The Silver Hand (Song of Albion)

From Publishers Weekly A troubled Celtic Otherworld with gateways into our own is the setting for the second volume in the Song of Albion series, following The Paradise War . After Meldryn Mawr, king of the Llwyddi, is treacherously slain, the bard and narrator, Tegid Tathal, names Llew, the king's champion and a sojourner from our world, as successor. The king's son Meldron contests the bard's ancient right to confer kingship and claims the throne himself. Tegid and Llew escape imprisonment only to witness the slaughter of the rest of Albion's bards; then Meldron blinds Tegid and cuts off Llew's hand, thereby denying him kingship for all time, since only an unblemished man can reign. Escaping again, Tegid and Llew wander in the wilderness, encountering a possible god, before they begin to build Dinas Dwr, a city of refuge for all those oppressed by Meldron, whose depredations are poisoning a beautiful land. Lawhead invests his often poetic vision of a Celtic land living by ancient laws with charm and dignity. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews Book two of Lawhead's Song of Albion trilogy (following The Paradise War). Once again, the most appealing feature is Lawhead's respectful reworking of Celtic source material; much less convincing are his plotting and motivations, not to mention a distracting narrative switch. Now, after new narrator and bard Tegid crowns warrior Llew (the previous narrator, originally from our world), the evil Meldron usurps the kingship by striking off Llew's right hand (the king, you see, must be unblemished) and blinds Tegid. Soon, all Llogres falls to Meldron's warriors; then he invades the Isle of the White Rock to slaughter Albion's bards- -they wave their staffs but otherwise offer no resistance; then he attacks and, with ridiculous ease, defeats the warrior training- school on the Isle of Sci. Llew and Tegid flee to Caledon, where they found Dinas Dwr, a city in a lake, to stand against Meldron's hordes. Soon the poison blight foreseen by the dead bards engulfs the land; eventually Meldron shows up and defeats Llew's forces; but Llew, now condemned to die, instead acquires a magical silver hand, overthrows Meldron, accepts the kingship, and recaptures the vital Singing Stones that sustain the good powers of Albion. Agreeable Celtic lore distended by much huffing and puffing, and by magical events whose explanations (if any) must be taken on faith. A slack and uneven installment. --