A Review of Stephen R Lawhead's "Song of Albion" Books

Before I begin, I’d like to shout out Jeff Johnson and Brian Dunning, who have crafted 3 CDs with music to accompany Stephen R. Lawhead’s “Song of Albion” trilogy. This is the first track of the first album. They have also made music for “The Pendragon Cycle” and “Patrick,” all Stephen R. Lawhead’s books.

I remember one Christmas day when I was around 12 I think. It was memorable because I was sick and throwing up. As presents were handed out, I found I was given a box-like thing. And as I tore into this present, I remember the colors on the books, the vibrant display of a scene within Stephen R. Lawhead’s “The Dragon King” trilogy. I devoured these books as fast as I could, caught in the imagination of Lawhead’s mind. A few years later, the same type of present but this time, it was Lawhead’s new story, one that has remained with me for a very long time. That story is probably his most famous besides The Pendragon Cycle. This one is my all time favorite, “The Song of Albion.”

I struggled at first because I never read a book in first person pov. But I knew from the start, this wasn’t like his “Dragon King” books. That was a coming of age story. This was...something else entirely. You immediately feel the strangeness on each page. The atmosphere going in is dreary and rainy. It’s a setup for everything to come. The characters are wildly different. And where it begins, on the campus of Oxford University in England and the apartments, Lawhead takes you on a wild celtic journey. Two best friends, Lewis and Simon, go on a hunt to discover the truth of an article in a tabloid.

Using his massive knowledge about celtic mythology, Lawhead weaves a tale of two worlds, ours and the other world Lewis and Simon stumble into and the paradise war that ensues.

That other world, when Lawhead paints his world in letters, takes the reader on a magical journey of awe, capturing the beauty of nature, of the feel of other worldliness, the strangeness and the violence that is Albion.

Man was never meant to stay in that world though. We create an imbalance if our hearts are twisted and this is the tale of Simon, who twists things and corrupts while Lewis fights to bring him home.

The second book, “Silverhand”, is Lewis’ decision to stay and fight a war Simon has made. No longer best friends but enemies, his mission is still the same, find a way to drag Simon through to Earth. This book switches the main POV to Lewis’ close friend, a bard who is much more. Through his eyes, we get an even more imaginative view of celtic life and its roots but tempered with a Christian worldview. It’s breath taking at times, hearing described the world of Albion and where the story takes the reader.

And last, “The Endless Knot”, which is a description of the worlds interwoven, Earth and the Other World. The war Simon started has corrupted Albion, killing the land. A devastating hurt to Lewis takes place and he sets out on a mission of rescue but also a final showdown. Where he has wrestled like Simon whether to stay or leave for the world itself pulls him in, he is determined to end everything the next time he sees his old friend. One way or anther, there will be an end to the war.

With strange new places, an even darker atmosphere, the story takes you on a journey to the very end and its final conclusion of this mystical, beautiful, violent other world.

I’ve said it a few times in the past and will say it again. This would make a great movie. Daily Wire has just dropped the official trailer to Stephen R. Lawhead’s masterpiece, “The Pendragon Cycle,” a retelling of King Arthur but in a style only he could dream up. It is magical and beautiful all at once.

Below is another track by Jeff Johnson and Brian Dunning for Lawhead’s “Pendragon Cycle” books.

But what would I give to see “The Song of Albion” grace the big screen? If Peter Jackson, who directed Lord of the Rings, could direct this, it would, in my humble opinion, rival Tolkien’s work. Probably not in depth of the work done but in it’s beauty and other worldly strangeness that is the heartbeat of the story.

This is, I believe, where the concept for my own imaginable stories began. I always thought in terms of traveling to other mystical worlds.