The Black Rood

Stephen R. Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. His works include Byzantium and the series The Pendragon Cycle, The Celtic Crusades, and The Song of Albion. Lawhead makes his home in Austria with his wife. Stephen Lawhead is one of my all time favourite authors and I am only sorry that he does not write more often. This book is a continuation of the Iron Lance. I found this book The Black Rood) to be even better than the Iron Lance which is saying something because I enjoyed that tremendously. Perhaps it is because you are more familiar with the characters or the storyline, I am not sure, but I can hardly wait for the third book, The Mystic Rose. Murdo Ranulfsson has been through the harrowing and frightening experience of being part of the Great Crusade in Jerusalem and no one is more surprised than himself that he has lived to tell the tale. He has returned to his beloved Scotland and there has founded a clan that is both powerful and god fearing. Life is also good for Duncan, Murdo's son, that is until his young wife dies in childbirth . . .

Lawhead weaves a story in this serious like a celtic knot. His words take hold of you and you fall deep into the pictures that he creates. The pages fly by and as you finish the last page you only want more. Fortunately, Lawhead continues this saga on more books. Start with Byzantium and follow this line through to the end.

This was another amazing work on the part of Lawhead, a book you can't put down and yet you are sorry to finish it. Rich with historical detail, I found this book even more exciting than The Iron Lance. In all, the adventures of Duncan are believable as well as thrilling. I will agree with other readers that Duncan's relationship with Sydoni wasn't as well developed as it could have been, but that is my only complaint, if you can call it that. One little thing Lawhead can do like no one else; describe a feast! Never read a Lawhead book, this one included, unless you have food readily available. Along with studying history he must have studied the culinary arts! Can't wait for the third book!

As with all of Lawhead's previous releases, this book is fantastic! His descriptions of settings, characters, and their emotions are astounding. I anxiously await the third and final book in this series!

Lawhead has done it again in proving his mastery of book series. Rarely have I seen the plots of several books tied together so well as in the Pendragon Cycle, and the Celtic Crusades is shaping up to be just as well done.Contrary to previous reviewers, I had no trouble picking the story line right up despite the lack of reference to the previous book, The Iron Lance. I don't remember there being any "backtracking" in the Pendragon Cycle either. The history of the story seems to come out in bits and pieces as Duncan follows his father, Murdo's, footsteps through the Holy Land, then branches off into his own travels. If you have read the previous book, you know the history, and memory is refreshed in a way that saves the reader the redundancy that is often hard to avoid, there is no wasting of a lot of space and time covering what is already known. If you have not read The Iron Lance, as much history as is logical is presented to you as Duncan learns of it, in a way, you discover Duncan's past with him.I agree in that a few of the characters could have been a little more "fleshed out", and I found this a rare lapse in Lawhead's prose. Usually we come to know each character intimately, to the point that they feel like old friends, but the only character I really felt that with in this book was Duncan. I would have liked to hear more from Padraig and Sydoni, as I found them fascinating and was left without getting to know them as well as I would have liked.The plot, however, is well-paced, dialogue easy to read, and overall very believeable. It reminded me at times of Byzantium, a very extensive work by Lawhead, and a high recommendation on my part.Overall, I would recommend The Black Rood to new and old readers of Lawhead alike, though I would caution new readers to buy The Iron Lance first, if only for continuity.