Rating: 
Summary: Great!!
Review: I loved everything about this book! Great story, strong characters and vivid descriptions brought it alive.
Rating: 
Summary: Shallow exercise
Review: Once again Lawhead turns his attentions to a prominent place in our history, this time the Crusades.Lawhead is a highly talented writer but too often settles for easy, trite answers and peoples his stories with shallow, one-dimensional characters. Unfortunately the protagonist in this one, Murdo, is one of his worst creations. Yet another cliched innocent young man wronged by someone more powerful (nothing wrong with that part in theory), Murdo is an unexceptional character: a whiny, weak, frightened, unskilled farmboy who spends have the novel pining away for his love Ragna. This is another of Lawhead's increasingly torturous tricks: placing his lead into a position of yearning and lust for a woman flirts and plays him but never comes clean about her intentions. Again, nothing wrong with this in theory but since we seen it from him about ten times over the last fifteen years this device is extremely tired and worn out. As are Lawhead's descriptions of battles... it's as if he just copies out the prose from his other novels Taleisin, Merlin, Arthur, and transposes them here. But the worst part of Lawhead's narratives these days are his incessant reminders of what a great and powerful God these warriors follow. Heavy handed and predictable comments about how 'good God is' and how 'kind Jesu is' have grown so wearisome on the reader over the years that though I've come to expect it in every novel now I can hardly stomach these contrived 'subplots'. In Byzantium it Adain's loss of faith and subsequently illogical and abrupt re-embrace of his beliefs and in Iron Lance it is Murdo's rather contrived plot device of despising Christians and their religion because of the church's seizure of his lands... only to inexplicably embrace this God whom he so loathed. Lawhead is a once great writer who's prose is ever engaging and absorbing but his instincts have become blunted and his skills softened over the years. Someone clearly past his prime (though Byzantium was close to recapturing that old glory). Steer clear of this one and instead pick up the stirring and moving - and dare I say BRILLIANT - first three books of the Pendragon Cycle the aforementioned Taleisin, Merlin and Arthur. It doesn't get any better than that.
Rating:
Summary: A history book come to life!
Review: I love medieval history and historical fiction, so I love it when a book follows the true facts. If you know anything about the crusades it will help put you "inside" while you're reading this book. Lots of fun. I hope there will be more like it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This book is wonderful! Stephen Lawhead's historical settings are so believable; this is the closest you'll get to experiencing history. It is incredible how well I understood the complex politics of Europe and the Middle East during the Crusades after reading this book. I can hardly wait for the next one!
Rating: 
Summary: Vivid portrayal of colliding cultures
Review: Though not my favourite among Lawhead's works, the way he is able to put the reader *into* the setting is once again fantastic, almost cinematic (think OmniMax) in scope. Another repeat feature is the depiction of each culture through the eyes of the other: how Byzantines might have perceived the Germanic Crusaders, and vice-versa. It makes their motives more understandable to us in the end-20th century. Worth the money and the read, but don't stop here!
Rating:
Summary: Lawhead Puts Distant Past Into An Exciting Adventure
Review: Steven Lawhead proves with "The Iron Lance" it takes a lot of imagination and action to make the Dark Ages come alive in our minds. "The Iron Lance" is one of those books that captures not just your attention, but also your life for the duration of the book; one who is in the process reading cannot leave the book sitting for long. The reader becomes the character and engages in the character's adventures in one of the most intriguing historical events of the Western Civilization: The Crusades.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable reading/
Review: I've read all of Lawheads books to date and this one is worth the read. Athough it is not as good as Byzantium (his best work yet), it is a great historical novel. Contemplative at times, exciting at others, worth every minute of your time. You won't be going wrong purchasing this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Greatness!
Review: I loved it! Hurry up with the next book
Rating:
Summary: Greatest Historical Epic to Date
Review: Having never read a Lawhead book before i was a little wary, but two chapters in i was hooked. The historical content and mixture of fantasy enthralls the reader from start to finish. The book is so hard to put down as it captures the reader and won't let go, try it yourself as you will find out there isnt a point where you can put this great read down.
Rating:
Summary: Stephen Lawhead does it again
Review: Once again, I found myself pulled into a world almost 1000 years old. Each of Lawhead's books has affected me in a very strong way. This book did it again. The story pulled at all my emotions, pulling laughter, enjoyment, and tears out of me at different points. I enjoyed the book very much and would recomend it to anyone interested in the time of the Crusades. It makes them real in a sense that I could never get from a textbook. Lawhead also tends to make his stories morality plays, and this happens in this story. Sometimes, when I finish a book, even though I enjoyed it I feel that it really does not have much of a point to it. I have not found this to be true of any of Lawhead's books, definitely not this one. The only reason I did not give this book a full five stars is that it is not as good as Merlin, my favorite of his books. But it is an incredible book that I highly recomend.
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