The Paradise War: Book One in The Song of Albion Trilogy

Written by Stephen Lawhead

Narrated by Stuart Langston

Experience the dazzling brilliance of a world like ours—yet infinitely bolder and brighter: a place of kings and warriors, bards and battles, feats of glory and honour. It is a place you will forever wish to be. It is Albion.

"When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the world I knew."

Lewis Gillies is an American graduate student in Oxford who should be getting on with his life. Yet for some reason, he finds himself speeding north with his roommate Simon on a lark—half-heartedly searching for a long-extinct creature allegedly spotted in a misty glen in Scotland. Expecting little more than a weekend diversion, Lewis accidently crosses through a mystical gateway where two worlds meet: into the time-between-times, as the ancient Celts called it. And into the heart of a collision between good and evil that's been raging since long before Lewis was born.

First published more than twenty years ago, The Song of Albion Trilogy has become a modern classic that continues to attract passionate new readers.

• Part of The Song of Albion trilogy:
  • Book One: The Paradise War
  • Book Two: The Silver Hand
  • Book Three: The Endless Knot
• Epic historical fantasy
• Book length: 138,000 words
• Includes additional insights from the author in “Albion Forever!” and an interview

Experience the dazzling brilliance of a world like ours—yet infinitely bolder and brighter: a place of kings and warriors, bards and battles, feats of glory and honour. It is a place you will forever wish to be. It is Albion.

"When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the world I knew."

Lewis Gillies is an American graduate student in Oxford who should be getting on with his life. Yet for some reason, he finds himself speeding north with his roommate Simon on a lark—half-heartedly searching for a long-extinct creature allegedly spotted in a misty glen in Scotland. Expecting little more than a weekend diversion, Lewis accidently crosses through a mystical gateway where two worlds meet: into the time-between-times, as the ancient Celts called it. And into the heart of a collision between good and evil that's been raging since long before Lewis was born.

First published more than twenty years ago, The Song of Albion Trilogy has become a modern classic that continues to attract passionate new readers.

• Part of The Song of Albion trilogy:
  • Book One: The Paradise War
  • Book Two: The Silver Hand
  • Book Three: The Endless Knot
• Epic historical fantasy
• Book length: 138,000 words
• Includes additional insights from the author in “Albion Forever!” and an interview

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Sep 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9780785251811

Stephen Lawhead

Stephen R. Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. His works include Byzantium and the series The Pendragon Cycle, The Celtic Crusades, and The Song of Albion. Lawhead makes his home in Austria with his wife.

Reviews for The Paradise War

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two Oxford grad students find a portal between worlds in the shape of a cairn and find themselves (first one, then the other a few weeks later, which translates to years in the other world) pulled into a world inhabited by, essentially, ancient celts, and then entangled in the warrior ranks and embroiled in a semi-mystical war that may have repercussions in the 'real' world.This one started out promising but once it transitioned to the other world, it faltered into a big load of meh. The main character/narrator was completely lacking in any sort of personality, so I struggled to care about what happened to him, and the plot was both convoluted and dull. Disappointing. Needless to mention, but I won't be continuing with the trilogy.

[xleptodactylous · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The storyline and premise was interesting to begin with: an extinct animal found in Scotland to the delight of a bored, young privileged man at Oxford and then a meeting with the Green Man. However delightful the story may seem, however, the writing must carry it almost singularly, and it certainly did not. There was too much Wilde-esque whinging from the Brit, too much 'meh' and slowness from the Yank and nothing particularly happening.

[jjvors_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Paradise War by Stephen Lawhead, introduced me to Mr. Lawhead and I've been a devoted fan ever since. In this book, he imagines a parallel universe, connected by ancient cairns to England. The hero goes in and finds Albion, an idealization of England at its best. Life is more vivid, more beautiful, more breathtaking. The women are more beautiful, the men nobler, the kings more majestic. There are problems in paradise though. An ancient enemy reawakes and causes devastation. Since this world and our world are connected, disaster in one causes disaster in another. To solve the problems, an Oxford graduate student must change completely and become more than he ever imagined he could be.

[jeremypreacher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As much as I love the Pendragon Cycle, I think an argument could be made that The Paradise War is a stronger story. It's very nearly as archetypal - modern man finds a path into magical land of legend, saves world, etc - but the tensions set up between the two modern characters, the well-executed portrayal of the seductiveness of a world that accepts you as you are, and the mythic, if somewhat muddled, climax create a cohesive and compelling narrative. It does not stand on its own - the ending is a cliffhanger - but it holds together well.

[jramoly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such a wonderful beginning to the trilogy! History and "magical" spins to it really excite me in books, and Lawhead is an expert! This entire trilogy is woven with such talent that you really begin to feel like Albion really is a place lost in time. Finding books that are truly Christian fiction in this manner is difficult, because the religious undertones are hidden and truly so essential to the tale that you almost do not realize they are there! There was so much going on in these books that reading them for a second and third time truly only brought out more details and perfect writing subtlety that the average reader misses on the first run.

[ctmskaor · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

 Lewis was an English graduate in Oxford. But all of that changed when he stepped into the beautiful world of Albion.The Paradise War was a very good read. It was difficult, but very fun. You start out reading about his arrival, then you get into his travels in Ynys Sci. There he meets the lovely Gwenllian, and her other two sisters, Goewyn and Govan. He goes through many adventures, and meets many new people. This book is very good and I recommend it to any mature readers who like to read.

[jadelson6 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Good story, but gets dragged down at times by pompous dialogue. Not very suspenseful due to repeated predictable pattern in which everything seems lost and then the hero figures out a solution. I enjoyed it but am not motivated to read the rest of the trilogy.

[cherryblossommj_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Well. I must admit I did return this to the library without finishing it. I kept reading and reading, almost to halfway through it just hoping for something to pick up and excite me. But it didn't... even when I got to the Otherworld. [author: Steven Lawhead] just did so much better with [book: Hood]. With [book: Hood] I was enraptured and in love with all the characters and events and could not read fast enough to get what was coming next. But perhaps it is because Hood was from last year (2006) where The Paradise War is from 1991, maybe Lawhead has just gotten better. Who knows. Either way, I do not really recommend this book. There are too many other, better things out there to read.

[willowcove · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful retelling of a Celtic Myth, placing a modern-day person into the position of a mythological hero. Very good read. I do not however, understand where the "Christian Fiction" tag that some are using comes from.

[reading_fox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The author's best work, a well crafted celtic trilogy. Should you impose your standards on another's way of life. What happens when your world overlaps theirs?