The Paradise War

I devoured this book with gusto. I guess we all seek a bit of magic sometimes.

When I read this book some thirty years ago, I had hit a rough patch. I wanted to escape the harsh reality surrounding me. The pages of this Celtic story transported me to a better place. You know the feeling, when fear drives you through heavy fog into the unknown? Once through, the landscape opens to excitement and promise.

Steven Lawhead used wonderful imagery to transport me to a time when warriors and kings held the future; when myths were the reality, and ordinary… show more.

Lawhead’s tale of a struggling Oxford graduate student whisked away to a Celtic fantasy world drew me in immediately. The author superbly melded together traditional Celtic mythology with a deep spiritual connection and a crystal-clear understanding of the battle between good and evil. His characters are well-drawn, fallible yet noble, and the real story is the coming-of-age of the protagonist as he discovers more within him than he realized. Though not overtly faith-based, this novel had themes that reminded me of the Lord of the Rings and Narnia and the descriptions made me feel like I was really there. I… show more.

I was 14 years old when I first read The Paradise War, and something about this book captured my imagination and never let go. The richness of the story and the backdrop of Celtic Mythology only added to the immersive world-building of Albion. In many ways, themes from this book inspired my series. The story pulls the reader into its pages, immersing them in a Celtic otherworld: similar to our own, yet different. It’s an adventure you never want to end. I loved the series so much that I read it once a year until I knew the… show more.

Stephen Lawhead’s Paradise War is the first in a trilogy. This epic fantasy helps you fall into another world that mirrors our own. The story follows Lewis, a geeky college student who discovers this world, and it challenges all he believes to be true. The glory of this reluctant, heart-felt hero has you cheering from the start, while a destructive, insidious evil keeps you on the edge of your seat. I personally love stories with a twist of real history and mythology entwined. It kindles the hope that the world of fantasy may not be that far from our own.… show more.

These books remind me of a lot of J.R.R. Tolkien’s LOTR. They are majestic in their telling, and the story is again of an ordinary person becoming a hero in a magical realm. I could hardly put them down. I totally got caught up in the story and characters and never wanted it to end. I have read them at least five times.