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The Dragon King #3
The Sword and the Flame
Sometimes the greatest evil lies within.
The Dragon King who rules the land of Mensandor is none other than Quentin, whose courage and heroism have slowly transformed him from an orphaned servant into a war hero, respected leader, and a fierce man of faith.
But even the powerful can fall prey to weakness. The world is turned upside-down when the dark sorcerer Nimrood--long thought dead after a battle with the previous Dragon King--returns with a fearsome plan. Shattered by the death of a dear and trusted friend, the abduction of his beloved son, and the loss of his enchanted sword, Quentin finds his faith tested like never before.
In The Sword and the Flame , the final volume of Stephen R. Lawhead's captivating Dragon King Trilogy, the fate of the entire world depends on the outcome of this climactic battle between good and evil.
The Dragon King who rules the land of Mensandor is none other than Quentin, whose courage and heroism have slowly transformed him from an orphaned servant into a war hero, respected leader, and a fierce man of faith.
But even the powerful can fall prey to weakness. The world is turned upside-down when the dark sorcerer Nimrood--long thought dead after a battle with the previous Dragon King--returns with a fearsome plan. Shattered by the death of a dear and trusted friend, the abduction of his beloved son, and the loss of his enchanted sword, Quentin finds his faith tested like never before.
In The Sword and the Flame , the final volume of Stephen R. Lawhead's captivating Dragon King Trilogy, the fate of the entire world depends on the outcome of this climactic battle between good and evil.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
42 people are currently reading
1414 people want to read
About the author
Stephen R. Lawhead
103 books2,767 followersStephen 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
October 10, 2022
I am sad I finished the series even know there were so slow parts, it is in Opinion one of the best series I have read and would recommend for teens to adults.
content: there is fighting, death and love (not my Favorite part) and not a lot more. It may be hard for kids to read and understand.
content: there is fighting, death and love (not my Favorite part) and not a lot more. It may be hard for kids to read and understand.
August 24, 2012
First I'd like to say please don't judge all Lawhead books by this one. His later works are MUCH better. However this book was really not worth reading. The characters are cardboard cut outs. Every single character behaves exactly as you would expect them to except maybe for Quinton whose ridiculousness mood swings were just annoying and out of proportion with what had happened. I kept hoping Theido would slap him in the face. Seriously that would probably have solved half their problems right there. And all the female characters randomly decide to go to Durka for no real reason. Honestly if my son had been kidnapped I would be where he was most likely to be found. One last thing the dialog is horrible. I winced as I read it. This book's one saving grace is the fact that it is fairly fast-paced. If this had devolved into a wheel of time esk inner monologue of each and every character I would have burned the book.
April 21, 2017
A five star read - excellent epic fantasy about faith, betrayal, trust, friendship, depression and salvation. Quentin, the Dragon King who has defeated the monstrous Nin, now faces his greatest challenge, as the evil necromancer Nimrood takes his young son captive. With this book, Stephen R. Lawhead puts himself into the company of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and David Eddings.
More detailed review in Bulgarian here:
http://citadelata.com/the-sword-and-t...
More detailed review in Bulgarian here:
http://citadelata.com/the-sword-and-t...
November 16, 2021
Enjoyed the series. But by this last book, I lost steam a bit. The plot didn't develop as well in this last story - and some of the characters, including the returning villain, were not given enough time or attention to really be an intriguing part of the story. However, I am happy I read the whole trilogy, and look forward to reading some of Lawhead's later works.
October 4, 2016
Too spread out to too many pov characters, IMHO. The denoument, however, was worth it.
Like the first two of the trilogy, this book has strong Christian themes, with Quentin serving the One God and trusting that the God won't forsake him in his darkest times. This was fine. It fit the book and world, and it added to the story. However, it left me expecting a literal deus ex machina moment the entire book, which sort of happened in the first two. Hmm. This did kind of happen, and it is not as fun. My writer self was unsatisfied at this plotting.
Characters. I didn't like Quentin. He turned mopey. I liked Pim. I disliked Esme's scenes because she felt strange. Very little happened in most scenes. I couldn't feel attached to anyone and found myself wishing I could just finish the book and be done. Of course, part of this might have been Hoopla (the audiobook app), which kept losing my place.
Plot. Dull. Lots happened, but slowly. I didn't feel like there were high stakes, though the Prince's life and the kingdom itself were in the balance. I also kept thinking I had read this book before, and why couldn't I remember any of it? Guess I hadn't.
Go read a C.S. Lewis novel. (Or Tricia Mingerink, or Donita K. Paul)
Like the first two of the trilogy, this book has strong Christian themes, with Quentin serving the One God and trusting that the God won't forsake him in his darkest times. This was fine. It fit the book and world, and it added to the story. However, it left me expecting a literal deus ex machina moment the entire book, which sort of happened in the first two. Hmm. This did kind of happen, and it is not as fun. My writer self was unsatisfied at this plotting.
Characters. I didn't like Quentin. He turned mopey. I liked Pim. I disliked Esme's scenes because she felt strange. Very little happened in most scenes. I couldn't feel attached to anyone and found myself wishing I could just finish the book and be done. Of course, part of this might have been Hoopla (the audiobook app), which kept losing my place.
Plot. Dull. Lots happened, but slowly. I didn't feel like there were high stakes, though the Prince's life and the kingdom itself were in the balance. I also kept thinking I had read this book before, and why couldn't I remember any of it? Guess I hadn't.
Go read a C.S. Lewis novel. (Or Tricia Mingerink, or Donita K. Paul)
March 11, 2009
By read, I actually mean that I gave up on this trilogy. I can't imagine that this book would be any better than the previous two. Cliché piled on cliché, with powerless women and a bundle of fantasy stereotypes, compounded by over-elaborate, unnatural writing. I did used to like Lawhead's writing, but not so much in these books. It might have got better in the next book, but I have far too many books to hang around and wait for that. If you can't keep me interested, you're out.
(I find it odd how many high ratings it has here. Oh well! There's no accounting for taste. Maybe I'm missing something.)
(I find it odd how many high ratings it has here. Oh well! There's no accounting for taste. Maybe I'm missing something.)
March 16, 2024
In this third book of the Dragon King trilogy, Quentin must deal with not only the actions of his enemies, but himself as well. The reality of grief and despair are well portrayed as well as the truth of an all-present God, no matter how we feel. A great story and well written. I think this is my favourite of the trilogy!
June 27, 2017
Not very good. I mean you have the Dragon King throwing temper tantrums and kids saving the sword of light. Very childish book with very little detail.
February 1, 2025
I liked the plot better than the other two, mostly. I just don’t know why the villain was the villain…
January 9, 2019
This was the first fantasy series so ever read and I personally love all three!
November 1, 2014
Quentin has settled in as King and has built a family for himself. But Nimrood the Necromancer has returned, hungry for revenge. Nimrood kidnaps the Prince and Toli and stirs up the people of the realm against Quentin and Quentin's god. Quentin finds himself unexpectedly alone and descends into mad grief. Everything is being taken away from him: his son, his family, his friends, his faith. Will the promise of a new era indeed come to pass, or will it crumble like so much dust?
If you've read the first two books in the trilogy, you should have a pretty good idea what to expect right now. In fact, if you've read the above paragraph and can make an educated guess about the ending, you have the whole story. The most interesting thing about the whole book, for me, was seeing Quentin descend into madness. He's been so noble in both the previous books, pure in motive and in deed, that it was quite a change to see him raving at his friends and behaving very badly in general.
The main focus of the book, spiritually, is about how a new era of faith is built. There are a number of good discussions about faith, what it means to have faith, and the strange role the Most High takes compared to most gods. It can feel a bit like a sermon wrapped up in prose at times, but the points are good.
My main complaint, other than the book's straightforwardness, was that it never went into depth on certain things like Esme's marriage or Toli's role. Esme might not be telling anyone else what happened to her, but the narrative goes into her head often enough that it's frustrating not to get anything definite. Similarly, Toli has so little characterization that I'm left wondering at the end of the book if they ever did plan to get married.
If you liked the first two, read this one. If you didn't read the first two, best pick those up first, as this one explains nothing about the earlier books, despite Nimrood making his return. Recommended, with the same caveats that applied to the earlier books.
If you've read the first two books in the trilogy, you should have a pretty good idea what to expect right now. In fact, if you've read the above paragraph and can make an educated guess about the ending, you have the whole story. The most interesting thing about the whole book, for me, was seeing Quentin descend into madness. He's been so noble in both the previous books, pure in motive and in deed, that it was quite a change to see him raving at his friends and behaving very badly in general.
The main focus of the book, spiritually, is about how a new era of faith is built. There are a number of good discussions about faith, what it means to have faith, and the strange role the Most High takes compared to most gods. It can feel a bit like a sermon wrapped up in prose at times, but the points are good.
My main complaint, other than the book's straightforwardness, was that it never went into depth on certain things like Esme's marriage or Toli's role. Esme might not be telling anyone else what happened to her, but the narrative goes into her head often enough that it's frustrating not to get anything definite. Similarly, Toli has so little characterization that I'm left wondering at the end of the book if they ever did plan to get married.
If you liked the first two, read this one. If you didn't read the first two, best pick those up first, as this one explains nothing about the earlier books, despite Nimrood making his return. Recommended, with the same caveats that applied to the earlier books.
February 9, 2011
First Look: *****(5) Of course, the first two were amazing, so I knew this had to be amazing too. My cover (the reddish and white one) is okay, but while searching for an online picture I found another one, which is cooler.
Setting: *****(5) I want to live in this world. No joke. That's how good it is. As I read I could vividly see it all around me.
Characters: *****(5) Awesome. That's the best word to sum it up. They were all very complex, and even Quentin's crazy mood swings/spazz moments were believable. Prince Gerrin is adorable.
Plot: *****(5) Um, this is epic fantasy. How can it not have a killer plot? This is better than the first two combined, plotwise.
Cliché-ness: **** (4) Quentin broke a stone altar. I do believe Aslan did that too. Other than that, it was fine.
Writing: ***** (5) All writers seriously need to read this. It's like taking a crash course in using powerful description. Now, if only I could write like that...
Likes: I loved the added spiritual-ness of this third book. The first two books had some pretty serious religious symbolism, but this one threw out the symbolism and wove God into the storyline. It really brought the whole thing together. So if you have something against Christian books, don't even bother with this.
Not-so-great: Here it is again. There's a castle steward guy named Oswald. Why? And these other covers are cooler than mine.
Total Score: ***** Yes, of course I would recommend this! Beautiful writing, an epic plot, awesome characters...what's not to love? And it's the best kind of fantasy. Read it, unless you don't want the religiousness.
Read more reviews at www.anniesepicblog.blogspot.com!
Setting: *****(5) I want to live in this world. No joke. That's how good it is. As I read I could vividly see it all around me.
Characters: *****(5) Awesome. That's the best word to sum it up. They were all very complex, and even Quentin's crazy mood swings/spazz moments were believable. Prince Gerrin is adorable.
Plot: *****(5) Um, this is epic fantasy. How can it not have a killer plot? This is better than the first two combined, plotwise.
Cliché-ness: **** (4) Quentin broke a stone altar. I do believe Aslan did that too. Other than that, it was fine.
Writing: ***** (5) All writers seriously need to read this. It's like taking a crash course in using powerful description. Now, if only I could write like that...
Likes: I loved the added spiritual-ness of this third book. The first two books had some pretty serious religious symbolism, but this one threw out the symbolism and wove God into the storyline. It really brought the whole thing together. So if you have something against Christian books, don't even bother with this.
Not-so-great: Here it is again. There's a castle steward guy named Oswald. Why? And these other covers are cooler than mine.
Total Score: ***** Yes, of course I would recommend this! Beautiful writing, an epic plot, awesome characters...what's not to love? And it's the best kind of fantasy. Read it, unless you don't want the religiousness.
Read more reviews at www.anniesepicblog.blogspot.com!
January 26, 2016
Presenting challenges in a trilogy's third and final installment can prove to be difficult, and whilst Quentin's self-centered fall from grace at the kidnapping of his son and loss of his enchanted sword is but one of the factors unsettling Mensador, I believe The Sword and the Flame lacked the pernicious threat of the previous works due to the fact that several story arcs worked to steal from each other, so that, in the climax, a scene that should have been justifiably epic, as a clash between gods to prove who's god has all the power, doesn't sing with the full merits of its gravitas, zooming in on personal conflicts and confrontations instead of fully biting into what religious unrest and despotism begged to be the grandest of the three book's final acts. In summation, the Dragon King Trilogy is a solid series suitable for adventure-minded readers, capping off the effort with the happiness due a light epic's truest nature, to entertain and uplift, and this decent entrance into Lawhead's rich array of works in no way matches the densely-woven elegance of The Song of Albion books, which not only dive much deeper into several of the same dramatic elements with the contrast of darkness and light they deserve, but glow with the vivid nature of fiction's highly-detailed and perfectly stylized "realism" in the way that the Dragon King trilogy and the land of Mensador never really did for my taste. But, not to harp on comparisons too much, The Dragon King Trilogy remains an upstanding example of classicist epic fantasy, albeit, perhaps with more of a zoomed in lens.
June 21, 2016
My name is Toli, and the king has blamed me for the kidnapping of his son. And he's right, I should have protected him better. Now, the king has lost all hope, and he's in danger of losing his throne. I've learned the kidnapper is Nimrood; we should have made sure he was dead when we had the chance. He is demanding the king's sword as ransom for the prince's safe return, but the sword has disappeared. However, the king's greatest threat may come from within the kingdom. His faith and devotion to a new God Most High has frightened many of the townspeople, and they may rebel. I must do what I can to help save the prince, the king, and the kingdom, or I must die trying.
As with the previous books, this one has a strong spiritual aspect to it that may turn off some readers. It will probably appeal to more mature readers. The king's faith in a new god is a driving force for many of the characters. I found the descriptions of their struggles to understand the god's motives and beliefs to be a distraction from the plot. It kind of stopped the flow in its tracks. I'm not anti-religion or anything; I'm just reacting as an avid reader. I enjoyed the loyalty of the king's close friends, as they maintained faith in him even as he lost faith in himself. Much like the first book, an innocent young boy displays great bravery to become a hero. The boy in the first book became King Quentin. The plot had its moments of action and suspense, and once again the climax involved a giant battle. Most of the characters live happily ever after.
As with the previous books, this one has a strong spiritual aspect to it that may turn off some readers. It will probably appeal to more mature readers. The king's faith in a new god is a driving force for many of the characters. I found the descriptions of their struggles to understand the god's motives and beliefs to be a distraction from the plot. It kind of stopped the flow in its tracks. I'm not anti-religion or anything; I'm just reacting as an avid reader. I enjoyed the loyalty of the king's close friends, as they maintained faith in him even as he lost faith in himself. Much like the first book, an innocent young boy displays great bravery to become a hero. The boy in the first book became King Quentin. The plot had its moments of action and suspense, and once again the climax involved a giant battle. Most of the characters live happily ever after.
April 27, 2013
In some ways this book is the strongest of the trilogy and in some ways it's the weakest. The technical aspects of Lawhead's writing is noticeably improved over the first book, In the Hall of the Dragon King. However, the plot felt weaker than the other two books.
The story feels like a blend of King David and Job. I found it a bit difficult to identify with the characters. In some ways the characters behaved as they ought to have rather than how I imagine real people would have. That is with exception to Quentin whose journey seemed more realistic, still I had a hard time identifying with him. The story is not complex, but then I sometimes find a straight forward story...comfortable.
Once again, I have given the book four stars. This is influenced by the fact that this is a nostalgia read for me and this trilogy was a favorite when I was an early teenager. Also, this was a trilogy that brought fantasy into Christian publishing in the 80s without copying Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. Much has improved since then, but it seems to me Lawhead was a major influence. Without this considerations, these books would have received a three star rating. I would find these books disappointing if I had only read Lawhead's more recent work.
The story feels like a blend of King David and Job. I found it a bit difficult to identify with the characters. In some ways the characters behaved as they ought to have rather than how I imagine real people would have. That is with exception to Quentin whose journey seemed more realistic, still I had a hard time identifying with him. The story is not complex, but then I sometimes find a straight forward story...comfortable.
Once again, I have given the book four stars. This is influenced by the fact that this is a nostalgia read for me and this trilogy was a favorite when I was an early teenager. Also, this was a trilogy that brought fantasy into Christian publishing in the 80s without copying Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. Much has improved since then, but it seems to me Lawhead was a major influence. Without this considerations, these books would have received a three star rating. I would find these books disappointing if I had only read Lawhead's more recent work.
July 16, 2017
I really liked this book and I really want to give it five stars but for one thing that went through all three books and came back blatantly in the last one. "I told you once that for men of my race, no higher honor could come to them but that they serve a great master and help him achieve his greatness" says Toli of the "dark-skinned race" to Quentin of the "Light-skinned race." Normally I don't get into that and yeah this book was written in the 80s but seriously? Would it have been so hard to make them both "light-skinned" or both "dark-skinned" instead of having the darker race's greatest achievement be to serve the lighter race? Or just have Toli be a really good friend of Quentin's from the start and have them work together side-by-side as equals instead of Toli insisting on being his servant despite Quentin's protests. If you can get past that it was a very good book otherwise. And it was nice that, although again written in the 80s, one of the female characters actually had a more important role to play than being someone's wife in this one.
September 12, 2009
This is the finale of Lawhead's Dragon King series. This book does two things. It first brings out a more direct spiritual element in the work. Quentin is enthroned as the Dragon King who aims to bring in the kingdom of light, and to facilitate the worship of the One True God. Perhaps this directness turns some readers off. No attempt at allegory remains it is a direct Christian tale now.
On the other hand, this book gives hints of what's to come in Lawhead's writing. The tale is quite dark and handles suffering and despair quite well. The hero looks quite unheroic, human even. I saw hint's of some of the Arthurian tales that Lawhead takes on in his masterful Pendragon cycle. Quentin's rage and despair reminded me of Merlin's hopelessness.
This tale is perhaps the most believable and even-handed in the three part work. It is the best written book, and brings to a satisfactory conclusion the Dragon King series.
On the other hand, this book gives hints of what's to come in Lawhead's writing. The tale is quite dark and handles suffering and despair quite well. The hero looks quite unheroic, human even. I saw hint's of some of the Arthurian tales that Lawhead takes on in his masterful Pendragon cycle. Quentin's rage and despair reminded me of Merlin's hopelessness.
This tale is perhaps the most believable and even-handed in the three part work. It is the best written book, and brings to a satisfactory conclusion the Dragon King series.
May 24, 2014
Not bad but.....
this was a decent conclusion to the trilogy. I struggled with deciding whether to give it three or four stars and decided on four because the problems I have with the story are do to my own beliefs. The story has a generic fantasy formula feel to it which is not necessarily a bad thing but it was obviously a vehicle to promote Christianity. I kept thinking of King Quentin as Emperor Constantine converting to Christianity and the overall feeling I got about the books made me think of the old tv show Davey and Goliath. Another way of describing it might be that it is the complete opposite of Martin's Game Of Thrones. I can't think of any other books that I might have read by Mr. Lawhead so I am not sure if that, promoting Christianity, is normal for him or not
this was a decent conclusion to the trilogy. I struggled with deciding whether to give it three or four stars and decided on four because the problems I have with the story are do to my own beliefs. The story has a generic fantasy formula feel to it which is not necessarily a bad thing but it was obviously a vehicle to promote Christianity. I kept thinking of King Quentin as Emperor Constantine converting to Christianity and the overall feeling I got about the books made me think of the old tv show Davey and Goliath. Another way of describing it might be that it is the complete opposite of Martin's Game Of Thrones. I can't think of any other books that I might have read by Mr. Lawhead so I am not sure if that, promoting Christianity, is normal for him or not
April 16, 2016
Great finality to the 'Dragon King Trilogy'. I could've sworn that Nimrood was taken-care-of in 'The Warlords of Nin' episode, but he's back to rear his evil, demonic head to tap-into selfishness, greed, arrogance, blasphemy, and seek revenge on the Dragon King. Thankfully our Most High is a forever reigning-and-present Lord in our-lives/my-life, especially in the midst of my sinfulness and disobedience. When Quentin turns to Him, whether He be-there for him, or not, and decides he will still believe and follow Him, then He moves heaven-and-earth to reveal Himself to Quentin, Toli, Esme, Bria. Such a hope-n-peace-filled conclusion. It was just what I needed at this struggling time in my own life.
June 14, 2015
The third volume in the Dragon King series, was just as good as it's predecessors. I found the wild mood swing within the protagonist a bit hard to believe without skepticism, yet this was still a good read. What struck me is how short The Sword and the Flame is compared to other fantasy books. Nonetheless, Lawhead's characteristic (meaning excellent) character development, plot, settings, and back story are all here. The back story is a bit lacking, but so be it, because this is still a decent (if not brilliant) work of fantastical fiction.
August 22, 2017
Another approximate ten year gap has passed in Quentin’s life. This time evil takes a much more personal form. It is Quentin who wrestles and begins to succumb to depression. His friends wrestle with how to break through to him and he eventually must evaluate his faith.
I have enjoyed this trilogy and will definitely read it again. It was such a great story and I was caught up in the adventure. Quentin is such a likeable character and his wrestling with darkness makes him an even more compelling character.
I have enjoyed this trilogy and will definitely read it again. It was such a great story and I was caught up in the adventure. Quentin is such a likeable character and his wrestling with darkness makes him an even more compelling character.
September 19, 2012
This book had a great start and the ending made me want to continue on to the next story as quickly as I could, however the middle was terribly dry. Lawhead spends a lot of time building different characters up, and I found it slightly boring, especially in the middle section... There were some intense scenes throughout the book that kept me going though. I did not like the demise of the bad guy, I felt like it came too simply and left me thinking it should be more dramatic. Overall a pretty good book... Good enough to encourage me to continue reading the trilogy.
September 18, 2013
This one was a bit harder than the other 2. It bothers me that the main character deteriorated so fast. I felt like it was too unrealistic in that. Then suddenly, with very little explanation, he was himself again. His character was amazingly different from the other books, I felt; and the characterization just was not as good. I love this series, but this last book left a little something to be desired after how good the first 2 were.
July 31, 2014
Overall a great story and enjoy Lawheads style. There where just some things that were frustrating about the main character and his sudden changing of attitude and heart to be sullen and then suddenly resolved to do good. Based on how the character was developed in the past 2 books of the series I expected a more mature and even tempered person than was portrayed.
Good book just very annoying on that one point.
Good book just very annoying on that one point.
March 14, 2017
Stephen R Lawhead is one of my favourite authors, but this series is not his best work. I found myself with nothing else to read as I was traveling and so finished it, but until you get to the second book the story is a bit predictable and the dialogue forced. However, by the end you do find yourself invested in the characters and genuinely disappointed the story is over- something Lawhead is really good at.
March 5, 2013
I have really enjoyed this entire series, but especially The Sword and the Flame. The story was gripping and left me wishing for more. The ending was good and made me think of many Bible stories as well as a few other stories that I have read all rolled into one. I will definitely be reading more of Lawhead's books.
August 6, 2014
Best book in the series. While, like the other books in the series, the villains are kind of defined by being purely-evil and thus not particularly interesting (though quite powerful!), the MC's character arc was well done and a powerful look at anger and revenge against mercy and forgiveness. I read this book several times when younger and enjoyed it each time.
3.5-4 Stars. (Very Good)
3.5-4 Stars. (Very Good)
August 23, 2015
My least favourite book in the series but still enjoyable. Prince Gerin is kidnapped and the king looses the flame of his sword. A much deeper struggle for Quentin where he questions everything and it seems that he looses his mind in the process. The ending was epic and made a good finish to the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2017
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first two, but it's still a good story.
July 30, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. I do like fantasy and the idea of dragons and gods
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews