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lyrabelaqa's review against another edition
3.0
Très lent pour un dernier tome. La fin n'est pas incroyable non plus, un petit flop.
pages_abounding22's review against another edition
3.0
Book 1 was my favorite followed by this one and then 2. It was a good series overall and I'd definitely recommend to someone seeking Celtic historical fiction
cpeters137's review against another edition
4.0
I first started reading Stephen Lawhead because of some books published by The Chrystostom Society, a group of Christian authors. I stumbled upon this society because of my love for Madeleine L'Engle.
I found the first two books of this trilogy compelling and exciting, but was dissapointed in this final volume until the end. Even though the "Quest" part of the story seemed unending and was hard to get through, the ending made it all worthwhile!
The quote at the beginning explains it all:
"Since all the world is but a story, it were well for thee to buy the more enduring story, rather than the story that is less enduring." St. Columba of Scotland.
This is truly the most enduring story!
I found the first two books of this trilogy compelling and exciting, but was dissapointed in this final volume until the end. Even though the "Quest" part of the story seemed unending and was hard to get through, the ending made it all worthwhile!
The quote at the beginning explains it all:
"Since all the world is but a story, it were well for thee to buy the more enduring story, rather than the story that is less enduring." St. Columba of Scotland.
This is truly the most enduring story!
averyhoppypal's review against another edition
5.0
The completion of this book is bittersweet for me. This is an incredible story, and I've enjoyed it so much. But I'm also sad as I close the book and leave Albion behind. Lawhead has created in this series a beautiful world, and I will miss it greatly. This is a series that I will definitely reread several times over the years, I'm sure. If you love Tolkien-style fantasy, do your self a favor and read this epic series!
the_scribbling_man's review against another edition
3.0
*Spoilers*
I'm not really sure how to summarise my feelings about this book. The first two novels in the "Song of Albion" trilogy I thoroughly enjoyed. I found them to be refreshing and original considering that most other fantasy books tend to end up accidentally ripping off either "The Lord of The Rings" or "The Chronicles of Narnia" (or both). However, "The Endless Knot" seemed to both exceed and tumble far below my expectations. The first half of the book, without a doubt, convinced me this was going to be the best of the three. There's great plot development, and a few unpredictable events that allow the story to be shrouded in mystery. I liked, for instance, how it was uncertain whether or not the main character's presence in the otherworld and the lack of it in his own was partially or even entirely responsible for the new troubles arising in Albion. Lewis often seems to realise the possibility of him unknowingly introducing foreign concepts into Albion and thus contributing to the unraveling of the barrier between the two worlds. The book however, seems to slowly go downhill shortly after they arrive at Tir Aflan. The concept of another realm, unprotected and free for evil to inhabit was a new and welcome addition to the trilogy. Unfortunately, Mr. Lawhead (author) seems to be very good at setting the scene for the presence of evil and then ruining all he has built up shortly after. The "blood-sucking spirits" for example, were well introduced and easily more horrific than anything the author has presented to us before in the series. The description of the dead horse and the way its state and appearance seems to effect the rest of the company chills a reader to the bone. The description of what they are and what they are capable of is vague enough to leave much to the readers imagination and thus dreading the point when they appear in the book. Of course they do appear and they are not nearly as frightening as you thought they could be. This seems to repeat itself a lot throughout they're travels in Tir Aflan to a repetitive standard. The sacrificial lair of the worm in the temple is once again another horrifying and gripping moment in the book, which unfortunately ends in a dull and ill described battle in which many swords and spears are thrown at a large and unoriginal snake-like creature. Later on, the voices of the dead are also rather haunting until they actually appear in a form more grotesque than scary. Despite these disappointing encounters the story still remains enough to push the reader on for a while until we eventually come to a very overblown battle where swords and spears go against guns and machinery and we are reunited with characters we didn't expect and to be honest didn't really want to return.
*Mega spoiler alert*
We are then presented with the finale in which the main character (who by the way is narrating the story) is stabbed in the chest by his ex-best friend and then slowly burns to death while his pregnant wife weeps over the remains. All is well though! For the "Sure Swift Hand" completely restores Tir Aflan and all its miserable inhabitants by making them new and incinerating the bad people, thus ridding the world of evil for ever. The now dead main character then continues to describe to us everything from then on from the transporting of his body to the burying of it after which he suddenly reappears alive and well back in the world from whence he came. He of course writes down all of what has happened while an implied love interest between him and his now dead backstabbing best friends former girlfriend begins to develop.
All in all I would like to have given 4 star for the first half of the book, and 2 stars for the second half, but since that isn't possible I'll just have to split the difference and give it a 3.
I'm not really sure how to summarise my feelings about this book. The first two novels in the "Song of Albion" trilogy I thoroughly enjoyed. I found them to be refreshing and original considering that most other fantasy books tend to end up accidentally ripping off either "The Lord of The Rings" or "The Chronicles of Narnia" (or both). However, "The Endless Knot" seemed to both exceed and tumble far below my expectations. The first half of the book, without a doubt, convinced me this was going to be the best of the three. There's great plot development, and a few unpredictable events that allow the story to be shrouded in mystery. I liked, for instance, how it was uncertain whether or not the main character's presence in the otherworld and the lack of it in his own was partially or even entirely responsible for the new troubles arising in Albion. Lewis often seems to realise the possibility of him unknowingly introducing foreign concepts into Albion and thus contributing to the unraveling of the barrier between the two worlds. The book however, seems to slowly go downhill shortly after they arrive at Tir Aflan. The concept of another realm, unprotected and free for evil to inhabit was a new and welcome addition to the trilogy. Unfortunately, Mr. Lawhead (author) seems to be very good at setting the scene for the presence of evil and then ruining all he has built up shortly after. The "blood-sucking spirits" for example, were well introduced and easily more horrific than anything the author has presented to us before in the series. The description of the dead horse and the way its state and appearance seems to effect the rest of the company chills a reader to the bone. The description of what they are and what they are capable of is vague enough to leave much to the readers imagination and thus dreading the point when they appear in the book. Of course they do appear and they are not nearly as frightening as you thought they could be. This seems to repeat itself a lot throughout they're travels in Tir Aflan to a repetitive standard. The sacrificial lair of the worm in the temple is once again another horrifying and gripping moment in the book, which unfortunately ends in a dull and ill described battle in which many swords and spears are thrown at a large and unoriginal snake-like creature. Later on, the voices of the dead are also rather haunting until they actually appear in a form more grotesque than scary. Despite these disappointing encounters the story still remains enough to push the reader on for a while until we eventually come to a very overblown battle where swords and spears go against guns and machinery and we are reunited with characters we didn't expect and to be honest didn't really want to return.
*Mega spoiler alert*
We are then presented with the finale in which the main character (who by the way is narrating the story) is stabbed in the chest by his ex-best friend and then slowly burns to death while his pregnant wife weeps over the remains. All is well though! For the "Sure Swift Hand" completely restores Tir Aflan and all its miserable inhabitants by making them new and incinerating the bad people, thus ridding the world of evil for ever. The now dead main character then continues to describe to us everything from then on from the transporting of his body to the burying of it after which he suddenly reappears alive and well back in the world from whence he came. He of course writes down all of what has happened while an implied love interest between him and his now dead backstabbing best friends former girlfriend begins to develop.
All in all I would like to have given 4 star for the first half of the book, and 2 stars for the second half, but since that isn't possible I'll just have to split the difference and give it a 3.
kasey_reads's review
adventurous
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
readingthroughthelists's review
3.0
The first 3/4 is excellent, good story with lots of twist and turns and villains and such. But then the ending...what happened? It is probably one of the worst endings I have ever read. Such a disappointment. So if you don't want to handle a sad, depressing ending, just stick with books 1 and 2.
seitherin's review
2.0
I read the whole Song of Albion sequence. An awful lot of words for a little bit of story.
breakaway71's review
3.0
My least favorite of a trilogy that was...not as awe-inspiring as I remember. In fact, this book in particularly was considerably less Epic than I recall from reading it over a decade ago. But I have no regrets about re-reading. What love of fantasy I have (and it is a LOT of love), I owe in no small measure to these books. And I will always treasure them, and Stephen Lawhead, for gifting me with that.
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