I’ve previously reviewed Hood for Favorite Pastimes along with my interview with Mr. Lawhead. I enjoyed the time he took in Hood to set the stage for this series, helping us to know how this re-imagined Robin Hood came to be.
During a chat session on Dancingword.com last year, Lawhead revealed that some have told him they don’t like long drawn out story and descriptions, but then turn around and, practically in the same breath, say that he took them deep into the story world. They could hear, feel, and see everything. Truly, you can’t have it both ways. I believe that is one of many things that lifts his work to a higher level, he stands out among the masses. Though his books haven’t climbed to become New York Times bestsellers (to my knowlegde) they have longevity. How many writers can find a book th
ey wrote over a decade or two ago, still standing on the shelves, readers still recommending them?
I first heard of Song of Albion from an editor who’d given me a critique of a few chapters of the fantasy I’d written. He wrote down a list of his favorite fantasies, not all of them Christian, suggesting that I read Song of Albion first. Though I admit it took me around a hundred pages before I was drawn into the story, I entered the story world/other world when the character did and not a second before he was ready. I understood the why’s of his journey and the important foundation for the whole series. I long to go back to that world again when I have more “time-between-time” from reading and reviewing current novels.
Byzantium is another amazing journey that everyone should take if not for the history alone. Lawhead has an incredible technique for taking the reader through the story, then at the last possible moment, when the impact will be at it’s stronger, revealing a great epiphany–the spiritual meaning of it all.
I’ll be back to share my review of Scarlet and to share what I believe to be the moment of great “revelation” in both Song of Albion and Byzantium. I’d love to hear your thoughts as well.
Be sure to visit the other CSFF Blog tour Participants.
Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Mike Lynch
Margaret
Karen McSpadden
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika or Mir’s Here
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Lyn Perry
Deena Peterson
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Ashley Rutherford
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachelle Sperling
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Robert Treskillard
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise