Pendragon: Book Four of the Pendragon Cycle

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. All of the books so far in the Pendragon series have been good reading, particular for those interested in the Arthurian legends, but also for those who just like a good historical novel. Set against the background of Roman Britain with a little Celtic legend thrown in the books tell a wonderful and sometimes moving story of Taliesin Merlin and Arthur. In this particular book Merlin tells the story which Arthur's own book left untold. The story of the winning of the title Pendragon and all that it entails, both for Arthur and the people who surround him, both friend and foe.

Pendragon is the fourth of Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle, an excellent reimagining of the King Arthur legend. Set right after Arthur's coronation, with Merlin as the narrator, Pendragon tells the story of Arthur as a new king facing adversity both in England and abroad in Ireland. A huge armada arrives in Ireland while Arthur is visiting his ally Fergus, an armada looking for a new home, a home taken by force and led by the ruthless Boar. After a viscious fight in Ireland, the Boar leaves only to land in the very heart of Arthur's new kingdom which has just been struck by a terrible plague that may wipe out the kingdom. Arthur must go beyond himself and find a way to defeat both a cunning and deadly enemy as well as a way to stop a unseen plague.

A wonderful book, which Lawhead says should be read between the second and third books of Arthur . . . It is very powerful to me that Lawhead's characters see their own weaknesses so clearly.

Pendragon, the fouth in the Pendragon cycle, is another tale of Arthur, Merlin and their companions. It focuses on the invasion of the Vandals, and the plague that accompanies it. The story is not overall super-happy, but it is a realistic tale of how victory is hard-earned, and some enemies are just too tough to take on ourselves. It has moments that will make you weep, and others that will have you dying with laughter (especially the marriage of Arthur & Gwehnyvar, and Merlin's reaction!) I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Arthurian legend and early Celtic history.

This book concentrates on Merlin's travel to the otherworld when he is separated from Arthur. Make sure to read Merlin and Arthur before reading this book because Ganieda and Pelleas are in this book as well. This book should be reserved for those who have bought the other three (Tailisian Merlin and Arthur) because there are events(dreams) that refer to the previous books. Buy any book that has Steven Lawhead as the author. You will be satified with the results