#136 [The Warlords of Nin] - Stephen Lawhead

This is the second in the Dragon King series - an early Lawhead trilogy. As per my thoughts in the first book, this is an early work and this shows! The characterisation is not great. The book is reminiscent of Narnia stories in the high degree of metaphor used to impart spiritual truth.

Comparing this with the whole of the Narnia series, this book comes up wanting I think. This is because the prophecy surrounding the hero, Quentin, is that he will be the priest king who wields the sword that will defeat the hordes of Nin. But in Christian theology the prophet, priest and king is Christ. Quentin is an exceptional protagonist, but I cannot see him as in th eplace of Christ in this story. Of course, in Narnia, it is Aslan who has that place, and who is so clearly set apart from the protagonists of the stories.

Maybe I do the book an injustice by comparing it with Narnia. Maybe the metaphor is not intended to be so comparable - but in that case I felt it was too obvious.

All that criticism in mind, it was not a terrible book. Some people will enjoy it. Some people could really love it. I am just not one of them. ( )