After about an hour of pondering, thinking, and musing; I've decided it's high time to talk about my most recent read. Stephen R. Lawhead's rendition of the tale of King Arthur was not was I was expecting. This simple fact was laid out plain in the first few pages. At first, when I started the prologue I thought: perhaps this is JUST the prologue, perhaps the actual chapters will be set in Arthurian England. But as the words progressed and the pages turned; it was not to be so. Intrigued that I was completely unprepared for a modern day novel, I pressed on both excited and directly apprehensive to what the book would actually be about. In my humble opinion, I do believe Lawhead has a distinctly curious and enticing imagination.Not only did he bring together a cast of likable (and Unlikeable) characters to play their specific parts accordingly, he also tied it very well into the well known legend. Though, my first choice would not be to have reincarnation type visions, they lent themselves well to the story development. One thing for sure is if he'd leaked these 'visions' to the press, he would have not been king for long. So it was in the best interest that something like that not be written in. But then again; that's just my mind stirring up controversy.
Much like with his book Hood, Lawhead's use of a bard character was duly enjoyed. However, in this case, questions were raised on this bards own age and whatnot, yet that triviality seems unimportant with the rest of the fantastical events and occurrences of the story. One event in particular drew me in more than I thought it would. Nearer to the end of the book, when I was already looking for a way for events to start wrapping up, and they continued to develop. I was waiting for something immensely dramatic to happen and throw me off guard so that I would throw my copy across the room, then storm off and swear to never read a Lawhead novel again. Here again, I was genuinely surprised that I was both appeased and denied in my want for drama. I was not angered by the dramatic events, but instead; drawn further into the story and what was happening. I could not and would not set down the book and leave the story. The great detail given to the action taking place in later chapters quickened my reading pace. I saw all of the pieces of the puzzle coming together nicely and didn't feel that any of the parts were specifically rushed too much or drawn out too far. As soon as I started to think "come on, move on already." The story gave some pretty little details that, had I been skimming through due to boredom, I would have missed. I am glad I took the time to devour this book over time and chew all of the pieces. It was a good read and did not subtract in any way shape or form from Arthurian Legends of Old. I do recommend Avalon: The Return of King Arthur if you enjoy a bit of fantasy and/or even historical fiction., even though it wasn't actually historical.
