Pendragon

The Pendragon Cycle #4

by Stephen R. Lawhead

Stephen Lawhead's magnificent and gripping epic. In Taliesin, A Druid prince and bard fathers a great kingdom through his marriage to Charis, Lady of the Lake, daughter of the drowned king of Atlantis, one of the Fair Folk. His son, the legendary warrior bard, takes on the mission of laying the foundations of a new order - the Kingdom of Summer in Merlin. It is Merlin who guides the young king who is to fulfil the dreams of his people in Arthur. Pendragon and Grail fill out Arthur's story, recounting the adventures which lead to Arthur's eventual crowning as Pendragon, and the gripping tale of Arthur's battle to retain control of the Holy Grail, the healing cup of Christ which comes to symbolise the peace and prosperity of his reign. Throughout, the Celts are portrayed as a people emerging from Roman domination, embracing Christianity and establishing their rule in the face of invading Saxons. The Pendragon Cycle is a feast of sustained storytelling power to inspire readers like no other version of this entrancing mythology.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Arthurian, Historical, Mythology, Christian

390 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Stephen R. Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. His works include Byzantium, Patrick, and the series The Pendragon Cycle, The Celtic Crusades, and The Song of Albion.

Also see his fanpage at Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/stephenlawhead...

Stephen was born in 1950, in Nebraska in the USA. Most of his early life was spent in America where he earned a university degree in Fine Arts and attended theological college for two years. His first professional writing was done at Campus Life magazine in Chicago, where he was an editor and staff writer. During his five years at Campus Life he wrote hundreds of articles and several non-fiction books.

After a brief foray into the music business—as president of his own record company—he began full-time freelance writing in 1981. He moved to England in order to research Celtic legend and history. His first novel, In the Hall of the Dragon King, became the first in a series of three books (The Dragon King Trilogy) and was followed by the two-volume Empyrion saga, Dream Thief and then the Pendragon Cycle, now in five volumes: Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, and Grail. This was followed by the award-winning Song of Albion series which consists of The Paradise War, The Silver Hand, and The Endless Knot.

He has written nine children's books, many of them originally offered to his two sons, Drake and Ross. He is married to Alice Slaikeu Lawhead, also a writer, with whom he has collaborated on some books and articles. They make their home in Oxford, England.

Stephen's non-fiction, fiction and children's titles have been published in twenty-one foreign languages. All of his novels have remained continuously in print in the United States and Britain since they were first published. He has won numereous industry awards for his novels and children's books, and in 2003 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the University of Nebraska.

also write under the name Steve Lawhead

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

p. 224 "Fear is man's first enemy, and his last. Hear me now; I tell you the truth: conquer fear and your reward is assured."

p. 317 "To be alive to the wonder of the commonplace, that is the very gift of a wildly generous Creator, who ever invites his creatures to contemplate the exuberance of his excellent handiwork. There is a deep and abiding joy and work in this worlds-realm, and we who toil through our lives do often forget this, or overlook it. But look, it is all around! Ceaseless, unrelenting, certain as sunrise, and constant as the rhythm of heartbeat."

[Michael Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7. Very good, but not quite what the previous two were.

[Asha Stark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Arthur, but this was so much better.

Whereas Arthur focussed mostly on warfare tactics and battles, this showed the personalities and humanity in the characters introduced in Arthur.

Gwenhwyvar is amazing and I love her. She's absolutely the highlight of Pendragon.

[Meghan]

At first I was disappointed, as the story seemed to be a retelling of the "Arthur" book, just from Merlin's point of view. It was, in a way, but it also told of many other adventures, particularly the story of the invasion of Britain by the Vandals. I ended up liking it better than "Arthur," so don't be put off if it starts off slowly for you. :)

[Haley Durfee · Rating 4 out of 5]

《If death ever wears a human face, this day its face is mine.》

《Men always give over the best of their birthright for the small comfort of the moment.》

◇arthur: high king
◇gwenhyvar: warrior queen
◇myrddin: lost bard

Better than Arthur (book 3), but not quite as good as Taliesin and Merlin, Pendragon is nonetheless an epic tale of courage and kingdoms. Four stars for the narrator being Merlin/Myrddin - one of my favorite characters in the series.
Oh, and Gwenhyvar. She is a warrior queen, courageous and independent, fiercely loyal to those she loves. She's definitely a favorite character.

Content:
Married people enjoy being married.
Violence.
A suicide.

Ages 16+

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, it feels so good to finally get this off my currently reading list. Actually, back when I first started this book, I only read the first 5 or so pages. Then I got distracted by other things as happens so easily. A month or so ago I started it back up right from the beginning.

I will say honestly I didn't have high hopes for this book because Arthur, the previous book, was so much more based on the logistics of war rather than on characters. Despite that, I really enjoyed this book; although, with such large gaps in time I lose grips on what happened previously. If I were to go back in time, I would read the first book in Pendragon, then the first two books of Arthur, then go back and finish Pendragon, then finish Arthur. That's how it actually goes sequentially.

I think what made this book so much more enjoyable was the warrior queen, Gwenhwyvar. She was kicking barbarian ass and taking names, then she would squabble with Arthur. I also felt that the rivalries and bad guys all seemed more fleshed out than they were in Arthur. Merlin was awesome as always. I loved the scenes where he has his epiphany. I saw that even Merlin can be vulnerable misguided.

All in all, I'm happy I drudged through Arthur to get here. I still have one more book to go. I hear it's really good too.

[Lena_en_libros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y ahora, con Pendragón, continúa la emocionante leyenda, cuando Arturo, el Oso de Inglaterra, se enfrenta a la más difícil de las pruebas, en una furiosa batalla para derrotar a una combinación de fuerzas perversas que conspiran para aniquilar su mundo. En esta hora sombría, bajo el yugo de la peste y de la muerte, el joven Arturo debe demostrar su grandeza… o contemplar la horrible muerte de su amado sueño: el Reino del Verano

Y, como siempre pasa, la historia comienza a decaer. No es un mal libro, pero compite contra las 3 espléndidas novelas anteriores y ya no es lo mismo. Aún así, mantiene un buen nivel

[Miriam Cihodariu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The legends of the golden age of Arthur's rule continue to find their ideal crystallization in this next book of Lawhead's series. It's super-well documented, both in terms of actual history and of the Arthurian legends, but obviously much easier to read than the originals. I'd highly recommend the entire series to anyone who likes a good story.

A small note - Merlin is such a well-built and fascinating character that I'd dare say he's the true hero of the entire series. Compared to him, Arthur is a goody goody stick figure meant to fill a narrative-required position. :)

[AJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite in the Pendragon series. But still good story telling.

[Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent entry in this series. The narration was superb. The story was action packed. Highly recommended for fans of medieval adventure and Arthurian legends.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

In some ways this book is like an appendix to the previous book Arthur as it tells other stories from his life and again mainly concentrates on Merlin's viewpoint. Still even so I greatly enjoyed this book as I have the rest of the series. Good storytelling and lyrical prose at times. Plus I love the thread of losing your way and having to guard against pride and having to re-look what our are doing. These books are almost spiritual reading without being heavy handed.

Plus the I really like the narrator who brings the story even more alive.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Merlín vuelve a ser el narrador de la historia. Este libro es sobre la invasión de los vándalos y sobre como Arturo debe defender sus tierras. Todos han sido grandiosos, no ha habido decepciones hasta ahora, de verdad son tan históricos que no se distingue la ficción.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read previously, and adore this series, but got caught up in another series I haven't read in forever...so the rest is on hold for a bit.

[Dan Longjohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t help but now feel like my ratings and reviews for the previous books in this series were unfair. Listening to those on audiobook helped me in knowing the pronunciations of the names and places as I read this entry in the series, but ultimately listening to them, rather than reading them, served as a detriment, unfortunately.

This is a great entry in the series as it helped in propping up its predecessors by broadening familiar character’s backstories and revealing events that occurred in and around previous books’ time lapses.

I appreciated that this book stayed with Merlin’s perspective and focused on the pursuit of an ongoing battle with one enemy, rather than jumping POV’s and fighting multiple adversaries.

Finally, it is Gwenhwyvar who is the backbone of the story, proving that a woman is no less a woman by honoring her husband.

[Kinnara Di Martino Mougeot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bien mais pas mal de longueurs

[Faith Burnside · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am just unreasonably pleased by this series. It is delightful. And clearly a work of love by the writer.

[Marcella Chatham · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8⭐️
Lots of politics. Lots of war. What I've been loving a lot about this series is the changing POV's. It makes everything so much more interesting. I think my attention was kept more with Arthur (which I have yet to finish) so stars off for that. The ending of this was great!

I listened to the audiobook for free on Hoopla.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este é o quarto livro da saga sobre a lenda arturiana do escritor Stephen Lawhead. Depois de ter lido a trilogia (Taliesin, Merlim e Artur), decidi continuar a ler sobre Merlim e Artur, seguindo para Pendragon. Apesar do ciclo ter ficado fechado em Artur, Pendragon dá-nos a conhecer algumas histórias que não aparecem (ou que não têm tanto detalhe) no último livro da trilogia. Há mais detalhes sobre a vida de Artur e sobre algumas das batalhas, dando-se especial destaque às batalhas com os Vândalos.

Este livro retoma a vida de Artur desde a sua infância até depois da batalha com os Vândalos. Neste quarto livro, para além das batalhas, a Bretanha vê-se a braços com uma praga que dizima a população: o Devastador Amarelo. Assim, a tarefa de Artur e Merlim para dar a conhecer e construir o Reino do Verão vê-se bastante conturbada e até periclitante.

Merlim é o narrador da história, um dos melhores narradores desta saga. É através das palavras extremamente bem elaboradas e colocadas em frases soberbas que Merlim nos vai contando a vida de Artur. Sendo seu bardo e conselheiro, tem uma posição privilegiada junto do Supremo Rei da Bretanha. No entanto, há muito sobre Merlim que também aparece na história. Confesso que as partes em que Merlim tem destaque são das que mais me agradam, apesar de todo o conjunto ser maravilhoso e me agradar. Mas tenho um fraquinho pelo Merlim, mais do que pelo Artur, daí esta minha preferência. Gosto especialmente das partes em que o Outro Mundo aparece, uma vez que são momentos de extrema magia e maravilha. Gostei de rever Ganieda, a eterna amada de Merlim nesta história.

Tendo em conta o final do terceiro livro, foi com gosto que peguei neste para saber mais detalhes sobre a história em si. O autor manteve a estrutura cronológica igual e os acontecimentos que aparecem em ambos os livros coincidem. Há alguns que tiveram mais destaque no terceiro livro que são apenas referidos neste e vice-versa, ajudando à complementaridade da história em si. Senti a falta de Morgana, que apenas aparece em algumas referências a momentos passados no terceiro livro. Ela é uma das minhas personagens preferidas da lenda de Artur, se não a que mais gosto (para além de Merlim). Também gostei de rever algumas das personagens mais queridas da saga, como Peleias, o fiel escudeiro de Artur, cujo desfecho pareceu-me bastante cruel, na medida que é mais ou menos uma incógnita, ficando apenas a saber-se o que aconteceu sem detalhe algum. Também gostei de rever as personagens pertencentes ao Povo das Fadas, que tanto me agradam e recordam especialmente o primeiro livro da saga. Neste livro também os Irlandeses aparecem mais, sendo a ilha e as suas personagens um ponto fulcral na história. Gwenwyvar também acaba por ter maior destaque neste livro do que no anterior, o que achei interessante porque é uma personagem que muito me agrada: uma rainha lúcida, guerreira, forte, leal, brava, corajosa e extremamente amável para quem o merece.

As descrições estão bastante vividas, dando a impressão que o leitor está mesmo no meio da ação. Tanto as descrições das batalhas como dos espaços dão esta mesma sensação, que me agrada sobremaneira. E isto sem ser uma descrição em demasia.

O autor consegue mais uma vez criar uma história rica sobre Artur. Mesmo que muitos dos aspetos referidos e o enredo em si não ir ao encontro do que a lenda refere, o que é certo é que não há dados reais sobre a história: é uma lenda, um mito. E Stephen Lawhead conseguiu, a meu ver, criar uma história brilhante, juntando História com lendas e acontecimentos indefinidos. A época em que a narrativa acontece é das que mais me fascina e o espaço em que a ação decorre, também. A forma como a história se desenvolveu desde o primeiro livro até aqui é magistral, cobrindo um espaço de tempo bastante extenso, permitindo, assim, dar a conhecer um período alargado da História, mesmo que nem tudo seja real. E esse conhecimento é, para mim, maravilhoso. Assim, só tenho elogios a fazer em relação à forma como o autor tem conduzido a narrativa. A prosa é por demais maravilhosa, criando um ambiente prefeito, em especial quando o narrador é Merlim (o autor consegue criar narradores bastante distintos, com uma prosa extremamente relacionada com a sua maneira de encarar o Mundo): parece que se está a ler uma história escrita naquele período. Este é o sentimento com que fico ao ler estes livros, e isso é fantástico.

Mais um maravilhoso livro de Stephen Lawhead sobre a lenda arturiana que recomendo totalmente!

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this least of the Pendragon series so far (and this may be where I stop). There's way too much about battles, with little character development or other action. The fight at the end was interesting.

[Ginger Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to re-read this book and to proceed with reading Grail. While I remember being disappointed with Pendragon when I first read it, I enjoyed it this time. I suspect that it was because I opted for an audiobook instead of trying to read it. I liked the end with the appearance of the Holy Grail a lot. I was surprised at how little I remembered of the narrative. I had some vague memory of Myrddin's blindness, but I had forgotten how his sight was restored. That part of the book is one of my favorites now. Myrddin's vision of his father, Taliesin, and his wife, Ganeida, was very well-done and it is where the book begins shifting to Myrddin as a bard/healer instead of an advisor/warrior.

It took me some time to recognize the character names and match them to their more well-known English names. I suspect that was more of a challenge with listening to the book, instead of reading it. It is a little easier to see how Gwenhwyvar is Guinevere and Gwalchavad is Galahad when you look at them.

I will admit that the book Merlin made me a huge fan of Merlin when I read it many years ago. This reading of Pendragon reminded me of the reason that I was so partial to this character. Myrddin is a real person and his narration of this book about Arthur's reign bring him back to life much as I remembered him from the earlier books. I am very glad that I took the time to re-read this book and I look forward to reading Grail.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aquest no és un mal llibre, però no m'ha convençut per la mateixa raó que ja sabia que no em convenceria quan vaig acabar l'anterior: em sembla un llibre escrit només per aprofitar que la sèrie va bé, i així poder guanyar més diners.



La història del rei Artur ja quedava ben acabada amb el llibre anterior. Però en aquest llibre, tornem a trobar-nos amb Merlí, que ens explica alguns episodis del rei Artur que no estaven explicats en l'altre llibre. M'ha agradat especialment saber una mica sobre la infantesa de l'Artur, ja que a l'anterior l'havia trobat a faltar. Però... d'alguna manera ja saps com acaba la història, i aquí només en tens trossos, que has d'anar pensant com encaixen.


Jo hagués preferit dos llibres amb històries sobre el rei Artur en ordre cronològic.


I ara ve "Grial", que veient com acaba aquest, em puc imaginar que serà un altre llibre per fer diners i seguir aprofitant una història rentable, però que ja està acabada. Suposo que el llegiré, però cada cop en tinc menys ganes. Si la saga s'hagués quedat en una trilogia, seria perfecta.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Highly entertaining. This book is fun (and better than Arthur) for a number of reasons:

1) It is narrated by Merlin, who is clearly Lawheads favorite tool for narration (for obvious reasons)

2) It goes further into actually displaying the courage, strength and leadership of Arthur. It also does a magnificent job of displaying leadership in difficult situations.

3) Guinevere (I can't remember how he spelled it!) was amazing. She was such a fun colorful, strong and rich warrior queen character. I think, but I am not sure, that she may actually be the highlight of the whole book.

Great battles and loads of fun. If you liked the one's before you will probably love it. Now if only Lawhead was a bit clearer on the chronology of the events he were describing it would go up a whole star!

[Cinnamingirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this hoping for some resolution to the end of Arthur, and so far I'm about 30 pages in and it seems to be mostly retellin of things that happened when Arthur was young, before he became the king or even the duke. It's kinda boring because most of the stuff is just more detail about things we already know... Hopefully it gets more interesting.

Then I got to the part where it was literally word for word the same, and I almost put it down entirely. I managed to finish it, and it wasn't bad, but I'm going to need to read something with a little less Jesus after this... Not that the form of Christianity written about in these books isn't wonderful... It's just I find it hard to identify with and all the praying Kinda bores me. Still I think it was a decent story, but I haven't been a fan of the way the last couple books have ended in the middle, so to speak.

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good read that focuses on one aspect of Arthur's reign, namely his conflicts against the barbarian Vandals and against a pestilent plague. Arthur and his men assist the Irish in driving the Vandals from their island only to encounter them in even greater numbers when they return to the English shores. The story begins with Arthur taking his Irish bride and continues through battle after battle and conflict after confict with men who doubt Arthur's abilities and decisions. Told through Merlin's eyes, one sees visions with the great bard which help guide Arthur through these trials to hopefully, establish the Summer Kingdom.

[Gabriel Wallis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pendragon was another story about King Arthur. It took a look back at his earlier years in life. Such a good book and an excellent series! To me, it's like reading an Old Testament story from the Bible. The battles are immense, the devotion of King Arthur and his men to Christ is unbounded, the wisdom of Merlin is straight from God... All of it was just soaked with God. Why can't there be more Christian authors like Stephen Lawhead, who write about realistic struggles? Lawhead doesn't shy away from writing about the struggles the human race goes through. I recommend this book and the entire Pendragon Cycle to everyone.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the 4 I've read so far, this one I think is at the top of the list. I enjoy when Stephen speaks with Merlins voice and its sections of story that we might not have known about. Its interesting to see the Celt versions of how battles would have played out and what warriors look like. I still am enjoying how strong the Christian influence is for this story as well growing up on Arthurien legends that are so far steeped in the mystical and mother goddess worship. It has been nice to take these stories and put a "factual" spin on them making them more real than ever!

[JC · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book ended really well and I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The book starts out recounting how Arthur became king and I had to go back and make sure that this was really Pendragon and not Arthur as the books overlap quite a bit. While it has a bit of a different perspective it still felt a bit weird at first. The book involved a lot of war as Arthur leads his people and I finally learned what the Pendragon was in this book (I'm sure I could have looked before). I'm excited for the final book in the series.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume expands on Arthur's tale which has already been told in the previous book Arthur. It is a "rest of the story" story.

Britain is in a time of severe drought, which bring the curse of plague. Thrown into this already terrible situation is an invasion by the dreaded barbarian horde, the Vandals.

This book takes you through the hardships involved with dealing with all these challenges.

The climatic battle - Arthur verses the barbarian Vandal king. What will the outcome be? Read it to see!

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Très bon livre encore une fois dans cette série, fidèle au modèle des autres. Cette fois on retourne un peu en arriève, par rapport à la chronologie du troisième, pour revivre les aventures d'Arthur. Les personnages sont sensiblement les mêmes et tout fonctionne bien. Seul reproche, qui je crois fait un peu partie du style de l'auteur, un rythme un peu lent tout au long du livre, mais avec une finale bien rapide et toujours aussi excellente. Bref, si vous avez aimer les trois premiers tomes, vous ne serez pas déçu et sinon, et bien commencez par le premier.

[Jodi Woody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book four in the Pendragon series, "Pendragon" continues the story of Arthur, Merlin, and the others. It goes back and fills in some of the missing stories from the first three books. For me was a little hard to go back again, until about half way through. I didn't like it as well as the others, but still such good stories and I love Lawhead's writing style. Am starting the final book right away. I give it f4+ stars, and I know I have given lesser works four, but I didn't like it as well as the others that I gave five stars...so my dilemma.