Pendragon Cycle #01: Taliesin: Book One of the Pendragon Cycle

It was a time of legend, when the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror faded from the captured Isle of Britain. While across a vast sea, bloody war shattered a peace that had flourished for two thousand years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis.

Taliesin is the remarkable adventure of Charis, the Atlantean princess who escaped the terrible devastation of her homeland, and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. It is the story of an incomparable love that joined two worlds amid the fires of chaos, and spawned the miracles of Merlin...and Arthur the king.

This is the adventure love story of Charis, princess from Atlantis, who escapes the terrible devastation of her land, and of Taliesin, the fabled seer and Druid prince.

Stephen R. Lawhead was born in Kearney,Nebraska on 2 July, 1950. He attended local schools and then Kearney State College, where he majored in Fine Art. He paid for his education by playing lead guitar in a popularlocal rock band, Mother Rush. While at Kearney State he published numerous poems incollege anthologies, and wrote a humor column for the college newspaper.

He married Alice Slaikeu in 1972 and, together they moved to the Chicago areaso he could attend Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. He left before graduating whenoffered a position on the staff of Campus Life Magazine, where he worked for five years. Writing a record review column at Campus Life fed his musical interest; he took on themanagement of Christian rock band DeGarmo & Key, then left Campus Life to start hisown record company in Memphis, Tennessee.

Ariel Records lasted only a year; going out of business on a Friday afternoon in January. On the following Monday morning Lawhead began writing a novel: In the Hallof the Dragon King. The object of the exercise was to see if he could sustain afull-length work of fiction, and support his family Â? which now included baby Ross,and soon-to-arrive Drake A? on a writer's income.

He did finish the book and, with the support and advocacy of editor JanDennis, it was published in 1982 by Crossway Books. Eight novels followed, all publishedby Crossway: the remaining DRAGON KING books, three science fiction novels, and the firstthree books of THE PENDRAGON CYCLE.

Meanwhile, the Lawheads moved from Memphis to Lincoln, Nebraska, and then toOxford, England, in 1986 for more than a year while researching and writing Taliesin,Merlin, and Arthur. They returned to Lincoln in 1987, but by 1990 were backin Oxford where they now reside.

A strong publishing relationship with Lion Publishing in Britain was forgedwhen Lion published Dragon King, and went on to commission severalchildrenÂ?s books which had been inspired by Ross and DrakeÂ?s interest in theirfatherÂ?s stories. Additionally, Lion acted Â? and continues to act Â? asagent for translation editions of the childrenÂ?s and adult books throughout Europeand beyond.

Avon Books (New York) and HarperCollins (New York and London, along withtheir subsidiary Zondervan in Grand Rapids) are both currently commissioning books. Themost recent Avon release is Grail, the fifth book in THE PENDRAGON CYCLE, andthis will be followed by Avalon a stand-alone novel in which King Arthur returnsto modern-day Britain (anticipated publication September 1999).

HarperCollins, who published Byzantium, is releasing THE CELTICCRUSADES, a series of three books of which the first, The Iron Lance, will beavailable on 21 September in Britain and in November in the United States.

Lawhead's fascination with historical mythology continues unabated. Havingstarted in fourth-century Britain (Taliesin) he has now worked his way forward tothe twelfth-century. What is next? Perhaps a giant step backward. Books about ancientEgypt are beginning to fill his shelves...