Post by Taika of Narfell on Jan 6, 2007 5:25:05 GMT 1
Stephen R. Lawhead - Arthur (3rd of The Pendragon Cycle)
In the last book of the series we saw Merlin "play at king-making" as one of the characters put it. Sometimes with success, sometimes not, but Merlin is clearly a meddler. He is a prophet. His father, Taliesin saw the vision of The Summer Realm, the Kingdom of Summer and Charis and Merlin have kept the dream alive, believing that sooner or later someone will appear and unite the Bretons and be the Lord of the Summer Realm.
When Merlin names late Aurelius' son Arthur because of a vision he's had, we all know what and who the boy will grow up to be. The third book in the series carries the boy's name and I certainly didn't have a moment's doubt as to what would happen in this book. I was surprised in some places, though.
We start out with the famous scene in which the 15 year old boy pulls Macsen Wledig's sword from the stone in which Merlin placed it 15 years earlier. No one has been able to do so - except now Arthur. In this book the miracle is drawn out and the sword is replaced in the stone several times to only be removed by Arthur no matter how hard others try their hand. Even a miracle is not good enough for the power hungry chiefs and kings of Britain.
The first third of the book is told by Pelleas. The man who first joined Merlin as young boy in the previous book. He tells the story, we no longer hear Merlin's thoughts, and that may be just as well because in this book the focus has shifted. We still hear much about Merlin and his king-making, but were it all told by Merlin himself we would get an unbalanced account. Having Pelleas tell the story is a good move by Lawhead. And outside view of Merlin is a very good idea as it does show us how odd his behaviour is when you can't hear his reasonings.
Two plots run side by side in Arthur. There is Merlin's 'relationship' with Morgaine, the mad sorceress. That part of the plot clearly demonstrates how a problem doesn't go away if you ignore it. It is not a plot we follow very consistently - mainly because Merlin in spite of all his wisdom attempt the ignoring-strategy. But some things just won't go away and it makes for some very intense encounters that had me quite breathless. However, the is also the plot we follow all the way through, the plot that named the book, namely the one in which Arthur struggles to be acknowledge and recognised as a war leader and king.
I mentioned surprises earlier, and without spoiling anything (since it's at the very beginning of the book anyway) I will point out that Arthur's sword is not Excalibur. You will note that I mentioned the sword of Macsen Wledig, also known in these books as the Sword of Britain, the sword of the High Kings. This was the sword in the stone and it was not Excalibur as many (myself included) would expect. No the sword named Caliburnus or Caledvwlch is acquiredby Arthur in the first section of the book under circumstances I shall not detail here.
The second section of Arthur told by Bedwyr, Arthur's childhood friend, brings more action. Where the first section dealt with getting Arthur a warhost that would matter even a little, the second section brings the warhost now gathered into some more serious action. We see barbarians galore. The blue-painted Picti, the Scotti and the Jutes, all barbarians encroaching upon Breton territory. This part of the tale also introduces Gwenhwyvar - in this version of the legend an Irish princess given to Arthur as a sign of alliance - who indeed becomes Arthur's queen.
The third and last section of the book is told by Aneirin, a young lad in training with Merlin as a bard and tells the story of Arthur's many and great successes as a warleader and eventually King of Britain. It is in this section that we witness the beginnings of The Round Table. The building of The Rotunda in which Arthur meets with his most trusted friends and advisors. It is also in this section that Charis and Avallach moves from Ynys Avallach in the South to an islan off the west coast of Britain that is named Avalon.
I shall not reveal anything about the ending of the book, other than that it is surprising and explains why at times one felt that things were missing - the most obvious being that Arthur never actually manages to etablish The Kingdom of Summer, he doesn't have the time to establish such a long-standing peace before the book ends. But as there are yet two more books in this tale I suspect there will be time for that.
Arthur is full of battles, of conquest, of bloody battle-fields, of intrique and betrayal and I absolutely love how with this book the sea is taken into account as Arthur begins to move his troops up and down the coast by ship and is thus much more efficient. Once again Lawhead has managed a fine sequel, and it has certainly left me wanting to continue the series. The danger of long series is that at some point you simply get tired of the same characters, the same problems, the same old story. But by telling the story with three different perspectives and by following new people with each book it becomes bearable and we keep seeing new aspects that prevents it from getting boring and repetitive. Not even the battles get repetitive, and I am frankly quite impressed with that. Mind, this is not a high literary work, but it is highly readable fantasy, it is not heavy or slow reading, but it is still colourful language and vivid descriptions. Clearly Lawhead is a writer with skill both in terms of language and of story-telling.
This series has not grown tired, and I still find it highly recommendable.
In the last book of the series we saw Merlin "play at king-making" as one of the characters put it. Sometimes with success, sometimes not, but Merlin is clearly a meddler. He is a prophet. His father, Taliesin saw the vision of The Summer Realm, the Kingdom of Summer and Charis and Merlin have kept the dream alive, believing that sooner or later someone will appear and unite the Bretons and be the Lord of the Summer Realm.
When Merlin names late Aurelius' son Arthur because of a vision he's had, we all know what and who the boy will grow up to be. The third book in the series carries the boy's name and I certainly didn't have a moment's doubt as to what would happen in this book. I was surprised in some places, though.
We start out with the famous scene in which the 15 year old boy pulls Macsen Wledig's sword from the stone in which Merlin placed it 15 years earlier. No one has been able to do so - except now Arthur. In this book the miracle is drawn out and the sword is replaced in the stone several times to only be removed by Arthur no matter how hard others try their hand. Even a miracle is not good enough for the power hungry chiefs and kings of Britain.
The first third of the book is told by Pelleas. The man who first joined Merlin as young boy in the previous book. He tells the story, we no longer hear Merlin's thoughts, and that may be just as well because in this book the focus has shifted. We still hear much about Merlin and his king-making, but were it all told by Merlin himself we would get an unbalanced account. Having Pelleas tell the story is a good move by Lawhead. And outside view of Merlin is a very good idea as it does show us how odd his behaviour is when you can't hear his reasonings.
Two plots run side by side in Arthur. There is Merlin's 'relationship' with Morgaine, the mad sorceress. That part of the plot clearly demonstrates how a problem doesn't go away if you ignore it. It is not a plot we follow very consistently - mainly because Merlin in spite of all his wisdom attempt the ignoring-strategy. But some things just won't go away and it makes for some very intense encounters that had me quite breathless. However, the is also the plot we follow all the way through, the plot that named the book, namely the one in which Arthur struggles to be acknowledge and recognised as a war leader and king.
I mentioned surprises earlier, and without spoiling anything (since it's at the very beginning of the book anyway) I will point out that Arthur's sword is not Excalibur. You will note that I mentioned the sword of Macsen Wledig, also known in these books as the Sword of Britain, the sword of the High Kings. This was the sword in the stone and it was not Excalibur as many (myself included) would expect. No the sword named Caliburnus or Caledvwlch is acquiredby Arthur in the first section of the book under circumstances I shall not detail here.
The second section of Arthur told by Bedwyr, Arthur's childhood friend, brings more action. Where the first section dealt with getting Arthur a warhost that would matter even a little, the second section brings the warhost now gathered into some more serious action. We see barbarians galore. The blue-painted Picti, the Scotti and the Jutes, all barbarians encroaching upon Breton territory. This part of the tale also introduces Gwenhwyvar - in this version of the legend an Irish princess given to Arthur as a sign of alliance - who indeed becomes Arthur's queen.
The third and last section of the book is told by Aneirin, a young lad in training with Merlin as a bard and tells the story of Arthur's many and great successes as a warleader and eventually King of Britain. It is in this section that we witness the beginnings of The Round Table. The building of The Rotunda in which Arthur meets with his most trusted friends and advisors. It is also in this section that Charis and Avallach moves from Ynys Avallach in the South to an islan off the west coast of Britain that is named Avalon.
I shall not reveal anything about the ending of the book, other than that it is surprising and explains why at times one felt that things were missing - the most obvious being that Arthur never actually manages to etablish The Kingdom of Summer, he doesn't have the time to establish such a long-standing peace before the book ends. But as there are yet two more books in this tale I suspect there will be time for that.
Arthur is full of battles, of conquest, of bloody battle-fields, of intrique and betrayal and I absolutely love how with this book the sea is taken into account as Arthur begins to move his troops up and down the coast by ship and is thus much more efficient. Once again Lawhead has managed a fine sequel, and it has certainly left me wanting to continue the series. The danger of long series is that at some point you simply get tired of the same characters, the same problems, the same old story. But by telling the story with three different perspectives and by following new people with each book it becomes bearable and we keep seeing new aspects that prevents it from getting boring and repetitive. Not even the battles get repetitive, and I am frankly quite impressed with that. Mind, this is not a high literary work, but it is highly readable fantasy, it is not heavy or slow reading, but it is still colourful language and vivid descriptions. Clearly Lawhead is a writer with skill both in terms of language and of story-telling.
This series has not grown tired, and I still find it highly recommendable.