The Paradise War

Two very different graduate students at Oxford become embroiled in events they never could have predicted when, first, one disappears and then the other seeks to find him, entering a doorway between worlds. Through that door, they enter a long-ago time of the Celts and their warriors. Their reunion isn't as cordial as they would expect, but it sets the stage for intrigue and treachery. Stuart Langton maintains a steady pace throughout. He is particularly adept at handling dialogue, skillfully moving between characters at a lively pace. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

June 3, 1991
Lewis Gillies is pursuing graduate work in Celtic studies at Oxford when his rich roommate, Simon Rawnson, slips through a hole in a cairn to the land of the Tuatha de Danann. With the help of an eccentric professor, Lewis pursues Simon and finds himself playing a major role in some important Celtic myths. In retelling these myths, Lawhead ( Arthur ) allows his characters to become unspecific archetypes who therefore fail to hold the reader's interest. As he is herded from event to event, Lewis, supposedly a Celtic scholar, fails to recognize the import of these occurences. Throughout, Lawhead tells his readers what to feel rather than letting his story move them.