Creator / Stephen R. Lawhead

Stephen R. Lawhead is an American writer based in the United Kingdom. He's written in a number of genres including Christian fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and Christian non-fiction help books. His particular focus is Celtic historical fiction. He is best known for The Pendragon Cycle, a retelling of the Arthurian Legend from a Celtic Christian perspective.

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Works By This Author:

Adult Fiction Books

• Dragon King trilogy:
  • In the Hall of the Dragon King (1982)
  • The Warlords of Nin (1983)
  • The Sword and the Flame (1984)

• Empyrion Saga:
  • Empyrion I: The Search for Fierra (1985)
  • Empyrion II: The Siege of Dome (1986)

• The Pendragon Cycle:
  • Taliesin (1987)
  • Merlin (1988)
  • Arthur (1989)
  • Pendragon (1994)
  • Grail (1997)
  • Avalon: The Return of King Arthur (1999) — a semi-sequel that serves as a Distant Finale set in the present day

• The Song Of Albion:
  • The Paradise War (1991) (Illustrated by Rodney Matthews, Daniel Horne in 1993, Anne Yvonne Gilbert in 1998, and Peter Holt in 2001)
  • The Silver Hand (1992) (Illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert in 1998)
  • The Endless Knot (1993) (Illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert in 1998)

• The Celtic Crusades:
  • The Iron Lance (1998)
  • The Black Rood (2000)
  • The Mystic Rose (2001)

• King Raven Trilogy:
  • Hood (2006)
  • Scarlet (2007)
  • Tuck (2009)

• Hero (With Ross Lawhead):
  • City of Dreams (2003)
  • Rogue Nation (unpublished)
  • World Without End (unpublished)

• Bright Empires:
  • The Skin Map (2010)
  • The Bone House (2011)
  • The Spirit Well (2012)
  • The Shadow Lamp (2013)
  • The Fatal Tree (2014)

• Eirlandia:
  • In the Region of the Summer Stars (2018)
  • In the Land of the Everliving (2019)
  • In the Kingdom of All Tomorrows (2020)

• Dream Thief (1983)
• Byzantium (1996)
• Patrick: Son of Ireland (2003)

Tropes featured in his work:

• Author Appeal: Celtic themes appear in many of his works along with a focus on Christianity.
• Christianity is Catholic: Played straight in The Pendragon Cycle due to the time period, but other works have focus on the conflict between the (Roman) Catholic and Celtic Christian traditions.This article discusses his use of Catholicism.
• Homage:
  • His fantasy work The Song of Albion features a number of references and parallels to The Space Trilogy, with the protagonist named after C. S. Lewis and a minor villain named Weston. Both series feature the villain out to exploit another Edenic world.
  • He includes Atlantis in his treatment of the Arthurian legends in The Pendragon Cycle, and his Atlanteans are basically pretty much J. R. R. Tolkien's High Elves in terms of appearance, spiritual power and longevity/immortality.
• Setting Update: The King Raven trilogy transports the Robin Hood legend back in time to the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England and the subsequent Norman invasion of Wales instead of the more common (in modern versions) Third Crusade, with the Robin figure being a minor Welsh king in his own right.
• Trilogy Creep: The Pendragon Cycle started off with the original trilogy of Taliesin, Merlin, and Arthur. Then Lawhead went back and added in Pendragon and Grail as Interquels set during Arthur. Then he added in a loose sequel in Avalon to serve as Distant Finale a few years later.