Taliesin (The Pendragon Cycle, Book 1)

by Stephen R Lawhead

2008

Status

Available

Publication

Harper Voyager (2008), Edition: Reissue, 496 pages

Description

A magnificent epic of cataclysmic upheaval and heroic love in a breathless age of mythic wonders It was a time of legend, when the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror faded from the captured Isle of Britain. While, across a vast sea, bloody war shattered a peace that had flourished for two thousand years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis. From the award-winning author of THE DRAGON KING TRILOGY comes a majestic tale of breathtaking scope and haunting beauty. It is the remarkable adventure of Charis--the courageous princess from Atlantis who escapes the terrible devastation of her land--and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. A story of an incomparable love that joins two astonishing worlds amid the fires of chaos, and spawns the miracles of Merlin . . . and Arthur the king! TALIESIN "Reminiscent of C. S. Lewis . . . Highly recommended." --Library Journal… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member mwcgrad97

I loved this series when it came out and I still enjoy reading it. I enjoy the visual images the author creates. His descriptions and characters make me wish I could time-travel or hop into the story. He tries to stay true to the English version of the Arthur myth, and so other additions, like

Lancelot, are not included. I don't reread often, but I've gone through this series several times.

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LibraryThing member MrsLee

This book was so much more than I expected. It really pulled me into the lands and times which it described, especially ancient Britain. I became very fond of the characters and cared deeply about what happened to them. What more could you ask from a tale? The author's treatment of Christianity and

belief was pleasantly surprising to me, he did not preach with it, but told it gently and genuinely as it is. Belief and faith are a large part of the Arthurian tale, but rarely treated so well in the stories. I really don't want to read the next books, I know the Arthurian tragedy and there is no getting away from it being sad. As it is, I wept through the last several chapters of this book. However, I enjoyed the writing so much, I may not be able to resist.

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LibraryThing member ladymacbeth1

Taliesin, book one in The Pendragon Cycle, is Stephen Lawhead's interpretation of the Merlin legend. It tells two simultaneous stories, which join about two-thirds of the way into the book. The first is about the life of the young Princess Charis (pronounced Ka-ris) and the fall of the legendary

city, Atlantis. The second is about the life of the bard, Taliesin, who has supernatural powers that allow him to experience events of the Otherworld. Taliesin and Charis marry against the will of Charis' family. They give birth to Merlin. According to legend, Taliesin dies at the hand of Charis' step-sister, Morgian.

The story is also about the emergence of the world into "dark times;" i.e., the coming of the Dark Ages. Christianity wars with beliefs in multiple gods.

I'm not a fan of Christian fiction. While I've seen this book classified as such, I would disagree. Lawhead's retelling is well-done. It's neither preachy nor sappy. 4.5/5 stars

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LibraryThing member TheLostEntwife

The combination of the King Arthur legend, Celts, Britons, magic, faith, lore and Atlantis is pretty compelling. If any of those (or all of them) sparks your interest then this is a book to put on your to-read list, and preferably near the top of said list.

I've had my copy of this book for several

months now. I kept meaning to pick it up, but then I'd get bogged down in some good, and some not-so-good titles as I tried to keep up with all the new, hot releases. Taliesin is a very good example of why not all good books are new titles. This is a fantastic story featuring two very compelling main characters. I enjoyed each storyline equally, although I admit to being a bit more biased character-wise toward Charis, the beautiful, strong princess of Atlantis.

I will admit to being a bit concerned over the faith aspect of the novel. I wasn't sure how it would be approached, if it would come off corny or.. even worse, like it was a completely different story forced into the story that was flowing so well. But it was seamless and a beautiful message in and of itself.

Taliesin is a story that I plan to enjoy again and I am definitely glad I made sure to have the following books on hand as well. While I wasn't so much of a fan of Lawhead's Robin Hood re-tellings, I think I might have done better to have read these books first.

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LibraryThing member revslick

This is the second Lawhead trilogy, which I won't be reading the rest in the series. Lawhead has a reputation for integrating Christian theology into classic hero mythos. This series tackles the Arthurian legend, and he starts all the way back with the birth and coming-of-age of Merlin. He's

critiqued by many for being preachy and of all things talking about God in Arthurian mythos, which to me is laughable considering the classic knight's pledge. There are some novel concepts like the way he introduced Merlin and even the theological weavings. My problem is the rest of the book before and after such weavings is so tedious and tiring that by the time I got to something intriguing I was praying to be put out of my misery. Tedious conversations and inconsequential matters go on too long and the good bits are glanced over. Imagine Jane Austen redoing the Arthurain mythos with a dash of Christian theology thrown in. I know that sounds like a slight to Jane, I apologize Jane, but it's the one that best comes to mind. Hopefully, his take on Robin Hood will go better.

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LibraryThing member willowcove

I LOVE this series!

LibraryThing member JudithProctor

Although well written, this book didn't work for me for several reasons. Firstly, the characters all talk in a very self-conscious manner with rather formalised language and no contractions. Secondly, there are some very long blocks of descriptive text that would have been better worked into the

action of the story. Thirdly, I can't cope with a fantasy novel where the Christian god speaks directly to a character.

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LibraryThing member slaveofOne

A whole new take on the Arthurian mythos.

LibraryThing member pauliharman

I don't know much about Arthurian myth and legend, so I don't know how much of this is Lawhead's invention and how much he draws on existing myth. But it's interesting enough; it probably helped that I didn't have any preconceptions about any of the characters in the story as it allowed me to

immerse myself in a new tale. It flows reasonably well, but I'm not really sure if it's my kind of thing.

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LibraryThing member dbhutch

I started this back in 2006, then picked it back up in Dec 2010. I've always been a big fan of the Arthurian Series of books, such as Mary Stewart, and this one so far is no exception and with a different twist. With wonderful detail, rich imagination and the blending of several ancient myths with

the growth of modern religion, Lawhead seems to be off to a very good start in his Pendragon cycle.

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LibraryThing member benfulton

Lawhead weaves together elements of the King Arthur mythos and the Atlantis mythos, and overlays the whole thing with a Christian message. I read, or at least started, this book around age 18 and the images of the sport of "bull dancing" have stayed with me ever since. I don't think the Christian

images are particularly overdone - certainly nothing like the "Left Behind" series - and I found it interesting to watch the characters debate between the old gods and this strange, new god. I'm looking forward to picking up the next in the series.

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LibraryThing member DianneAstle

The language for this series of books is writing at a very high level. I have a masters and several times I did mot know what the word meant. However, is spite of that, I give this series five stars. It s rich and deep and wonderfully told. It is in a league of its own.

LibraryThing member CRAZYELIZABETH

Charis is a young Atlantean Princess enjoying the life of luxury and technology that goes with the territory. She doesn't understand that the time of peace for her people is drawing to a close and they are on the brink of war. Her mother is killed when her family is ambushed, and unable to deal

with the grief that she feels from her father she leaves to join the religious bull dancers. After being injured she returns to her fathers house to find things greatly changed, he was greatly wounded in the war that unfolded and is nursed by his strange new wife. Charis tries to warn her people of the impending doom that was prophesied before her mothers death but people do not listen to her. She manages to secure ships so that those who live in the palace are able to escape.

Meanwhile Elphin, the son of the Chief of Gwynedd, is the brunt of jokes of his people because they believe he has bad luck. That is until when searching the weir he finds a beautiful baby boy, who changes his luck, through Taliesin he finds his wife, and gains the respect of the people. Taliesin is trained to be a bard and druid for his people and is the greatest of these. The Cymry are attacked by barbarians and are forced to flee. They come to the land where the remnant of the Atlanteans have settled. The two peoples form an agreement where they can exist and also keep their respect. However Charis and Taliesin wish to marry which is frowned upon by Avallach. Charis father. So they are secretly married and live together many miles away. They have a son and he is named Merlin. They then set off to be reconciled with Avallach but will they make it back?

This is the first in Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle, about King Arthur, the following books are Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon and Grail. I love how this has been set closer to the time period where the actual person that Arthur was based on probably existed. I also love how the story starts with Merlin's parents, giving a context for how Merlin was brought up and his roots, and I love the idea that the Atlanteans settled in Britain. I would really recommend this book to anyone who loves myths legends and folklore, as well as unusual retellings of them. It is also recommended to people who love Arthur in all it's retellings and the history of the British Isles.

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LibraryThing member DianneAstle

LibraryThing member AliceAnna

Not nearly as good as Merlin, which I remember really liking, but I did like it well enough (or I was at least wrapped up enough in it that I cried at the end). The characters weren't all that well developed, but generally strong and fairly interesting.

LibraryThing member N.W.Moors

I grabbed this book because I generally like Mr. Lawhead's books and I wanted to read more about Taliesin after a trip to Wales. This is not that book despite the title.
In theory, the book is split between Taliesin and Charis, the Atlantean princess and bull-dancer, but the Taliesin sections,

especially at the first part, are more about the Celtic settlement he lives in. This is really a story about Charis, and a lot of time is spent on her life and the sinking of Atlantis. Taliesin is more of a minor character, a Celtic bard who she eventually decides to marry after he becomes a Christian.
I know that Christian monks came in droves to Britain after the Romans left, but Taliesin was a druid and there's no indication that he converted in any records I've found. It didn't make sense, quite frankly. Mr. Lawhead does a deft job in weaving in the Arthurian legend with the Atlantis story, but sometimes it's a reach. For example, Charis becomes the Lady of the Lake because she was swimming once in a vision. Morgain's character development to the villainess is non-existent. One minute she's a little girl and suddenly she's plotting against her sister.
The writing also seemed more like the book was meant for middle-grade ages than an adult fantasy. I won't go on, but this was a big disappointment. I'll look elsewhere for my Celtic tales.

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LibraryThing member debs4jc

Provides a backstory to the King Arthur legend. In one thread the reader is taken all the way back to Atlantis, a kingdom that is about to be destroyed. In another story line a band of Britons debates about their future leadership, as the chieftan's son seems horribly unlucky. A mysterious babe

pulled out of the water, a perilous voyage across the sea, strangers that welcome refugees, and a mysterious Fisher King all appear as the story begins to move towards characters the reader will recognize from the Arthurian myth. Captivating and vivid writing make for an enjoyable fantasy read.

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LibraryThing member JenniferRobb

I read this years ago--probably before I had an online shelf to record it in--I basically stopped reading this author after realizing I really didn't care for his style of writing. I remember one friend saying she kept it only because of her interest in fiction dealing with Arthur/Merlin and not

because she really liked the book.

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LibraryThing member MJWebb

There is no doubting that this book is beautifully written. The beginning to an epic series, it starts slowly and gradually gains your attention so that by the end you are fully immersed into a wonderful, ancient world of violence, magic and adventure. The descriptions of events such as the

destruction of Atlantis are conceived and described on a level far higher than most authors could achieve. I will definitely read the next in the series even though the books are far longer than I originally thought. If it were not for the slow beginning, I think I would have rated this a five, but it was hard work in the early stages and I almost gave up at one point because I had other books I wanted to read. So glad I didn't.

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