Grail: Book Five in the Pendragon Cycle [Hardcover]

Stephen R. Lawhead (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

When plague comes to Britain, King Arthur, awed by the healing power of the Grail, is determined to build a shrine for the holy cup, but one of Arthur's most trusted men kidnaps Arthur's queen and steals the Grail, revealing the diabolical plot of the evil Morgian, Queen of Air and Darkness. 35,000 first printing."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This installment of Stephen Lawhead's long-running Pendragon series is narrated by Gwalchavad (Galahad), one of King Arthur's captains and Lord of Orcady. After getting off to a slow start as the aftermath of a war with the Vandali is sorted out, the story focuses on the Holy Grail, which its guardian, Avallach, has used to cure Arthur of a deadly wound. In gratitude, Arthur raises a shrine to the Grail, but soon the Grail is stolen by Llenlleawg (Lancelot), who also abducts Queen Gwenhwyvar. When Arthur and his knights pursue, they are led to the magical, bleak land of Llyonesse, into the sorceress Morgian's power, fighting for their sanity and the Grail.

This is a straightforward story; there's less intrigue than I expected. Evil Morgian's passages of gloating are nearly over the top, but the honest, steadfast knights are good fellows all. Read previous volumes first!

From Kirkus Reviews

Final installment of Lawhead's Pendragon cycle (Taliesin, 1987; Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, not seen) with its roots deep in Atlantis and, here, an unexpectedly upbeat ending. Gwalchavad of Orkney's narrative is framed by the dire imprecations of Morgian, the evil Queen of Air and Darkness, who ultimately must be vanquished. But, first, King Arthur makes peace with the invading Vandals, whom he has defeated; and soon the Irish knight Llenlleawg (Lancelot) will be seduced by the beautiful Morgaws, Morgian's creature, into betraying Arthur with Queen Gwenhwyvar so that the familiar tale, singularly reworked, may be brought to its unfamiliar conclusion. For fans of the series: Lawhead's interpretation is different and distinctive, though this volume, while independently intelligible, is no place to start. (First printing of 35,000) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 452 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (T); 1st Edition, 1st Printing edition (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380975262
• ISBN-13: 978-0380975266
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen R. Lawhead is a prolific and bestselling author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. He is best known for his King Raven trilogy, a re-telling of the Robin Hood legend, and Pendragon Cycle, centering on the King Arthur legend. Other notable works include the Song of Albion, Celtic Crusades and Dragon King Trilogies, Byzantium, Patrick, Avalon, and the works of science-fiction Dream Thief and Empyrion saga. Lawhead makes his home in Oxford, England, with his wife.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lawhead sets apart his telling of the Grail legend, May 29, 2000

By 

Barry Edison (Detroit MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grail (The Pendragon Cycle, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

Stephan Lawhead all but ignores the Grail legend in his first three books of the Pendragon Cycle, and limits its pressence in Pendragon. It would seem that he set it aside for this faithful telling from the perspective of one of Arthur's Guardians of the Grail.

Consistent with the other books, Lawhead finds new voices to tell this tale using Gwalchavad as the principle storyteller and Morgian as an occasional foil to him. Many fans of the first three books will not care for this one. It is steeped in religious context that the other books only aluded to. This is actually part of Lawhead's gift. If the reader takes the time to understand the perspective of the storyteller, he will understand Lawhead's need to cloak it in religious mysticism.

This book is an excellent re-telling of Grail legend, and a wonderful use of the characters that Lawhead has given life to in his Pendragon cycle. It seems a shame that this saga should ever come to an end.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book from the Pendragon Series., September 6, 2001

By 

Joe C. Sparks "myrilach" (Richardson, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grail (The Pendragon Cycle, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lawhead's Done It Again!

It is truly the mark of a good author when a relatively long book series retains all of it's brilliance and originality to the very end. Lawhead has accomplished this and more with his wondrous Pendragon Cycle.

Grail is the 5th and final installment in the series (unless you include Avalon in the list). While I think that this is the weakest book of the series, it is still superb and certainly worth the read. The atmosphere of the book is very unique. Unlike the previous books in the series, the enemy is largely supernatural - a much more frightening enemy than the Picti, Angli, or Vandali. Morgian is definetely at her worst - and she even gets a few opportunities to narrate the story (a very peculiar twist.)!

Really my only complaint about the book regards Lawhead's choice of characters. It seems that many of the major characters that were seen in Arthur and Pendragon have faded to the backdrop - replaced by relatively new characters. These characters are fine, but I would have rather seen more of characters like Bedwyr, Cai and Arthur.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miraculous, August 9, 2001

By 

"avrilyn" (Rohan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grail (The Pendragon Cycle, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of my favorite Pendragon books, perhaps because it was so different.

First of all, it was all in the viewpoint of Gwalchavad, with little inserts from Morgian in between, believe it or not. I loved that. Lawhead did pure, humble Gwalchavad wonderfully; immediately the reader likes him. Hearing from Morgian was very revealing, both to her character and to her plot. It enabled some of her schemes to be discovered by the reader, but never by the Cymbrogi. I actually began to understand her and her motives. (The statement about Avallach's favoritism had me almost sympathetic. Quite moving.)

Also, the atmosphere was very dreamlike to the point of being surreal. When the whole episode is finished, reality and sunshine break through once more. Morgian's vail of fear is tangible.

Thirdly, the adventure is impeccable. It is suspenseful, scary, and satisfying. Llenlleawg's betrayal added a whole new aspect to the fear of Morgian. Nothing is safe from her. He was one of my favorites in past books, which made it worse. The power of evil is revealed through him.

Fourthly, Merlin is back to his old self. He was beginning to get rather prudish in former books. I love the part where he slams his stick on the ground and yells at Arthur.

One more thing I liked, and this might be just me. Arthur had his troops go to confession and Mass beforehand. That reminded me of Joan of Arc. Spiritual health added credibility to their almost miraculous escape.

I suppose I can see why some readers would not like this book as much, but it has definate unique appeal. A nice change!