Byzantium (original 1996; edition 1996)

I've found most of Stephen Lawhead's books disappointing. I read The Paradise War when I was younger and nothing else has ever quite matched up to the vibrancy and life of that one. Byzantium is a stand-alone novel, based on history, not purer fantasy with Celtic roots like The Paradise War, so perhaps that's part of it.

I actually found Byzantium a little ridiculous when I stopped to think about it. I don't presume to know how historically accurate it is, but the entanglement of Vikings, Celtic Christian monks, the Byzantine Empire and the Saracens seems a little... off to me. Especially with the Book of Kells thrown into the mix. But whatever, maybe it's more historical than I think -- truth is stranger than fiction.

But the whole story is just so... implausible. A monk who is chosen, for some reason not really made clear, to go to Byzantium on a pilgrimage. Who has dreams that show him the future. Who gets captured by nice Vikings. And becomes the slave of the king. And gets to Byzantium anyway. And becomes a spy for the emperor. And then ends up in a Muslim amir's house and wants to marry a Muslim woman.

Etc.

Can you see why I raised my eyebrows at this?

The writing is okay, a little "purple prose"ish in places but not too bad overall. Definitely readable, if a bit slow going -- not helped by tiny font-size. I liked some of the characters -- Gunnar and Dugal, particularly -- but mostly got distracted by the improbability of it all. The character of Kazimain seemed entirely superfluous, since she added nothing to the plot, in the end, or to Aidan's character.

The Christian themes were expected, with Stephen Lawhead, but more appropriate here, perhaps, than anywhere else, given that the main character is a monk. ( )

Stephen Lawhead's Byzantium tells the story of a young monk, Aidan, who is captured by Vikings while traveling to Byzantium with a beautiful manuscript. Unfortunately I can't go into any more details about the plot because I dropped the book a little less than halfway through.

I know that first impressions can be deceiving, but lately it seems all my negative first impressions of authors and books — which I have tried to change with rereads and an open mind — have been correct. I remember reading some of Lawhead's fantasy in high school and not really finding anything memorable there. It was passable stuff, acceptable fodder for a young reader scouring the slim shelves of a provincial library, but I remember very little of it and have never had a desire to revisit his work. A recent enthusiastic recommendation for Byzantium determined me to try this author once again. After all, I couldn't explicitly trust the literary impressions I formed in high school, could I?

Turns out I could. On page 328 of 870, I had to concede defeat. There is something about Lawhead's prose that I just don't like. Maybe it's the sporadic attempts to sound Irish (every now and then prefacing a statement with "Sure, and") or just the way the story dragged. When a book starts feeling like a chore to pick up, it's time to put it down.

So I don't think I'll be picking up another Lawhead book any time soon. Maybe I should just start trusting my first impressions! ( )

Redemptive ( )

This is a door-stopper of a book, a first person narrative of a 10th Century Irish monk, Aidan, and his pilgrimage to Byzantium in the course of which he'll become "a slave, a spy, a sailor" going from a monk's robes to a slave's rags and collar to "the silken robes of a Sarazen prince." This book is on a fantasy rec list, is found in the fantasy section in the store and is by a fantasy writer--but I wouldn't call it fantasy despite a few prophetic dreams. Rather it's a work of pure historical fiction based on a real historical figure. I felt it got to a slow start, it became a page-turner about a hundred pages in, but it grew more and more engrossing as it went on--both adventure and mystery with a dollop of romance featuring memorable characters and an interesting insight into the appeal of Christianity (but not in a preachy way, I promise, even though a crisis of faith is at the center of the book.) ( )

I had started reading this book 8 years ago, and never finished. The story stuck in my mind, though, and it was always there luring me in to reread it - so I did. This time I pushed through the lull in the middle to finish, and I'm glad I did. This was a great story - sweeping in the geographic scope, and really interesting with the play of different religions and cultures. ( )