Mystic Rose, The

Rating:
Summary: Not Lawhead's best...
Review: Given the normal high quality of Lawhead's work, the final part of the Celtic Crusades trilogy has ended somewhat disappointingly. Lawhead's prose style, as evidenced in the Arthur sextet or the Song of Albion trilogy, is usually precise, sweeping in its sense of the epic, and a delight to read. The Mystic Rose proves extremely weak from an author who normally provides wonderful stories. Inevitably, you cannot help comparing it to the Sarentium Mosaic dulogy and the gulf between the two is vast.
The Mystic Rose is the story of the vengeful Caitriona and her somewhat awkward half-sister Alethea who seek to avenge Duncan's murder at the hands of the Templar Commander de Bracineaux. After buying a Norse bodyguard from the Byzantine jails she steals a letter purporting to reveal the location of the Mystic Rose (unfortunately, guessable as to what it really is fairly quickly) and disappears off after seeing Brother Andrew (as did Murdo and Duncan before her) to steal it. Alethea's abduction leads ultimately to the prize and gives a conclusion to the 'modern-day' plot that runs alongside.Taking the trilogy as a whole, it is fairly simple to understand how the intended cryptic early nineteenth century side story is going to conclude so it becomes more a case of seeing how the story will unfold. Unfortunately, this is where The Mystic Rose falls down, unlike the Black Rood or the Iron Lance.
Caitriona's voyage (after Duncan's somewhat hasty dispatch) comes across as a series of fundamentally unbelievable sketches. Peaking with Prince Hasan's fantastical palace in mid-Spain and barely saved with the eventual conclusion on a thinly-veiled Avalon-esque community, the novel provides minimal excitement. The problem is further enhanced by all of the major characters either being two-dimensional or subject to so many quick personality changes as to be implausible. Alethea's transformation from irritating sister to pious nun is untenable; Cait's constant stubbornness and Rognvald's stoical protector mentality together with the overly brutish de Bracineaux provide a bewildering mix of characters who do not respond from situation to situation with any kind of uniformity.
Stephen Lawhead is one of the finest fantasy authors writing today and his name usually guarantees a purchase. As a result, expectations of his work are higher than normal. However, whilst the Iron Lance commenced the trilogy so well, the Mystic Rose has ended it disappointingly.

Rating:
Summary: Par ending to a Par series
Review: I feel like I am commiting a sacriligeous act by writing a bad review of a Stephen Lawhead novel.

I loved the Pendragon Cycle. read the series twice
I wept in the Song of Albion read the series 4 times
I was enheartened by Byzantium. third time reading
And I reminisced in Avalon. read twice

But I was disappointed in the Celtic Crusades. Its not that they were bad. They weren't at all. But they weren't good either. They were just "there". Kinda like your belly button. It doesn't look bad, it doesn't look good. It just "exists".

I was dissapointed in the character developement. I never cared much for any of the characters in this series, least of all Cait in the "Mystic Rose". There is not much motivation to continue reading a series when all the characters bore you. I did like Rognivald (sp?).

I never cared much about the plot either. Searching and recovering holy artifacts is just plain boring and not to mention its already been done. Stick with the stories about men and the love they have for their people and their country (Albion and Pendragon) and stick with stories of men on historic and spiritual journies (Byzantium).

Did anyone else get the feeling that the rest of the series was written because he just "had to finish the series"?

Very dissapointed but not so dissapointed that I am not eagerly awaiting his next novel or series.

Rating:
Summary: Good conclusion to an exciting series
Review: This is the third volume in the Celtic Crusades series and I would rate this one as "not as good as the first, but better than the second." All of the books in this series are very good. The characters are well-developed, the plots are good and there are many interesting sub-plots. My only gripe is that the first two get started a little slowly, but if you hang in there for the first 50-75 pages then the action gets going well.

The Mystic Rose does the best job of the three in grabbing your attention at the beginning and holding it. Within the first few pages an event happens that sets the tone for the rest of the book. The heroine, Caitriona sets off on a quest to avenge her father's murder and capture Christendom's most sacred relic. In fact, capturing Christendom's most sacred relic is integral to her plan for revenge. This sets up a dicey moral dilemma that is resolved nicely at the end.

I find things like this moral dilemma to be one of Lawhead's strengths. In so much Christian fiction the heroes are cookie cutter Christians who seem to rise above all of the sins and temptations of the common man. Lawhead's heroes, and Caitriona in particular are very earthy, and very sinful people. The upshot of this is that he tells a story that leads one to believe that God, in his mercy, is the real hero of the story, not the protagonist of the book.

At the end of this story, Caitriona is less conquerer and more conquered by the love and mercy of God. This is a very gospel based story line.

All in all, the entire series is a worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: A nice rose, but it could smell sweeter.
Review: With "The Mystic Rose", Stephen Lawhead's Celtic Crusades trilogy ends as it began: good but not great. But perhaps that's because I have been spoiled by his superb ability in some of his other books. This is still a decent historical adventure. On this occasion the protagonist is Cait, daughter of Duncan and granddaughter of Murdo. After the murder of her father Duncan, Cait uncovers a secret letter with details about the mystic rose, the famed Holy Grail from Christ's Last Supper. After stealing the letter and armed with a small band of knights, Cait undertakes her own quest to grab the cup for herself. But the ruthless Templar knight Renaud de Bracineaux is close on her heels, and has his own plans for the sacred relic. The holy treasure becomes the object of a race between the two, both with ambitions of selfish greed. The closing stages of the novel feature an unexpected and yet not unsatisfying resolution. The loose ends are finally tied together, including the long awaited connection with the story of Gordon Murray which frames the novel.

Having a heroic feminine protagonist with such determination seemed anachronistic, and it is debatable whether Lawhead was really able to create a female heroine with any degree of real success or conviction. Yet what I appreciated about Lawhead's characterization is that Cait is a well-rounded character who develops, and that she needs to learn to overcome her lust for revenge, as well as her uncritical passion for a Moorish prince dubious in character. The repentant Cait is eventually overwhelmed by the enormity of her crimes, and confesses: "I prayed to be God's instrument of justice. I thought to use the Mystic Rose to lure my father's killer to his doom. For that, I needed the Holy Chalice, and I came here to take it. You must think me a most brazen and contemptible sinner. The audacity of my deeds amazes even me." (p414). Lawhead's main character in this respect is a flawed and very real - just like ourselves - which makes his story all the more convincing and credible. The Holy Grail plays an important role in Cait's change. As was the case in the other books of the trilogy, coming into contact with the sacred relic leads to visions and experiences of spiritual renewal, sipping from the cup resulting on this occasion in a vision of the Passover Feast.

But while the characterization is quite sound, the plot lacks the suspense and imagination of some of Lawhead's other efforts, and the series as a whole lacks their intense passion and emotion. Like the rest of the series, "The Mystic Rose" is good, but not great. Here's hoping that Lawhead will return to crafting the novels in the genre that gained him such great success: the brilliant, imaginative and passionate historical fantasy of "The Song of Albion" trilogy and "Pendragon" cycle. If not for the brilliance of these other works, perhaps I would be speaking in much more glowing terms of "The Celtic Crusades". But while this series doesn't shine so bright when compared with Lawhead's own work, perhaps it can hold its own against a great deal of other historical fiction today. If you're a Lawhead fan, you'll probably enjoy his other work better. But if you're a historical adventure fan, you might well find "The Celtic Crusades" a rewarding read. -GODLY GADFLY