The Iron Lance on amazon.com
This is a book I recently finished reading to my kids after dinners (don't ask HOW LONG it took me to do that!). The book is a work of historical fiction set during the time of the First Crusade in the late 11th century. A little info from Wikipedia:
> The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to regain control of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy Land from Muslims. What started as a minor call for aid quickly turned into a wholesale migration and conquest of territory outside of Europe. Both knights and peasants from many different nations of western Europe, with little central leadership, travelled over land and by sea towards Jerusalem and captured the city in July 1099, establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the other Crusader states. Although these gains lasted for fewer than two hundred years, the Crusade was a major turning point in the expansion of Western power, and was the only crusade—in contrast to the many that followed—to achieve its stated goal.
Lawhead is a very good writer who weaves a believable story centered around a young boy, Murdo, who--due to unforeseen circumstances--ends up following his father and brothers to Jerusalem, where he witnesses first-hand the awful Crusader carnage ("victory"). Lawhead does a nice job of weaving a good bit of history and historical characters into the fictionalized tale. In many ways, it's a classical story of a young boy growing into manhood as he ventures out on his own into the big world beyond his small village. Along the way he meets some interesting and colorful characters, including three monks who have a big influence on his growth and maturity.
Not as good as Lawhead's Byzantium, highly recommended to everyone, but a good read nonetheless. I was a little disappointed in the ending, which just seemed to fizzle a bit. I also wish Lawhead had more fully utilized and completed the late 1800's "framing device" which does such a good job of beginning the book.
The Iron Lance (The Celtic Crusades, Book 1) (Paperback)
by Stephen R. Lawhead "My name is of no importance..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Most of Stephen Lawhead's popular historical fantasies are part of one or another of his sagas, trilogies, or cycles. For readers who enjoy big galloping yarns set in distant lands, and don't mind having their hands held by the author every step of the way, the first volume of his new Christian trilogy should hit the spot.
The framing device begins at the end of the nineteenth century, in Edinburgh, where Gordon Murray is about to be inducted into an ancient brotherhood whose secret rites involve a sacred relic: the iron lance of the title. The main narrative is set in eleventh century Orkney. When Pope Urban II calls for the retaking of Jerusalem from the infidel, the local lord, Ranulf, joins the Crusade with his elder sons, leaving behind young Murdo to oversee the family holdings. When the Church, through a nefarious scheme, confiscates the house and holdings, Murdo has no choice but to follow the Crusaders to the Holy Land and bring his father home to fix the whole mess.
Lawhead paints a vast and exotic canvas of medieval world politics, then peoples it with colorful characters--cunning Byzantine rulers, bluff Norman knights, gap-toothed, shaggy-brained Saxon peasants--who encounter visions and miracles, brutality and ambition, love and justice. At the end of the main narrative, Murdo gets what he wants but not in the ways expected. The framing narrative ends with hints that, as the world lurches towards a new millennium, Gordon Murray's Christian secret society is the world's only hope for survival, and the time nears for the brotherhood to reveal itself. --Luc Duplessis
From Publishers Weekly
This massive historical-fantasy novel about the First Crusade begins a family-saga trilogy recounting the story of a mysterious mystical order founded upon the discovery of the spear that pierced Christ's side as he hung on the cross. The narrative is framed as a series of visions by a Victorian Scots lawyer, who begins by seeing his ancestors leaving the Orkneys on the Crusade, except for the youngest brother, Murdo, who remains behind to watch the family holdings. When fraudulent clerics take those lands, Murdo attempts to rejoin his family. In describing the young man's journey to the Holy Land, Lawhead displays considerable historical scholarship, some talent for depicting picaresque adventures and verbiage in such excess that the emotional impact of the climax?the discovery of the lance?is diminished. Lawhead is known for his ability to combine Arthurian and Christian fantasy, as in his Pendragon Cycle, blending disparate elements into engaging if frequently overlong tales. But here the historian overwhelms the storyteller. The novel fails to meet Lawhead's usual standard, let alone that of other time-binding fantasies such as the novels of Diana Gabaldon. Agency, William Morris.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Details
* Paperback: 656 pages
* Publisher: Eos; Reprint edition (April, 2000)
* Language: English
* ISBN: 0061051098
* This is the 1st item in The Celtic Crusades Series.
Spotlight Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Mythical and Masterful, August 22, 2000
Reviewer: Eric Wilson "suspense novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
I picked this one up at the library and, sitting in the car, read the prologue...I was entranced. Lawhead's mythic history draws you in. Not only did his detailed landscape and time-period come to life in my mind, but the characters, in their reserved manner, became breathing people that you care and cheer for.
But this story isn't heavy on the cheers; it describes many heartaches and inhumanities. It peels back the horror of what the Crusaders did in the name of Christ and clearly shows the misdeeds of the Church. Yet, through the likeable monks of the Cele De, the main character comes to see another side of spirituality, eventually warming to the monks and their beliefs.
The story, primarily, follows young Murdo as he follows after his father and brothers toward the Holy Land. He needs their help to take back the land that's been stolen from them. Along the way, he witnesses the Crusaders' violent ways, he experiences mystical visions, and he finds himself brushing shoulders with the Holy Lance, the spear used to pierce Jesus's side at the scene of the Crucifixion. Now, the spear is a holy relic sought by many.
The transformations of Murdo from nonbeliever to believer, from boy to man, are credible. You'll find yourself holding your breath as he searches for the Holy Lance and attempts to escape those who wish to steal it for their own devices.
This story deals with large issues--the corruption of the church, the brutality of man, the secrecy of centuries-old societies in the British Isles--and it still manages to touch on smaller, more personal issues such as love, loyalty, and family.
Some may find the details overwhelming or laborious; I found myself closing the final page wishing for more.
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