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Summary: The Dragon King Trilogy is on of my favorite series!
Review: 15-years-old acolyte, Quentin is wakened by a commotion in the temple of Ariel one night. A very badly wounded knight had stumbled in to the temple. His name is Ronsard(he is one of my favorite characters) and he has an extremely important message for his Queen Alinea. Ronsard asks if anyone could go and give the message for him. Quentin agrees to go but he can no longer return to the temple. The knight tells him to go to a hermit named Durwin and to give the message without stopping. So, mounted on Ronsard's horse Balder, Quentin rides to Durwin's house. He meets Durwin and also Durwin's friend, Theido. Theido and Quentin rides to Askelon where the Queen was, but they are caught by the crafty coward, Prince Jaspin. The Prince is the King's brother and he wants to have the crown. Quentin escapes and goes to the Queen. The message he gave was that King Eskevar had been captured by the evil necromancer, Nimrood. Then, the Queen, Durwin, and Quentin meets Theido. He had escaped and together they ride to save the King. Quentin learns of a new God, the Most High and he turns away from Ariel and the other gods to worship the true one God. Durwin teaches him more about God on the way.Can they rescue the King from Nimrood? Can they win the battle with Prince Jaspin's 100,000 men with their 10,000?
This is a wonderful Christian fantasy. The next one, "The Warlords of Nin" is my favorite in the Dragon King Trilogy.
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Summary: Could have been much better
Review: I haven't read Lawhead's other works, but this was a big disappointment. The characters were shallow, the villains incompetent, the Protestant Christian symbolism too blunt, and the spelling and grammar atrocious. Whoever the editor was should be fired. The only redeeming aspect was a fairly original plot, but it is not enough to save the rest of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been much better
Review: I haven't read Lawhead's other works, but this was a big disappointment. The characters were shallow, the villains incompetent, the Protestant Christian symbolism too blunt, and the spelling and grammar atrocious. Whoever the editor was should be fired. The only redeeming aspect was a fairly original plot, but it is not enough to save the rest of the book.
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Summary: Awsome!
Review: I must ask because I have read many other books by Lawhead and have enjoyed them all for the most part. But this series is painful to slog through. In fact, I read the first book, put the other two aside and found them a year later. As I began the second book I realized why I hadn't read the entire series before. There are so many other books he's written since then that are entertaining and well developed - read them, not these!
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Summary: Who wrote this drivel?
Review: I must ask because I have read many other books by Lawhead and have enjoyed them all for the most part. But this series is painful to slog through. In fact, I read the first book, put the other two aside and found them a year later. As I began the second book I realized why I hadn't read the entire series before. There are so many other books he's written since then that are entertaining and well developed - read them, not these!
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Summary: Stuff happens, but so what?
Review: I really wanted to like this series, but I just couldn't. Lawhead failed to make me care about any of the characters and his pacing is uneven at best. One moment, he'll spend a chapter detailing everything that happens in a scene -- the next, he'll skip over months in a few sentences. I'm afraid I would have to recommend against buying this series. If you'll looking for Swords & Sorcery that deal well with a character growing up and coming to power, look at David Edding's Belgariad.
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Summary: Must read! Very well done.
Review: I think that Stephen R. Lawhead is one of the best authors right now. The thing that made me read this book is that it was about King Arthur. King Arthur just fascinates me and I just grew on Lawhead's books, I still have to read about five or six more books of his till I'm done.
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Summary: Young Quentin & Lawhead "Lite" - not deep, but enjoyable.
Review: If you are expecting something like Lawhead's profound and satisfying "Pendragon Cycle" when reading these books, prepare to be disappointed. This isn't typical Lawhead, it's the Lawhead "lite" version, because it lacks the depth of description, character and emotion present in many of Lawhead's other works. Undoubtedly, this is more entertainment than the literary fiction of those offerings. But it would be unfair to criticize Lawhead too harshly for this, because this series was born in the infancy of his career as a writer. Readers familiar with the more polished and developed Lawhead as evident in his later work would do the man an injustice by measuring his first work by the incredibly high standard of his more mature efforts.
As a series geared towards the level of teens rather than adults, and where the reader is not under the false expectation that it contains the majesty and depth of the "Pendragon Cycle", this is still a great read. This first volume i!n the series of three (The "Dragon King" Trilogy) introduces us to young Quentin, an assistant in the temple of Ariel, who forsakes aspirations of priesthood in order to undertake an important mission for the King. This quickly leads to a quest to save King Eskevar from the hands of his evil brother Prince Jaspin who harbours selfish ambitions to take over the crown. Quentin and his great war horse Balder are soon joined in this quest by the religious hermit Durwin, the renowned outlaw Theido, and later by the prison warder Trenn, the good Queen Alinea, the mysterious nomad Toli, and the brave knight Ronsard. But Jaspin proves to be a mere pawn in the hands of the evil necromancer Nimrood, and it is from the clutches of this corrupt wizard that the King must be rescued. Quentin and company face perils of many kinds, including a long journey through the lands of Mensandor and Elsendor to the dreaded Karsh, the desolate home of Nimrood. They encounter the dreaded Harriers, and a! multitude of other dangers. The action rarely lets up, as the friends flee from one danger into the next.
The battle lines between good and evil are clearly marked out, as a conflict ensues between the powers of light and darkness, good and evil. Lawhead plainly intends this conflict to portray spiritual warfare. On one side is Nimrood, with his powers of sorcery, occultic skills and dabbling with the dark arts. On the other side is young Quentin and his band of fellow fighters for freedom, justice and righteousness. Pagan religions worshipping "the old gods" are present - in fact Quentin serves such a god during his days at the temple. But these gods are presented as "shadows, faint mists tossed on the breeze and dispersed." (p.174). A key turning point comes when Quentin meets "the Maker, the One, Most High God", and receives His blessing (p.173-7). The Christian symbolism being very clear, it is ultimately the Most High God who makes victory over against the forces !of darkness possible.
In the end, the struggle between good and evil is somewhat simplistic, the victories a little too easily accomplished (the rescue from Nimrood's island a case in point), the Christian imagery rather thinly veiled, the characters rather two-dimensional, and fantasy world of Mensandor not breathtakingly vivid in description. But that's OK. If you like to read about medieval type settings with knights in shining armour, evil wizards, and heroic quests, you'll love this book. The action is fast and furious, the story line enjoyable, the message clear and positive. It's not deep, it's not profound, but Lawhead "Lite" is still an enjoyable read.
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Summary: One of the best books ever
Review: If you crave fantasy, magic, and suspense that will drive you off of your seat than this is the book for you. If you like Knights in shining armor, Evil and dangerous wizards, and heros that save the day than you should definately get this book. I just finished it and I can't wait to get the second.
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Summary: Great new fantasy with a twist of God
Review: In looking for something in fantasy without trash, "In the Hall of the Dragon King" caught my eye. The basic "displaced nobody boy who does great things" has been a favorite plot of mine and was not used tipically. In Lawhead's opener for the series, he managed to build a great fantasy story of the unknown boy who saves the kingdom, with help of course. The charaters had realistic emotional responses with the scars of human imperfection. The discovery of the God from the visions to the hermit to the Ariga proved exciting and had life-like complexity. The action, heroism, and deceit worked well to keep the reader plunging in. Though part of the ending was to be expected, how he got there was quite interesting. Lawhead has truely started off the series right
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