out to any who read reviews before buying books that almost without exception, the people who wrote the negative reviews following prove themselves fools. One reviewer actually read the whole book and completely missed the significance of Taliesin's death (Taliesin was already dead before the arrow struck him. I won't be any more specific for the benefit of those who haven't read) and another insists that potatoes were invented in America in the 1800's! So please READ THIS BOOK! You won't be sorry unless you are really, really dumb (as folks sometimes are!).

Rating:
Summary: An Enjoyable read.
Review: I have read quite a bit of Arthurian literature, fictional and research oriented. That said, TALIESIN is one of the better works of fiction that I have read (though by far not the best). Lawhead's knack for description is his greatest strength as an author...you can actually "see" the land, the people, even the Otherworld while reading. I'll admit, Lawhead plays fast and loose with history (Taliesin didn't even exist till AFTER the time of Arthur), and at times the motives of the characters are unclear...except for Charis, who is probably the SECOND best character he has ever created. By the way, Lawhead's focus on Christianity during the Roman Britain era is not as unbelievable for the time period as some reviewers have opined. Overall...TALIESEN is a good novel, though if you would like to read his best work, read MERLIN...probably Lawhead's finest creation.

Rating:
Summary: Leaves you lacking for words.
Review: This book is...Amazing. Granted, it starts out a little slow, but when you're finished reading it, you'll know it was well worth the (minimun) effort. The Christian point of view is very well put, being that this is is all a build-up to Kinf Arthur, Defender of the Good God. In short order, it makes almost mythological legends seem more historical.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This book series would make a GREAT movie series! Seriously; it would be awsome to watch. The destruction of Atlantis- That would be GREAT! You people would make TONS of money off of this if you made these books into a series.

Rating:
Summary: someone knows how great my name is!
Review: I LOVED this book, if only for one reason-my name is Charis, and he even tells you how to pronounce it right! (For the intrested, 'charis' is the greek word for 'grace'). She was also my favorite type of character. But aside from that, it was a wonderful book involving several of my favorite things; Atlantis, the King Arthur legend, ect. The characters are wonderful and believable (I may be 13 but I know a good book when I see one!). I'd say this rates as one of my favorites-a collection that includes Tolkien, C.S.Lewis, and George MacDonald's fairytales. I also appriciated the christian spin on things-something hard to do with King Arthur. Thanks for a great book and giving my name the recognition it deserves! PS-another good book about Taliesen is 'A String in the Harp'.

Rating:
Summary: A superb beginning to a superb series
Review: I have read Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, most of Jack Whyte's A Dream of Eagles series and the first book of Bernard Cornwell's Warlords Chronicle, and Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle (of which this is the first book) is by far the best in every way (with The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell a distant second). Of the four books in this cycle, I will admit that Taliesin in probably the weakest (see my reviews of the other books in this cycle), yet it still rates five stars. The two parallel stories of Atlantis and Britain are masterfully written, and their convergence in the middle of the book is executed in a truly believable manner (other than 'histortically' dubious setting of the sinking of Atlantis contemporaniously with late Roman britain). Lawhead's writing style is one of the most enjoyable I have encountered. The series only gets better after this...

Rating:
Summary: This was a gr8 book!
Review: I thought that I would be getting myself into, well, a hole I wouldn't be able to climb out of, but after I got past the first slow part, the tory picked up the pace and never slowed down! It was amazing! The characters were more well-drawn than any in any other book I have ever read. I am just beginning to get interested in this type of folklore, and I have read plenty of books about Taliesin, but this topped the cake. And I hope, for the sake of all those people who gave it a bad review, that you never cross MY path! :) Seriously, if you are a fan of Arthurian fantasy, this will fufill your deepest needs for a good read! I will recommend it to anyone!

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book of all time.
Review: This book is my favorite book ever, and that says a lot. From the beleivable destruction of Atlantis, to the love story between Taliesin and Charis, every part of this book ties in to create a well balanced story. There is war, fantasy, stories within the story, love, and the description of the country is amazing. Admitedly, the rest of the series is not as good - just plain weird at times - but even if you do not read the rest of the Pendragon Cycle, Taliesin is so worth any amount of time you give it.

Rating:
Summary: at times gripping, at others deadly and dull
Review: I read lots of Arthurian legend, including the older pieces like Malory, but this one is quite strange indeed. The first 200 pages are slow to the point of pain; then the text takes off. I have rarely read a book that made me cry, but the last twenty pages should have won the tear-jerker oscar. However, as a pagan and a lover of anything Irish or Welsh, I found the christianization of Taliesin repulsive and false. Why lose the triumphant mutual understanding between druid and christian? And why was the fact that Taliesin brought his son to life with druidic power never addressed? That represented one of the most implausible points of the text. Taliesin's death in its depiction was quite and unnecessarily morbid. It didn't make sense that such a powerful man, one who could bring the dead to life and see the Good God would then not know he would be killed by an arrow from the mists. I don't know about reading the rest of the texts. Where's the magick? Literally. I greatly prefer Marion Zimmer Bradley's renditions to Lawheads. Pagans, wiccans, and avid Arthurian readers beware!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book!
Review: This book had my attention the entire way through. It was very suspenseful when Atlantis sunk. The book got a little boring when Lawhead talked about all the stuff about Christ. I can't wait to read Merlin. I hope it will be as good as or better than Taliesin.