On this tour for Stephen Lawhead, I was thinking that I may have come across as a little hard on his books. I mentioned that he was streaky, and listed a few books that came across as disappointments for me. After thinking about this, that may be a little unfair. I've enjoyed other books of his so much, if others didn't hit that standard, then that's when I felt they didn't measure up.
I was reading Stephen Lawhead before I really understood about "Christian fiction." Getting into the first two books of the Song of Albion series was a wonderful fictive journey. Yes, I didn't find the last book of that trilogy as catchy, but the end of it was such a wonderful payoff. There was a thread he'd woven through the whole series that I would've missed had I not persevered until the end. It still rates up in the two top "Wow!" moments I've had when reading books.
His historical fiction novel Byzantium was another greatly enjoyable book. It was entertaining, but it also illuminated a time in history that I had never known about before. Anyone with a love of Celtic and Middle Age history should pick up that book.
So yes, I still hold that some books of his are better than others. When is this not going to be the case with an author? It may hit Mr. Lawhead because so many times he writes series, so it is more noticeable. I just didn't want the wrong impression. Stephen Lawhead is one of the top craftsmen in Christian fiction (and historical fantasy fiction in general). Don't miss out on his work.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment