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Grail (Book five in the Pendragon Cycle) by: Stephen Lawhead

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Rating: - Fifth Book in the Pendragon Series

Stephen R. Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. His works include Byzantium and the series The Pendragon Cycle, The Celtic Crusades, and The Song of Albion. Lawhead makes his home in Austria with his wife. Stephen Lawhead is one of my all time favourite authors and I am only sorry that he does not write more often.

Following his miraculous healing by the cup of Christ, Arthur sets his heart and mind upon establishing a shrine to the Grail. Something that will stand out as a symbol of the Summer realm that he has introduced to the island of Britain.

While Arthur is putting all his energies into achieving this, Merlin's old enemy, Morgian is plotting a devastating and bitter betrayal by one of Arthur's dearest companions . . .

Rating: - A disappointing end to the series

The last book in the Pendragon cycle. It is told through the eyes of Galahad and details the story of the Grail and the battle with Morgan. I found it very confusing as to how it relates to ther other books in the series. It just didn't really make sense ina few places. In Arthur (book three) Morgan is brought before him and dies, she demands she has done no crimes. However in this book she has clearly committed crimes against all of them!

It mostly focused on god versus the devil which I wasn't so sure about as a theme. It would have been good to know more about Morgan and her motives as she is a great character. Sadly not a great finish to the series.

Rating: - A good book, but a pity about the apparent time travel...

While I felt this book was well written, and proved a good addition to the cannon of Grail literature, I also felt that Stephen Lawhead wrote it because he felt he had to. The first three books in the series functioned perfectly well as a trilogy, and the end of "Arthur" finished the story as strangely and perfectly as the legendary tales ever did. It took me some time to place "Pendragon" and "Grail" in chronological order.

That said, as a stand alone book, it was impressive. The scenes in the bewitched forrest were haunting and at times tragic (though it would have been more so if the book's placing in the series hadn't rather given the ending away). Nonetheless, the images of warriors hanging from the trees gave me nightmares!

On the subject of names - trying to pronounce them is worthwhile, and quite fun. But if you get a twisted tounge attempting it, then fortunately most of the names are quite easily translated into the more familier Anglisised Medieval form of the Knights of the Round Table.

Read this book in chronological order - it will make for a better series.

Rating: - A disappointing and unnecessary "end" to the pendragon cycle

To begin, I'd like to say that the Pendragon Cycle is a brilliant work, and the other books in it stand without this, frankly, unnecessary work.

I am not sure what prompted Stephen Lawhead to write a fifth volume, but all I can say is that it simply feels wrong - almost as if someone else wrote the book.

The traditional tales of King Arthur ends with Arthur disappearing mysteriously, an event depicted magnificently at the end of Pendragon Cycle 3: Arthur, as Arthur sails off to Merlin's Grandfather's palace on Avallon - a secluded island (marked as the Isle of Wight on the map at the beginning).

So it came as a bit of a surprise to me to discover that this book begins with Arthur, Merlin and others not only returning from Merlin's Grandfather's palace, but somehow the palace Arthur was returning from was at Glastonbury Tor, the location Avallach leaves in the previous book.

The structure of the book was also different to the other books - while the others are all split into three or four sections, this is one single section told through the eyes of one person.

There were other discrepancies too, and the narrative did not seem up to the standard I have come to expect from Lawhead. To be honest, I'd recommend avoiding this book, because it kind of spoilt the rest of the series for me.

Rating: - Warfare turns spiritual.

"Grail" is the last volume of Lawhead's Pendragon series. It is narrated by Gwalchavad, and revolves around the mysterious and magical Grail which was the cause of Arthur's miraculous healing at the end of the previous volume. The Grail is the cup used by Christ in his last supper (p.45), and has healing powers. Arthur's kingdom is firmly established now that the Saecsons and Vandals have both been defeated. Now that the Kingdom of Summer is officially inaugurated, the Grail is seen as a symbol of this kingdom of light. So Arthur builds a shrine for this symbol of his kingdom, and the kingdom of summer is officially declared.

Just when the kingdom of summer reaches its high point, tragedy strikes. At the height of the kingdom's glory, the subversive attacks of Morgian return. This Queen of the Powers of the Air and Darkness steals the sacred Grail, abducts Arthur's queen, and deceives his champion soldier. From this point on the action intensifies, as the newly established kingdom of peace fights warfare on a new front: spiritual warfare. Unlike the battle scenes of previous volumes, the battle scenes in this book describe a struggle against demons and the powers of darkness (Eph. 6).

Lawhead's vision of the Grail did make me uncomfortable. Firstly, the cup used by Jesus was an ordinary object, and to have it turn into a sparkling grail with rows of rubies, emeralds, and pearls, with a "broad band of impossibly ornate scrollwork" seems to go against the very purpose of the last supper. Secondly, the purpose of the supper was to encourage believers in their spiritual worship and commemoration of Christ, not in a material worship of a sacred object. The words of Jesus - "Remember and believe" - seem all but forgotten, since healing through the Grail appears to occur independent of faith and believing. Rather than stress faith, the use of the Grail results in a magical form of healing that occurs through ritual rather than faith. One other concern is the ease at which the characters take God's name on their lips - at times it borders on blasphemy and unnecessary oath-making.

But these weaknesses aside, Lawhead has created a convincing and exciting spiritual conflict between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The spiritual warfare is a refreshing change from the blood and gore of earlier battlefields. It also functions as a compelling image of the universal conflict between God and Satan, a conflict involving both God and men. The power of evil is vividly portrayed. Here Lawhead successfully reminds us of the Biblical notion of angels of darkness disguising themselves as angels of light, and deceiving even believers. The weakness and vulnerability of men over against these powers is vividly described. But most importantly, when men are helpless over against the powers of evil, Lawhead presents the only path to victory: God. Conquest of evil cannot be accomplished by human effort, but by divine power. "Only by God's good grace do any of us stand or fall." (p.377)

"Grail" marks the end of the wonderful Pendragon cycle. It is true that while the ending of "Grail" resolves the conflict, it does not satisfactorily mark a clean ending to the series. This is not surprising because "Grail" (like the preceding volume "Pendragon") actually precedes the events described at the end of book 3, "Arthur", and consequently both "Pendragon" and "Grail" have a distinctively "add on" feeling. Next time I will read the series in chronological order, more or less as follows: Taliesin, Merlin, Pendragon Bk. 1, Arthur Bk. 1-2, Pendragon Bk. 2-4, Grail, Arthur Bk. 3. The chronological aberrations of the last two volumes are indeed a weakness, and it is unfortunate they function more like an afterthought, rather than being properly integrated into Arthur's life. Yet the very fact that this series is so re-readable is a testimony to its greatness. Great it truly is, and that is high praise indeed!

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