Patrick: An Epic Historical Novel - The Legendary Journey from Slave to Saint in Ancient Rome

by Stephen R. Lawhead

Slave, soldier, lover, hero, saint,—his life mirrored the cataclysmic world into which he was born. His memory will outlast the ages.

Born of a noble Welsh family, he is violently torn from his home by Irish raiders at age sixteen and sold as a slave to a brutal wilderness king. Rescued by the king's druids from almost certain death, he learns the arts of healing and song, and the mystical ways of a secretive order whose teachings tantalize with hints at a deeper wisdom. Yet young Succat Morgannwg cannot rest until he sheds the strangling yoke of slavery and returns to his homeland across the sea. He pursues his dream of freedom through horrific war and shattering tragedy—through great love and greater loss—from a dying, decimated Wales to the bloody battlefields of Gaul to the fading majesty of Rome. And in the twilight of a once-supreme empire, he is transformed yet again by divine hand and a passionate vision of "truth against the world," accepting the name that will one day become legend . . . Patricius!

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Ireland, Christian, Christian Fiction

592 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 18, 2003

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

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

When we first meet Succat, he is a spoiled teenager, the son of a prosperous citizen within the Roman Empire’s protection of Britannia. The first half of the book, told in first person, takes him quickly from there to Ireland and back to Wales and then to Gaul. In that time, he becomes a slave, a druid initiate, an outlaw, and a soldier. And, Britannia suffers the evacuation of Rome’s legions and begins to revert into a land of barbarians, survival skills and ritualistic Christianity.

Okay, might as well get the whole truth out at the start. I had no idea, when a GR friend suggested that we read this book that it was the story of St. Patrick. That name isn’t provided until well into the latter half of the book.

I had only read one other Lawhead book and that did not make me a fan. This book was able to charm me with its excellent research, imaginative plotting and detailed descriptions of life in the early Fifth Century. All this was possible even though I remained somewhat indifferent to the protagonist with his adolescent whims, lying and inability to think two steps beyond immediate gratification. Even when he has an epiphany, he chooses to ignore it. And, he also ignores the prediction that he could become one of the greatest bards among the druids.

Some might find this journey very frustrating as Succat goes from wastrel, to agnostic slave, to druid, to atheistic soldier, to broken man and then (of course) to one of the redeemed. But, for me, Lawhead deftly moved the story along. His research into everything from what a small Welsh outpost consisted of to how the Roman Senate functioned was always engaging.
You may recall that I reviewed Druids: A Very Short Introduction and felt frustrated by how little was really known about these people who served as a link between their “flock” and a dangerous natural world. Lawhead really hits his stride in his narration of what went on among the druids, how they amassed their expertise and why they were the nobility’s chief advisors. No matter that most is speculation, it makes a lot of sense and it is very thought-provoking.

The most difficult part is Lawhead’s extrapolation of the Ceile De movement. As I understand it, the movement began several hundred years AFTER the life of Patrick. It was primarily practiced by groups of monks who lived in smaller communities. But this author sees it as an outgrowth of Druidism and a counter to the nobility’s and fifth century Christianity’s failure to address “the needs of the people.” Patrick becomes Ireland’s foremost Ceile De proponent and his ability to perform wonders (many of them that he learned from the Druids) brings him and Christianity to prominence among the Celtic peoples. It’s an interesting, if not persuasive, hypothesis that does not explain why the Druids disappeared with hardly a trace remaining.

I’m telling you that you do not have to be a believer to enjoy this story.

[Peter Krol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lawhead is one of my favorite authors, and he followed through well on this book. This was my second time reading it.

Stephen Lawhead is an expert in Celtic history and mythology, and most of his stories are set in ancient Britain and/or Ireland. He retells Celtic legends as historical novels (rather than as fantastic legends) which fascinates me.

This novel tells the story of the famous St. Patrick, although the story is much different than the one I usually hear about Patrick. I'm most familiar with the legend of the great saint who saved Ireland by combating the druids and standing for the truth of Christianity. My wife and I sing the hymn attributed to St. Patrick every year on St. Patrick's Day (called "St. Patrick's Breastplate" or more commonly known as "I Bind Unto Myself Today.").

However, Lawhead's version of Patrick is of a man who goes through a crisis of faith (as most of his protagonists do). Lawhead is quite gifted at painting a picture of real life struggles, and the issues that come along with them. Through the course of this novel, Patrick must be broken of his trust in himself. In the end, he must look upon the work of his hands and see how worthless it is. This sets him free from his slavery to wealth, power, and fame. It is convicting to see that God must break us of ourselves before he can truly use us.

I must give a warning, though. Patrick's "Christianity" is not a true Christianity. I am familiar with the legend of St. Patrick resisting the druids, yet Lawhead's Patrick ends up synthesizing Christianity with Druidism (rather than fighting the druids, he joins them). In this novel, Christian priests are fat, lazy, selfish sons of guns, and the druids are noble, intelligent, and loving to all men. The one exception to the former category is the monk Pelagius. Historically, Pelagius was an arch-heretic of the church, teaching that men could be good enough to be accepted by God without needing Christ's atoning sacrifice. In Lawhead's novel, Pelagius is the only "Christian" who actually cares about someone other than himself. Thus he has a great influence on Patrick.

So, while I cannot recommend Lawhead's theology, I would still highly recommend his novels as excellent stories of human life. This is one of his best.

[Dave Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawhead is one of my favorite authors, and after years of this book sitting on my shelf I finally managed to crack the cover.

Having finished it, I feel torn about my initial reactions. In terms of style, flow and narrative, Patrick: Son of Ireland certainly belongs with the best of his overall works. If nothing else, it is an entertaining story that weaves its sinner to (almost) saint premise in a rather compelling fashion.

But there remains a question about where to fit this book when it comes to the historical-fiction that Lawhead is so well known for. In truth, we know very little about who St. Patrick was, and his story remains somewhat subjective and elusive to modern ears. And depending upon which perspective you happen to be looking from, the way in which one filters through the complex components of the Celtic Mythology, the legendary stories, and the historical context could produce differing results.

All this simply means that, in terms of representing the historical person of Saint Patrick, Lawhead has a great deal of research and alternative thought and theory to pull from. So one (I would think) should be able to grant him a degree of freedom and creativity in bringing Patrick to life on page. Yet it is hard not to feel like he might be traveling a questionable or hazy line as he does this.

From the get go, Lawhead establishes the scope of his narrative by placing the book solely within the parameters of Patrick’s formative years. Save for a brief epilog, he stops well short of dealing with his eventual conversion of the Irish Celts to Catholicism later in his life. Personally, I thought the choice to focus on his early years was a compelling one. This is likely the period we know the least about, and Lawhead shapes the narrative around four names that have been passed down to us by the pages of history (Succast, Magonus, Patricius, Corthirthiac). Each name reflects a different part of his journey and transformation by dividing the book into four different sections.

As Lawhead introduces us to Patrick, we come to know him first by the name Succat. It is through the character of Succat that we quickly discover him as a rather flawed individual. Some might even say he is (and remains) an unlikeable protagonist in this story. I am not sure I agree with this, but Lawhead definitely seems interested in humanizing his sainthood. A Saint, at this point in his life, he most definitely is not. A liar and a lust (among other more grievous actions and characteristics) feel apter.

This is all well and good as he establishes an imaginative take on the young man’s personal nature, but as we follow Succat (a Romanized Brit) out of his entitled life and into his enslavement at the hands of the Irish, his attempted escapes and eventually his entry into the life of the Druid (which serves as freedom from slavery), the line between truth and fiction appears to get more and more complicated. As Lawhead is apt to do, he begins to fuse together elements of Druidism and Christianity into something that feels foreign to the Catholic faith that he has become synonymous with. It is during this period of living and learning with the Druids that Patrick not only befriends a Druid and falls in love with his sister, but also connects with the spiritual undercurrents of Druidism himself (magic, spirituality and practically included). It is out of his time with the Druids that the major theme of the book (the journey from sinner to saint and the forgiveness this entails) begins to establish itself.

And here-in lies the problem. If Patrick’s popular legacy remains grounded in his efforts to dispel paganism from Christianity and in his efforts to confront Druidism, Lawhead's efforts to marry the two seems a bit questionable. In fact, in Lawhead’s book, it is the institutionalized Church (the Priests) who tend to be the ones Patrick resists.

So, is what Lawhead doing here brave? Disrespectful? Heretical? Certainly, his eventual treatment of Pelagius (who of course became famous for the heresy of Pelagianism) as the only true and faithful Christian in Patrick’s life, could push the story over the line even further.

If I could make an argument for what Lawhead is going here, I think the freedom one might be willing to afford him here could also find room to afford him the benefit of the doubt in terms of personal research. What Lawhead is often very good at is mining the intricacies of an alternative view- point and controversial theories. He has always been intently interested in ancient religious context, and I am willing to bet that the story here owes much to the sources that helped him to imagine and consider Patrick’s earlier years. I do not know which sources he is pulling from, but his presentation of Patrick as a complex (almost) protagonist seems to fit with some of the historical pictures that I have encountered myself.

It is also worth adding that cross-cultural mission tends to be rife with the sort of marriage of pagan-Christian traditions that Lawhead reflects. Contextualization is a very real part of any evangelization, and often times in the Christian faith, important religious imagery finds a home in other more familiar cultural expressions. I don't think it is too far off to suggest that the relationship between the Druids and Patrick may have been slightly more ambiguous than popular belief ascertains. What’s more is that the emergence of Christianity in Ireland was far more fluid and all encompassing than simply being isolated to Patrick’s story. It was a gradual process, one that might have looked different both before and during Patrick’s time than it did 200 years after as the Catholic faith finally seemed to take root.

As Patrick’s journey took him out of the Druids lifestyle and back to his home, he arrives face to face with a stark picture of ruin and loss. Nothing is the same as he left it. The entitled and prosperous life that he once held is now gone, and it is in this place of ruin that he meets a friend from his past, a friend who starts him on the rocky road (which goes through Gaul and the Roman military and politics) to the Christian expression and faith, and his eventual call to return to Ireland.

History can be a complex monster, and it can become even more complex when it gets applied to important traditions. St. Patrick remains an important figure in Irish history. In this book he becomes a far more interesting man. What Lawhead does, and I give him due credit for this, is he challenges us to consider the more flawed nature of a Saint. In humanizing Patrick he almost makes him unlikeable. At the same time he is made relatable. Lawhead takes something sacred and sets it firmly into the messiness of the sacred journey. Does he take some liberties with interpreting this journey? Probably. But I was always left with the feeling that his interpretative choices flowed out of his own probing questions about who Patrick the man actually was. The choices in the story and his representation of the history feels intentional and grounded, and I think that the freedom he exercises in navigating this material feels appreciated and insightful rather than negligent or outright false.

This is not the story that you likely will have heard of Patrick. It is a reimagined story that is not afraid to peer inside the mess of the sacred tradition in order to ask some important questions. If that doesn’t sit well with you, you might find yourself put off by some (or all) of this book. But if you can appreciate what it is to imagine what sits in the gaps of this sacred tradition, I think you might really enjoy this take on Patrick: Son of Ireland.

[Joseph Finley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had anticipated that this novel would tell the story of how Saint Patrick converted the Irish Celts to Christianity. I was wrong. The book actually tells the tale of Patrick’s early life of as a Romanized Briton who is captured by Irish raiders and enslaved by an Irish chieftain for six years. Patrick ultimately escapes and returns home, then ventures to Gaul and Rome before returning to Ireland. Aside from a brief epilogue, the novel provides no account of Patrick’s later years, which earned him his sainthood. Instead, the author focuses much of the novel on Patrick’s captivity. And this is where the novel truly shines. Patrick’s enslavement introduces him to a druid named Cormac and his sister, Sionan, the woman with whom Patrick falls in love. After surviving several failed attempts at fleeing his captivity, Patrick escapes his brutal life with Cormac’s aid by agreeing to serve in a house of druids, and eventually studies to become a bard. This is where the novel becomes both fascinating and controversial.

The bards and druids of Lawhead’s Ireland can use magic, which firmly places this novel on the fine line between historical fiction and historical fantasy. Many of the druids and bards who teach Patrick are also members of the Ceile De, essentially Christian druids who believe in the one true God. Patrick ultimately becomes one of the Ceile De; he never becomes a priest or a bishop, though this is not necessarily foreclosed because the novel ends before the reader learns what becomes of Patrick later in life. Not surprisingly, this plot point is controversial for those who feel the novel downplays or even eliminates Patrick’s Roman Catholicism. After all, they argue, the Roman Catholic Church would never have canonized a druid. But I view Stephen R. Lawhead as taking artistic license for the sake of his story. And overall, his story works – especially the two-thirds or so of the novel that take place in Ireland. Although it was not what I expected, I enjoyed this novel, very much at times. And while the author may have taken artistic license with his subject, it works well in the end, telling a story of faith once lost only to be discovered again.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a real departure for me, especially after three Bernard Cornwell books in a row. Wow, what different writing styles!
This is a good book. Well-detailed, thorough character development.
I needed an enjoyable stand-alone read, and this fit the bill well.

[Kalmar Shuffler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure where to start with this review.... I like Stephen R. Lawhead (I devoured the Song of Albion trilogy two years ago), but I was majorly disappointed with Patrick: Son of Ireland.

The book's about Saint Patrick, but there's very little time given to the "saint" part. I expected the first half of the book to be about his capture, slavery, and escape from Ireland, with the second half devoted to his mission of bringing Christianity to Ireland.
I was sorely mistaken there.
I will admit, though, that's on me. I know better than to assume things about a book before I read it, so my disappointment there is entirely my own fault.

But that's not my only problem.

For one, Patrick (or Succat, as he's known for the majority of the book) is extremely annoying and very hard to sympathize with, even though the story's told in first person. He lies constantly throughout the story (all for selfish reasons, of course), makes dumb decisions that make you want to whack him over the head with a 2×4, and when he finally does come to his senses, it's only in the last thirty pages and it doesn't feel earned. Not to mention all his premarital sexual relations.

Which leads to my next problem.
For a book written by a Christian and published by a Christian publisher like Zondervan, I was surprised by all the "making love" that Succat does. Sure, nothing's described in graphic detail, but it's still way more suggestive than I expected to find in a "Christian" book (I've read secular books that are cleaner). It's also just unnecessary.
There's also some mild infrequent language, but it didn't bother me much. Though I was surprised to see two priests use the b word (one in reference to an Irish woman and one in reference to Rome).

Then there's my biggest issue with the book. Lawhead portrays the druids as more Christ-like than the actual priests of the church. Succat never even trains to be a bishop (unlike what history tells us). Instead he trains to be a druid bard while in Ireland, escapes back to England, "loses his way" (Succat's own words), and later returns to Ireland to complete his bard training.
I mean.... seriously? Historically, Saint Patrick went back to Ireland to teach them about Christ. If the druids already believed in Christ (as is presented in this book) then why did he even need to go back? There'd be no point! Instead, this book just portrays him as losing everything and realizing that the only happiness he had was in Ireland. Absolutely nothing about wanting to spread Christianity (which was what I WANTED to read about).

I'd probably feel better if this book wasn't attached to Saint Patrick and was just a completely fictional story, but since it's not, I'm pretty disappointed with it (despite the fact that Lawhead *is* a good writer).

[Saphraneet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of this book just bothered me. It was not at all what I expected. S. Lawhead is a good writer and I have enjoyed many of his books, but I didn't like what he chose to write in this one. After reading some other books and articles on St. Patrick, including St. Patrick's confession, I think the author took literary license to the limit in creating his story. Instead of the title Patrick Son of Ireland, perhaps a better title would be Patrick Sinner Before Saint as that is what it definitely portrayed. It was not an uplifting book.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting a fairly accurate- but still fictional- account of Patrick's life. Fictional, of course, because we don't know much about his life; we have so little evidence to go on. But we do have *some* information.

I guess I expected too much. Taking this as a work of 95% fiction, it was interesting, but lacking. Patrick himself is a liar and a thief; he has no regard for those he claims to love and is utterly selfish. Lawhead tries to bring him around to sainthood by the end of the book and fails. I don't think the Church beatifies druids- and being Ceile De doesn't help.

[Mike Fendrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawhead is a favorite author of mine. He is a great storyteller and does tons of research to create a plausible world into which his characters live.

This is my second reading of Patrick. It is a compelling story, full of adventure, heartbreak, pain, vanity and completion for the main character. A couple of caveats for this one.
1. The story is eerily similar to Aidan in his epic tale "Byzantium" which I think is a little better book. But the main character story line is almost an analog. Didn't seem like Lawhead might have stretched himself here as much as he might have.
2. The sympathetic view of Pelagius. This was a real controversy, a presented heresy that needed to be addressed by the church. Could particular clergymen have been arrogant, boorish jerks? Absolutely. But Pelagius was wrong and is still wrong although from many accounts he was a kind man who tried to live a holy life. But his view of man's condition is thoroughly unbiblical.

Really liked the book.

Third reading - October 2024. Read during a trip to Accra, Ghana. May the fledgling church there, Sovereign Grace Reformed Church, be blessed beyond all we can think or imagine. There are those there who use the Name of Jesus to keep people from Jesus. If they only understood their fate if they do not repent and believe the true and living Christ. Lord, may it be so.

[Heitham Hammad · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Looking forward to seeing other stories by this author. What an adventure! "

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrick: Son of Ireland was a very historical, very exciting adventure. I was surprised to learn that Patrick is not Irish, but British, and that he was kidnapped and taken as a slave during an Irish raid on the coast. During his time in captivity he experienced beatings within an inch of his life (due to trying to escape several times), and eventually was brought to the Druid House to study under some great leaders that were part of the Ceile De, a group of Druids that have been enlightened regarding Jesus and Christianity.

After escaping Ireland at last, he returns to Britain and finds that all has changed since his departure over 6 years ago. Without giving away details, he returns to Ireland in the end to become a Druid and leads the Ceile De into the mission field of Ireland.

For those of you who do not know Stephen Lawhead's writings, the word Druid may come as a shock to you. However, Lawhead refers to Druids in many of his books as wise teachers and learners of everything. He also gives them a somewhat fictional role of controlling some elements (magic, if you will).

Lawhead is an extremely learned person, especially in Celtic and other European history and dives into the history of the book he is writing to make what little we know of the character come to life for his readers. In fact, the only written documents we have regarding Patrick are two letters that he wrote. I read one of the letters online after finishing Patrick just to see what his writing would be like, and in fact, I saw every bit of the personality Lawhead exposed in his book in the fabric of his writing. You should check it out sometime: http://www.yale-university.net/glc/ar...

I highly recommend this book, as well as Lawheads numerous other books.

[Bess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I feel I need to review this one. As a non-Catholic and a lover of historical fiction, emphasis on "fiction", I believe this is a completely plausible version of St. Patrick. Mr. Lawhead made St. Patrick real. And while you can idolize him or place him on a pedestal, you have to admit, it is nice to see a human's flaws. It makes them more real, more attainable, more drawn to, you're more connected.
It's like trying to read a book with unflawed characters, at some point you'll realize, while this all fine and good, where's the realism? You know?
So, this was an amazing read for me! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the flaws, the falls, the redemption, the temptations and the rise to sainthood, as expected.
Give it a try. It's obviously not for everyone but if you're tired of hearing how all the saints were sheer perfection, let's add some humanity to them and read a "what-could-have-happened" version!
Happy reading!

[Justin Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing historical fiction writer Stephen Lawhead is! In this amazing fictional work, Succat (Patrick) is taken as a slave from his home by Irish raiders, is beaten numerous times for trying to escape from Ireland, is stripped of his wealthy social status, becomes assimilated with the Irish people, becomes a bard, a druid, fights as a warrior in a Roman army; experiences marriage, love, painful loss and hellish grief, goes through an existential crisis, repents of his cowardice and selfishness, and in the end, he finds his vocational path back to Ireland, becomes a humble and very renowned saint, and is reunited with his son and the love of his life, Sionan. I highly recommend this book. It gives me the desire to see Ireland again, and I am looking forward to being there again this summer with great joy!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this a few years ago when I worked at B&N. I was in the middle of another one his books (can't recall which now, Merlin maybe?) and went ahead and purchased Patrick. While this is definitely a fast read, and interesting in parts, just like his other book, I felt very dissatisfied with the book as a whole. The character never is really likable. Lawhead takes a real person and pretty much fictionalizes Patrick's life which I find bold but maybe also disrespectful? Anyway, one of my favorite genres is historical fiction, particularly the early Celtic/British period. I think I'll stick with Morgan Llywelyn and Bernard Cornwell for my historical/fantasy needs.

[Amy Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fiction. Terrible historical accuracy. If you read it from that standpoint, it's an interesting read.

[Paul Garrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lawhead paints a sympathetic portrait of his flawed protagonist, and the story easily held my interest as it went from Britain to Ireland to Gaul to Rome and back to Ireland. Given that it was by Lawhead, I was expecting a bit more in the mysticism department, but that's neither here nor there. What disappointed me was the scope (especially given the tag "Son of Ireland"). The book details how the hero becomes Patrick, but we don't get any of his ministry/life as Patrick. The journey to that point was interesting, but I just wanted/expected more after that point.

[Grant Fawcett · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his typical fashion, Lawhead brings this beautiful historic narrative to life in graphic emotional detail. The undulating tale weaves itself through Roman Europe through the life of the most seemingly Ill-fortuned character. As always, there are a satisfying number of surprises and the narrative concludes gracefully and in its fullness.

[Doug Sellers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book about Patrick's life! Slow at times but overall good. between 3.5 and 4.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

[Connor Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading long epics because you just get this mental coziness of being coddled between hundreds of pages. I am not sure how historically accurate this novel is to the tale of St. Patrick, but it was an interesting take on his transformitive journey from noble to slave to saint. It also leaves you with more of a want to read about his later work and how he shaped the faith of that dear island. At times you forget this book is about a real person in the way that Lawhead shapes the story and brings drama and action into each scene.

[Zoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fairly aimless story about a wandering life, and don't expect anything to do with the "legendary Patricius" that the book description claims. It occasionally makes stabs at bringing the story back to the rough mythical outlines of the saint's life but I think it would have been better off leaving the legend out of it.
It's an interesting story reflecting the unstable politics and society of Roman England, following the main character from nobleman's son to slave to Druid to trader to soldier to Roman politician and back to Ireland, only to sort of... just... end. The writing is skillful enough to render each of these worlds as interesting, but the story might have been better served by taking the main character fewer places but developing those places and people more. It's an ocean of a story stretching from Ireland to Rome, but I'd say it can't be more than an inch or two deep.
If these truly are the "known" events of St. Patrick's life there's no evidence to suggest why he would ever have become such an important figure in the Christian church. Maybe that's what comes in part two, after this story peters out, but lacking that we're left with a pretty well-written story without an objective or reason for being.

[Tirzah Burke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was disappointed that in reading this book I learned nothing about the actual historical person St. Patrick. Likewise, I don't feel like I learned anything about Druidism, but that feel that Lawhead dangerously mixes his obsession with it with his Christian beliefs in order to somehow reconcile the two. Sadly all the women in this book are two dimensional and therefore I wasn't moved by any of its romance. However, Succat is an interesting character to get to know and the book is an easy, entertaining read that at times is a page-turner.

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story, but it was kind of weak, seemed to have a scattered plot, and the ending felt rushed and unfinished. Also, theologically, while Lawhead has always had a fascination with "Christian druids" in his works, I felt like it was more problematic here. That and we shouldn't really be lifting up Pelagius as someone to be admired. I've enjoyed a lot of Lawhead's works, but this one was not as good.

2 Stars. (Incoherent)

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book strains belief with Lawhead's depiction of Patrick as some sort of anti-Catholic proto-Protestant. His seemingly positive depiction of Pelagius also leads me to wonder what he was aiming at there. Was it an endorsement of the Pelagian heresy?

As a standalone book, this is somewhat entertaining. When you actually know a bit about Irish history and Church history, it becomes a slog of a read. Lawhead let's his anti-Catholic sentiments get the best of him.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Lawhead's better pieces. The story flows well and on most historical points Lawhead did his research well. He utterly misunderstands Pelagius, imputing to him motives Pelagius never had and having Pelagius attacked for things the Romans never accused him of.

And the main character has the personality of a dead fish. Aside from that, though, it is a good book.

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I doubt that St Patrick would recognize himself in most of this book (which is understandable because so little is actually known of him) but it's still a good story. Well written with an interesting look at the culture of early Ireland. Somewhat lengthy but worth the read.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting novel, thought the story was pretty good. The ending was a bit of a let down though. I wouldn't read it again, but it was a nice light read.

[Kevin Lum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, fanciful retelling of how Succat became St Patrick.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book from Mr. Lawhead

The author has a gift for making the characters seem very much alive, very real, & well fleshed put. The attention to historical detail is well done.
The story starts with a bonfire, a man encouraging his men, then moves to the life of the main character, Succat. He is, likely, a young teenager, of a noble family, spoiled and willful. He rushes back to the family estate to try & get his family & their workers away from Irish raiders. Instead, he ends up a slave in Ireland for 7 years, I would say 2, perhaps 3, as a Druid. The man who is mentoring him emds up dead before he can asl for Siccat's freedom, & he suspects a rival Druid who hates them both (especially since Succat had a vision lasting 3 days at his initiation) and who manages to ingratiate himself with the bards in what amounts to their bard convention and takes over the Druid house. Succat manages to escape by telling his lover he is going to look for her brother, and tells the man on the ship of traders that has moved down to the next town that he has been sent to look for a bard who is visiting in Briton, as it was then called. The ship's captain agrees to let his bargaining skills pay his way, & to remove his slave torc once they're out of Irish waters...except he does such a good job that his continued servce is demanded. Finally, he bargains once again and the collar comes off, and he is back close to the home of his youth.
He finds his estate sold out from under him because he wasn't there to claim it for the 1st 5 years after his parents' death. He hunts for his Druid friend, and finds the place where he was last, deserted. As he makes his way back to the former friend who has become a priest, he decides to go with them to Gaul. One of the other friends of his dissipated youth is in the army, & after talking with the mercenaries, he decides to join them & ends up as the sole survivor of a battle where the German tribes slaughter 3 legions and hundreds of mercenaries. He ends up tasked with the rescue of an injured senior Roman official, and is promoted only the field to regular Roman army. He fonally meets the 2nd friend, who is part of a guard for the family of the man Succat rescued, an important and powerful person. He is taken in by the man and his family and started on the path to the senate. He ends up marrying the man's daughter, has a baby, hires a servant who is old but capable, and then plague hits Rome. He manages to get his wife, baby, a soldier who is helping him guard them, and some food, money, and clothing to the family's main estate on an island off the coast. But it is too late. His mother in law died before they left. His wife, then his baby, then the servant, all die. He gets it but survives the disease. He learns the man he rescued, his son, & the tutor have also died, so all they own is now his. He falls into a deep depression, looks hard at his life, and sees a vision of an Irishman handing him a scroll that asks him to return to Ireland. He gifts the island estate to the 2 older servants who have looked after the place for ages and who looked after him and his family, burying the dead with him and asking a priest physician for help. He returns to Rome to meet the senator who has befriended him, makes an offer on his handling the sale of the remaining estates, takes his money, and returns to Ireland...via a boat that requires dry dock repairs, another boat that gets caught out in an unexpected storm that makes him violently seasick.
He eventually makes his way back to the man who enslaved him, first meeting with the woman who was his lover, & finds her brother, the bard for whom he went looking, and he goes to the main hall & asks to buy his freedom, offering oayment for the tome he didn't render his services to the man, as well as interest on that. The Druid helps him convince the lord to accept the offer. He meets his son, marroes his lover, and returns to his Druid training. The epilogue takes you back to the bonfire.
Like all of his books, this one is excellent. I haven't yet found a book of his that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.

[Kristi Hudecek-Ashwill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally! I thought I would never get this book read. It's overlong, dry in places, yet is oddly interesting. It's not a genre a normally read. I wanted to something different and I got it. I did take a break from it at 69% complete to read a couple of other books because it got monotonous, but I was determined to finish it.

This is a story about Succat, the son of a nobleman, and his life from about age sixteen, if my memory serves me right, into adulthood. His town was stormed and he was taken as a slave to Hibernia. He tried to escape a couple of times and was nearly killed for it, but he never gave up. He was tenacious, but he was also a liar and that made me lose any sort of compassion I should have had for him. Did he suffer? Yes. Did he lose hope? Yes. Did he experience hate and violence? Yes. Did I feel sorry for him? No.
I thought he did Sionan wrong and that he joined the druids for the wrong reason. Everything he said and did was to benefit himself and lying to Sionan and the druids were just more self-serving acts. It didn't matter what anybody else wanted or how his actions would affect others. All that mattered was that he got what he wanted, whatever the cost.

The book takes us into his failures, triumphs, and heartbreaks. Despite the fact that I thought he was a wretch, I still found the story to be strangely fascinating. He was a selfish bastard for sure, but for some inexplicable reason, I still wanted him to come out on top, even if he didn't deserve it.

His life came full circle in a span of ten or twelve years, I'd say, maybe longer. The time line isn't well defined, so it's hard to say. It was a satisfying ending, although I'm not sure what the epilogue was all about, other than to show he acquired some sort of mystical power or something. I'm sure someone else who is into this genre would understand it better.

Overall, it isn't a bad book. I don't consider the time I spent reading it to be a waste. I did learn something about the druids and have a whole new perspective on them, not that I gave them much thought before I read this. I figured they were pagans and left it at that. I now know nothing could be farther from the truth.

I wish there had been more character descriptions for all of the characters. I wish I'd liked Succat more than I did. I really didn't like how he used people to get ahead. I didn't like his deceit. But no matter what I think or how I felt about him, it made him a powerful character.