Share for friends:

Read The Silver Hand (2006)

The Silver Hand (2006)

Online Book

Genre
Rating
4.22 of 5 Votes: 3
Your rating
ISBN
1595542205 (ISBN13: 9781595542205)
Language
English
Publisher
westbow press

The Silver Hand (2006) - Plot & Excerpts

My review from http://grahamchops.blogspot.com/2009/...(Whole trilogy reviewed)This one is over a year in the making. I first read The Paradise War last summer on audio when my mom got me the book for my birthday. I'd read Lawhead's Hood and Scarlet and totally loved them, so I wanted to get into his backlist. The cool thing about this trilogy is that, unlike his other books (which are all period pieces about King Arthur, Robin Hood, Saint Patrick, etc), this trilogy is contemporary and perhaps even a little autobiographical.It's about two friends in college named Lewis and Simon. Simon's a Brit, Lewis is American, and they're colleagues at Oxford. Lewis is there as part of the Celtic studies program on a rare study-abroad venture. One day Simon reads about an aurochs (an Ice Age-era beast) randomly appearing on some dude's farm in the newspaper and wants to check it out. Lewis doesn't believe it's legit, since aurochses are extinct, but goes along for the kick of it.Turns out that there's a cairn near the farm--a stone circle that serves as a portal between Earth and Albion, the ancient land of the Celts. Lewis and Simon go through the portal and live as ancient Celtic warriors, and both find what was missing in their lives: adventure.But soon the story pits friend against friend, as Simon takes up with the young prince Meldron, who wishes to take the High Kingship of Albion from his father. Lewis sides with Meldron Mawr, the High King, and a war breaks out there in paradise.Lewis and Simon are in Albion for years, though time is immaterial there. In fact at one part they even step through the cairn again to find that only a day has passed on our side.The first book is about the above conflict. The second book is about the search to replace the High King, and the third book is the resolution of the overall conflict of Lewis' presence in Albion, since he doesn't truly belong there but can't stand the thought of leaving.With the exception of the concept of a parallel alternate world, this trilogy is severely unique. This is no Narnia here--it's intense, it's engaging, it's beautiful, and Lawhead's knowledge of Celtic lit and lore really comes to life in these books. I did them all on audio but I definitely want them in my collection. I only gave them four stars and not five though because you do have to have a stomach for long and somewhat tedious poems here and there--"songs", as they're called. 4 stars 'cause I couldn't recommend it to just anyone and know they'd like it...but it's a high 4 stars :-)

The Silver Hand continues the story started in The Paradise War. Llew continues his heroic deeds and his fight to save Albion while Prince Meldron, edged on by Siawn Hy, try to take control. First they start with taking over the throne after King Meldryn but then their greed and lust for power become so great that the decide to conquer all of Albion. Meldron and Siawn Hy are angry, vengeful and cruel. They murder, rape, steal and control people through fear. Since this is not the way that things should be in Albion they have corrupted the land and poisoned the water. Only when the true King comes to power will the land be pure and clean once again. This novel was written through the eyes of Tegid. This was a nice change because it showed a different perspective of everything and everyone, especially Llew. In this novel we are truly shown how much Llew has grown and matured. We also see the truly kind and strong leader he has become. There is a fair amount of battles, blood, death, suffering and gore in the novel. This was well written without being too over powering. It was written so you could almost imagine it without wanting to throw up because it made you feel like you were actually there. The emotional turmoil the war was having on the people was also portrayed amazing. The suffering the people had gone through was believable. The sad part about this novel though was how many good characters died so Siawn Hy could try to hurt Llew as much as possible. This book was better then the first one. The plot was more interesting with no slow parts. The characters were just as well written as the first one but since we had already been introduced to them in the first novel this novel could expand on them more. This allowed the readers to get a more in-depth view on them. The details that went into this novel wasn’t as thorough as the first novel but since we had already been introduced to many themes, places and customs in the first novel we didn’t need as much details. Overall this book was amazing. Can’t wait to read the third one.

What do You think about The Silver Hand (2006)?

This story is of the struggle of light against the darkness, a story of misused power, sovereignty and kingship. It could be confusing a times, all the talk of prophecies, and sovereignty that has been stolen, which is itself destroying the land. I liked this one better than the first, but at the beginning I got a bit annoyed that it was no longer from the point of view of Llew, but by the end I had changed my mind. Though by telling it from a blind characters point of view I thought S R Lawhead almost cheated.... because at random times the 'blind' one would be able to see through visions, and so most of the story happens at those times. Most of the description is then too or when others are describing what was happening to the blind character, who was not blind most of the time, or at least when anything important was happening. It is typical Lawhead description, which is great when it comes to the world, but there was a lot more violence in this book than the first. Sometimes he describes horrible things that happen to people too well. But the world he creates is so beautiful, and well developed. The bad guys in this book seem to enjoy hurting and shaming people as much as possible... all those horrible deaths.... the amount of people that die is realistic though.....I love how much of 'The Swift Sure Hand' there is in the book, but I occasionally felt like there was a little to much providence. I felt especially that the ending was pushing my suspension of disbelief just a bit to much. The story is engaging.... but... but I am finding it really hard to review.
—Clare Farrelly

The Silver Hand was a well executed middle trilogy book, which is difficult to do. The strongest book of the trilogy, it is fast paced from beginning to end. Told in first person, the main character switches to the lead Bard of Albion. This alleviated the problem of of the first book's whiny lead protagonist, Lewis, who was tough to identify with in Paradise Wars. In the Silver Hand, Tegid, the bard, and Lewis (now having earned a Celtic name of honor, Llew) try to foil Simon's devious plot to setup Meldryn, the dead king's arrogant son, as king of the clan. They are thwarted several times and end up maimed and on an arduous journey of escape. Meldryn and Simon begin a reign of terror to take over all the clans. In the end, Tegid and Llew unite the clan refugees of Albion. A wonderful blend of mysticism and partial reconstruction (a very PG reconstruction) of Celtic society.
—Vivian

Writing style is incredibly important to works of fiction; too many wordy expositions, or difficult language use can ruin immersion extremely quickly. As a result, when I come across an author who uses exposition to advance plot, skips the storyline ahead rapidly (years fade away without warning), and has an all-together pretentious use of the English language, I typically throw their books away without hesitation.Stephen R. Lawhead is an exception to that rule. The world that Lawhead builds is so expansive, imaginative, unique, and captivating that it propels the reader along in spite of his pretentious writing style. I found myself captivated by the story enough to overlook the way it was being told, and struggled through the book enough to enjoy it in spite of itself.Unlike the predecessor, this novel is told from the view of Tegid. And unlike the whiny, useless, sniveling excuse of a secondary character he was in The Paradise War, Tegid finds himself helping Llew lead his ragtag band of adventurers into rebellion and the establishment of a new kingdom. However, true to Lawhead's shortcomings, Tegid continues to speak in prophecy, riddles, and expository "songs" that leave the reader suddenly wondering how they ended up at Sunday Mass with grandma again. Tegid is just not a character that I find relateable, but as the Chief Bard of the land, maybe that speaks more to my predisposition against the keepers of folklore and religious teachings than the development of Tegid himself.What I can say with relative authority is that Tegid is seen as a much stronger and likeable character than he was in the first novel, and he actually exists for some reason other than to get on the readers' nerves and whine about every decision his charges make. Unfortunately, Llew seems to take on the role of apathetic supporting actor, and I found myself wondering why he existed at all, if not to be drug kicking and screaming into the fulfillment of some prophecy I skimmed over during a five page expositional essay.All of the complaints aside, I do have to reaffirm my enjoyment of Lawhead's Albion world. It's large and the conflicts seem real and relatable. I only wish the author could get out of his story's way.Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Google Plus
—Danial

Write Review

(Review will shown on site after approval)

Read books by author Stephen R. Lawhead

Read books in series the song of albion

Read books in category Fiction