Fires Of Lan-kern [Import] [Hardcover]

Peter Tremayne (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0561003017
• ISBN-13: 978-0561003016
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,402,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Tremayne is the fiction pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis, a renowned Celtic scholar who has written over 30 books on the Ancient Celts and the Irish. As Tremayne, he is best known for his stories and novels featuring 7th century Irish religieuse Fidelma of Cashel. He lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy of the highest calibre, by a now famous author., May 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The fires of Lan-Kern (Paperback)

Extends the development of civilisation through its logical boundries and into a realm of fantasy adventure, with a cynical look at elements of the human Race. If you can get hold of th entire trilogy, its a must Read. The destroyers of Lan Kern and the bucaneers of Lan Kern are equal to the first.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, November 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The fires of Lan-Kern (Paperback)

the book is exceptionally good but I would not recommend readind it since it is extremly difficult to get hold of the sequels

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps not for everyone., February 19, 2011

By 

Franklin B. Siegle "FBS" (Manhattan, KS) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fires of Lan-Kern (Paperback)

I read this book about 4 years ago and enjoyed it very much. Seeing how rare is the trilogy of which this is the first book, I have ordered the three; two of them from Amazon Canada.

The reason I have said that it is perhaps it is not for everyone is because of the use of Cornish in the book. Cornish is a Celtic language undergoing revival in the English duchy of Cornwall. For me, as a student of things Celtic, it was a joy. The language does not really get in the way, much as Tolkien's languages do not in *The Lord of the Rings,* but it might for some.

It is also a rather strange book, combining elements of Science Fiction and Sword and Sorcery.

An English scientific expedition to Greenland to search for possible new species of plants is returning home when a mysterious time/space slip happens and instead of being not far out from Greenland, the ship finds itself already along the North British coast. However things do not seem right. When the ship reaches London, the city is in ruins, as if destroyed by nuclear war. The ship, itself nuclear powered, continues around to Plymouth, but the city is not there. There is only woods. The ship anchors and a exploratory party goes ashore. The chief botanist is left behind and witnesses the destruction of the ship and crew through a nuclear malfunction.

He discovers a group of people, seemingly thrown back to the dark ages, who speak the ancient Cornish language. The Botanist is accepted into the "clan" and begins to learn Cornish and in turn, if I remember right, teaches a few English, and a party, including the botanist, sets off to search out the mystery of Lan-Kern which is in the destroyed London.

I personally found the book fascinating in its blend of science fiction and sword and sorcery. I was unable to read the subsequent books because our public library didn't have them, and I got involved with other books and things in my life. Finding that even this book was no longer available in the library prompted me to search out buying them for myself - if I could find them, which I managed to do, though I had to go outside the U.S. as well through Amazon here.