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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.
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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.
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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: 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: An adventure you won't want to put down
Review: In The Hall Of The Dragon King is an adventure about the hero in all of us. It's the story of a young boy named Quentin, whose great destiny is thrust upon him quite unexpectedly. As you travel with Quentin, his hopes and dreams become your hopes and dreams, his fears and pain become yours, and his victory is your victory. You find yourself cheering him on and booing the bad guy. Lawhead's vivid writing style brings all of his stories to life, and fills the reader with a sense of adventure. You can't put his books down until they're finished! I love his works. If you've never read a Lawhead book, this is a great one to break you in. You'll find yourself scanning the bookstores for his name, and anything he's written will somehow find its way onto your bookshelves. I'm sure of it.
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Summary: Yet more 'feel-good' pseudo-Christian writings...
Review: Oh please, when will it end? 'The One Most High will save me..." etc etc. If someone is going to write a rekigious novel based around one all mighty deity/religious institution, then they could at least make it a little stronger, with some three dimensional characters, like the Dark Sword trilogy by Weis/Hickman.
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Summary: The best book of the Dragon King Trilogy
Review: Stephen R. Lawhead's book, "In the Hall of the Dragon King" is a fantasy novel. The story is set during what seems like the Middle Ages where there are kings and queens, knights and lords, and battles against good and evil. Quentin is the main character of the story. In the beginning, he is a fifteen-year-old acolyte to the god Ariel but later becomes a follower of God. He is very headstrong, courageous, and kind. He is always helping others and makes many friends. Durwin the Holy Hermit is the one who teaches Quentin about God. Durwin is a hermit who lives in the woods, healing and helping the sick. He is very helpful and caring and loves to tell others about God. Toli is a Jher, a race of people who live in the woods. He leaves his tribe to be a servant of Quentin. He is not only a servant, but also Quentin's best friend. Toli is a quiet person with a crafty and quick mind. Prince Jaspin is the wicked brother of the Dragon King of Mesandor. He is crafty and mean but also a coward. He plots against the king with the help of Nimrood the Necromancer. Nimrood is an evil magician who calls on the dark side for his powers. He is evil, cruel, and a lunatic for power. Very late in the night, Quentin awakes suddenly. He hears the priests talking in the temple a goes to find out what happened. A morally wounded knight had stumbled into the temple where Quentin serves as an acolyte to the god Ariel. The knight says his name is Ronsard and that he has a most important message to deliver to Queen Alinea at the city of Askelon. Since because of his injury, he pleads for one of them to send to message. Quentin decides to deliver the message for him. But though that means he can never come back to them temple, he still insists he will go. So one of the priests named Biorkis, tells him to go and on the way ask help from a certain man named Durwin. Quentin leaves on the knight's horse Balder and sets off for Durwin's cottage. He arrives there and sees not only Durwin there, but also Durwin's friend Heidi. When they hear that Quentin has a message from Ronsard for the queen, they both suddenly get excited. Theido says he will go with Quentin to Askelon. They go to Escalon trying to slip there unnoticed but Prince Jaspin recognizes Theido. You see Theido is really a lord who was made an outlaw by Prince Jaspin! Prince Japan's henchmen catch Theido but Quentin escapes. Quentin takes his message to Queen Alinea. When he delivers the message and the queen reads it, she tells him that Nimrood the Necromancer is holding the Dragon King prisoner. Queen Alinea knows that if they don't free the king, Nimrood and his accomplice, Prince Jaspin, will kill him. The queen then frees Theido, and goes to Durwin's cottage with Quentin and her warder, Trenn. Then, the four of them flee to an ancient city called Dekra, but they find out that Prince Jaspin has put three Harriers on their trail. Harriers are barbarous and savage people who hunt down people and bring them back, dead or alive. Will they be able to make it to Dekra to obtain help to find the king? And even if they do, will they be able to free him from the evil clutches of Nimrood the Necromancer? Great trilogy, one of my favorites of fantasy novels. It's very exciting and suspenseful, while at the same time it has a Christian moral to it. My favorite part is in the beginning where Quentin tries to give the message to the Queen. Also love it when Quentin and his band try to free the king. Enjoyable for everyone, kids and adults alike though my opinion is it is best for teenagers. For other fantasy books like "In the Hall of the Dragon King", I recommend the Narnia Chronicles and the Lord of the Rings series. These books are also terrific!
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Summary: Great way to begin, Lawhead!
Review: This book is amazing! Would that my first novel would be this successful (200,000 copies is a level not reached by most books)! In this book, Quentin is torn from his life's work in the temple of Ariel to help a wounded knight's message reach his queen in time. When Quentin gives the message, the queen asks for his help in rescuing the man she loves more than anyone else . . . her husband, King Eskevar. Together, with several other companions, they go through many trials and dangers to try to get the good king back from the evil wizard, Nimrood. A good read if you like Lawhead, fantasy, or books with lots of Christian symbolism. The other books in the series are not quite as good, but are still much better than the average pagan fantasies out there today.
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