Rating: 
Summary: Bravo! Mr. Lawhead! You do the impossible.
Review: Well, I hoped to write the first review, but Donovan beat me to it. I will merely add to his accurate praises. Avalon arrived on Thursday, I started reading it Friday and just finished it now late Saturday night. It is a page turner. I was reading my way through the last three books of the Pendragon Cycle before I actually read Avalon. However, I could not resist that beautiful new book sitting unread on the bookshelf. So, I set down Arthur right before a tremendous battle against Balduf and picked up Avalon. I would say that Avalon contains some of the wittiest and most gripping dialogue I have ever read. The characters leapt to life, familiar yet changed in their modern setting. I was terribly scared that Lawhead had over reached himself when I heard that this was a modern King Arthur fable. Lawhead exceeded my expectations for this story and pulls it off with great aplomb and heart. I definitely enjoyed the book more because of my prior reading of his Pendragon Cycle.Please read this book and let your heart soar! My intial reading rates it at 4 stars, one of Lawhead's best, easily the best since Byzantium, but upon further readings, I may strike again with another review with a higher rating.
Rating: 
Summary: Lawhead is one of the greatest novelists of our time...
Review: I agree completely with the review below, you will be hard pressed to find a better all-round novel, that has suspense, intrigue, and master storytelling. You will also be hard pressed to put the book down, which is a cliche I feel is overused these days, but in this case is completely justifiable. For those of you who are simply browsing this site, I strongly encourage you to buy this book, because I guarantee you that you will not be dissappointed
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing...yet begs 1 question
Review: I have long been a fan of Stephen Lawhead. The first three of his Pendragon cycle were fantastic. His Empyrion Cycle was entertaining. And while his song of albion trilogy was no great work it is still my favorite. Then came Byzantium...which was a horrid horrid book. The Iron lance or whatever the next one was was even worse. So I picked this one up with trepidation. And finished it within 3 hours. This book rocked. Why did it take so long for him to return to the style that I loved? But there was one point that annoyed me. Why the whole rebirth motif? If myrddin can stay alive for forever why couldn't he bring back the real arthur or at least avoid this karma or reincarnation bit. The loss of his diehard christian take on this was a little sad. while not a christian myself it's something i've always admired about his writing. Otherwise this is a great book and great ending to the arthurian legend...just hope it's the beginning of the end and there's a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: The best SRL book since Byzantium and an incredible story!
Review: Stephen Lawhead masterfully recreates Arthurian Britain in the twentieth century. Arguably Lawhead's best novel to date, I found it impossible to put down. This is a well-crafted novel that will keep you up late at night, enthralling you until the last page is turned. Avalon is a modern fantasy that combines Lawhead's vintage storytelling ability and well-crafted language with modern suspense and mystery. You will be hard pressed to find a better or more original retelling of the Arthurian tale. I absolutely loved it and I know you will too! - Donovan Mattole
Rating: 
Summary: Bland Cliches
Review: Stephen Lawhead has always been hit and miss with me. Some of his books I've really enjoyed (The Song of Albion series), others not so much (The Celtic Crusades). This book falls into the "not so much" category. The characters are bland, cardboard cut-outs of previous incarnations; the motivation behind many of the characters is thin at best; and the writing seems like it was called in. If you're a Lawhead fanatic, you'll love this book. If you're a fan of Arthurian legends, there are better choices out there.
Rating:
Summary: Fitting Conclusion to Lawhead's Arthurian Epic
Review: Avalon is the final book in Lawhead's wonderful Pendragon series. Unlike the other books in the series, it is set during conteporary times when England is threatened by an evil so great that only a revitalized monarchy can save it. Enter James Arthur Stuart, an army officer, who is told by an old man named Merlin that he is the legitimate heir to the throne. It turned out that he was conceived in secret and his existence hidden, raised by a foster family, in much the same way as King Arthur was. Lawhead adds contemporary versions of Arthur's knights and advisors as well as his enemies. Sometimes this book gets lost in Lawhead's rather grandiosse style which fits much better with the ancient rather than the contemporary, but overall, this is an enjoyable and interesting novel. A fitting conclusion to the King Arthur story.
Rating: 
Summary: The premise enticed me, but . . .
Review: As someone who has been fascinated with the history, symbolism, and ritual of the British monarchy, the premise of Avalon captured my attention, but ultimately, I found it a bit disappointing. Lawhead is dealing with interesting issues, but doesn't develop them in a very compelling way and spends to many words describing things that don't matter much overall. I sensed that much of what fascinates Lawhead about British national identity also fascinates me, but I never got the impression that his knowledge of British history, or of issues in contemporary British culture, was that extensive. Obviously, the figure of Arthur represents an ideal, and it would have been interesting to see more of the drama of recorded British history somehow woven into the narrative of legendary Arthur coming back to the 21st Century. I was left wondering what figures (royal or otherwise) in British history aroused the author's admiration in terms of standing in the tradition of inspired leadership idealized by Arthur. Given the surname of the main character and a couple of other statements, one gets the impression that Lawhead believes that the royal succession in Britain took a wrong turn with the transition from the House of Stuart to the House of Hanover. However, this does not demonstrate any appreciation for the fact that the personal character traits and positive public perceptions of monarchs like George III, Victoria (and her consort Prince Albert), George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II have helped the monarchy to survive to this day. Even though they do not bear the name of Stuart, those monarchs do descend from King James I. Also, does Lawhead see good things in the development of parliametary democracy? Lawhead doesn't really effectively argue the case for constitutional monarchy so much as he argues for inspired leadership. He implies that the new Arthur represented in James Stuart is going to exercise more political clout than present monarchs, but in this age of democracy, how would that be accepted and what would it look like? How would a religiously pluralistic culture influenced by secular humanism react to the unabashedly Christian coronation ceremony depicted near the book's end? Also, just how far into the 21st Century is the story set? How has E.U. developed? Is the United Kingdom still united? Historical and cultural issues aside, the main characters suffer from a lack of development. It would have been interesting to see James Stuart struggle with real human weaknesses and how his professed Christian faith gives him hope and perseverence. As someone else noted, Prime Minister Waring is a cardboard villain who is not a formidable antagonist. So once again, exploring the ideal of Christian kingship in the setting of 21st Century Britain presents compelling ideas, but as someone noted, Avalon is not up to the literary level of a work by C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien. If the premise of this novel interested you, I would recommend the non-fiction books "The Abolition of Britain: From Winston Churchill to Princess Diana," by Peter Hitchens, and "God Save the Queen: The Spiritual Dimension of Monarchy" by Ian Bradley.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable, bland and full of cliches...
Review: I was very disappointed in this book.
Let me start by saying that I have a strong interest in British history, and after reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon", I was anxious to continue on to other titles.
This book raises an interesting premise-what if the legendary King Arthur returned? Unfortunately, I found this book to have one-dimensional characters, plot resolutions I could see coming from a mile away and utterly unconvincing situations.
The book focuses on James Arthur Stuart, a man who is told by the reincarnated Merlin that he is in fact King Arthur. James holds a strong affection for Jenny (who later is revealed to be a major link in the story) and enjoys a close friendship with childhood companion Cal. Once James is told by modern-day Merlin that he is Great Britain's rightful King, James decided to claim the throne, much to the disgust of Prime Minister Waring, who is behind the recent abolition of the monarchy. He is determined that James (aka Arthur)will never take the throne.
This is the plotline, in a nutshell. The story, alas, is ruined by several things.
1. The characters are stereotypical, cardboard cutouts...no real personality is shown or motivation explained. PM Waring may as well have horns and a tail.(You can tell because he swears a lot) Jenny, James' girlfriend, is, of course, perfect in looks and manner. And James himself is handsome, brave, smart, honest, loving, sincere AND almost singlehandedly takes down a group of Neo-Nazis with pitbulls! Puh-LEEZE.
2. The author is obviously very pro-monarchy...or at least, very anti-politician (not to mention, rabidly anti-journalist). I would almost argue that he has some sort of axe to grind. There are several moments in the book where James/Arthur defends his claim to the throne by saying that the Monarchy was established by God, and besides, Parliament has done an awful job anyway. I know it's just a work of fiction, but there is no sincere discussion in this book of why Britain may be genuinely better off without the monarchy. One passage, where James/Arthur pompously tells the demonized Prime Minister that he is there in office purely out of James/Arthur's kindness is particularly offputting. I frankly found none of the major characters to be particularly likeable or interesting.
3. There are better writers in this genre...and yes, I do mean Marion Zimmer Bradley, to mention one. She writes extensively on early England/Britain with a complexity and clarity that Lawhead doesn't. Basically, I was disappointed that I bought this book. I can see this being the basis for a "straight-to-DVD" movie, starring obscure B actors.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I liked Lawhead's Pendragon trilogy when it was just a trilogy - he should have left it at that. In Avalon he avoids what I saw as the main flaw of both Pendragon and Grail - the overuse of lengthy sermons - but fails to deliver on plot. The modern-day Moira simply isn't as frightening as she used to be. Far from being the incarnation of all that is evil in Britain, whose plots destroyed knights and brought ruin to the kingdom, here she is not even competent. When she does kill somebody, it has no negative effect at all. When she sends barbarians after Arthur they are laughable and serve only to increase Arthur's popularity. The rest of her schemes just fizzle out, with the result that Arthur and Merlin face no serious challenge. When you take what ought to be an epic struggle between good and evil from an author of Christian novels and remove the evil, then reduce the Christianity to a few throw-away lines, you're left with a watered-down story that is neither interesting nor thought-provoking.
Rating:
Summary: The swift sure hand falls short
Review: I have to agree with the reviewers who find this one below Lawhead's average. Although the writing was a bit insipid by his standards, and the plot dragged, my biggest problem wasn't with the "evil prime minister" (who didn't seem much worse than most politicians) or the "return of Arthur" storyline (which was referred often enough.) Instead, it was with Arthur/Stuart's message. Running on a platform of the "swift sure hand" and a Christian theocracy is one thing in the 6th century, but in the 21st? Didn't all the Muslims and Hindus, not to mention free-thinkers and atheists, have something to say about that? All Waring had to do was run a few of the juicier quotes on a continuous loop, and he would have won in a landslide - and probably gotten Stuart and his supporters deported to boot. And after the Archbishop's Falwell-routine at the funeral, the fifth referendum would have shuttered the Anglican Church and sent Rippon and *his* supporters packing.
Not a bad book, in its own way, but disappointing nonetheless.
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