Customer Reviews
End of the Celtic Quest for Relics - By: Michael A., 03 Dec 2008 
The Mystic Rose concludes the Celtic Crusades trilogy of Stephen Lawhead & ends the series of on strong note after the dullness that was The Black Rood. Crusades is perhaps the wrong word for the series, though; each of the three books instead deal with a quest for the holiest items of Christendom.
Again, we follow our Celtic protagonist (a heroine this time) on a quest for holy relics - this time the holy grail. Catriona is a stronger protagonist than her father Duncan from book 2, & unlike the previous volume, there is plenty of suspense & excitementin the story. Partly this is because Lawhead has abandoned the "diary" format of the Black Rood for a much better format, partly because the charactersin this book are far more interesting, & partly because the plot itself is simply much better.
The book is not without its flaws, however. The characters are not always well realized; a problem that is particularly pronounced for the main protagonist. The writer obviously wants the reader to think & feelin certain directions, & thus lets Catriona "comment" on the behavior of her surroundings. Unfortunately, this comes off as very stupid & silly when the comments are related to actions of her sister which should hardly come as a surprise unless they are strangers who have just met (they're not). Similarly, Catrionain one moment comments on the uselessness of one of her companions, only to - a few sentences on - turn for advice to the self-same person. Errors like these make the characterization fall flat & have been a problemin every book of the series.
The early 20th century story-line which Lawhead has woven into these three volumes also come to a conclusionin this book. It was particularly irritatingin the second book (due to being unfinished), & the conclusionin this story is both predictable & unsatisfying - especially when one considers the setup hinted atin the previous novels. This is unfortunate, because Gordon Murray's story is an irritating & dull addendum to the much better story of Catriona.
My rating for this book is 3 1/2 stars, but I decided to round up (rather than down), for three reasons.
- The main story itself is an excellent yarn; good light reading if you like historical fiction.
- Despite being part of a series, you don't need to read the previous volumesin the series to enjoy this one. That's an excellent thing, because it means you can ignore the very tepid fare of the preceding volume, if you wish.
- It's clearly the best of the series. Since I rate The Iron Lance (Celtic Crusades S) BOOK1 as 3 stars & The Black Rood as 2 stars, 4 stars seems appropriate for The Mystic Rose.
Third in the Celtic Crusades Series - By: J. Chippindale, 29 Sep 2007 
Stephen R. Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history & imaginative fiction. His works include Byzantium & the series The Pendragon Cycle, The Celtic Crusades, & The Song of Albion. Lawhead makes his homein Austria with his wife. Stephen Lawhead is one of my all time favourite authors & I am only sorry that he does not write more often.
The Celtic Crusades has won widespread acclaim & the books have a legion of followers. I think that they are some of the best books written by Stephen Lawhead & I am a big fan of all his work. This is the third & final bookin the series, a series filled with danger, courage betrayal & most of all imagination. The story follows the path of the third generation of a Scottish noble family as they continue to try to preserve mankind's hope of salvation.
While Scottish lawyer Gordon Murray is undergoing a secret initiation ceremony into the highest order of a secret religious society, he discovers the greatest revelation of them all . . . And so begins a journey backin time. The Rose, which isin fact the Grail from legend has been found & the warrior priests, the Knight's Templar will strop at nothing to possess it . . .
So begins the quest for the Mystic Rose Sought for by many, who think that owning the Mystic Rose will bring them not only power over other men, but also wealth & happiness.
Third in the Celtic Crusades Series - By: J. Chippindale, 17 Sep 2007 Stephen R. Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history & imaginative fiction. His works include Byzantium & the series The Pendragon Cycle, The Celtic Crusades, & The Song of Albion. Lawhead makes his homein Austria with his wife. Stephen Lawhead is one of my all time favourite authors & I am only sorry that he does not write more often.
The Celtic Crusades has won widespread acclaim & the books have a legion of followers. I think that they are some of the best books written by Stephen Lawhead & I am a big fan of all his work. This is the third & final bookin the series, a series filled with danger, courage betrayal & most of all imagination. The story follows the path of the third generation of a Scottish noble family as they continue to try to preserve mankind's hope of salvation.
While Scottish lawyer Gordon Murray is undergoing a secret initiation ceremony into the highest order of a secret religious society, he discovers the greatest revelation of them all . . . And so begins a journey backin time. The Rose, which isin fact the Grail from legend has been found & the warrior priests, the Knight's Templar will strop at nothing to possess it . . .
So begins the quest for the Mystic Rose Sought for by many, who think that owning the Mystic Rose will bring them not only power over other men, but also wealth & happiness.
Best of the Three - By: Timothy Gibson, 10 Jan 2007 I found this to be the best of the trilogy & an exciting & satisfying conclusion. I cannot understand the reviewer who said this book is dull as this one is more packed with action & intrugue than the other two. Yes, it is predicatable to some extent, but I found that there were some unexpected twists & even the predictable parts were exciting & drew mein thoroughly to this wonderful story. Towards the end I could not put the book down & read on through the night, sleeping through my morning alarm & having to rush my daughter to school. I heartily recommend this book.
A great conclusion - By: Andrew Rossiter, 04 Aug 2006 When you look back on the book it is hard to tell exactly why you were swept alongin the tale & exactly why it is such a great book, but when you'rein the story you find yourself halfway through before you realise it. Cait's character is a great portrayal of a flawed hero (heroin) whose ambition & human characteristics blinds what she knows she must doin her heart. It is also an interesting starting point for those looking into just what happened during the Middle Ages, especially as regards Spain being heavily under Almohad (Arab) control. The parts narrated by our Scottish 19th-20th century hero are a good respite from the text & also bring about a great conclusion to his ongoing immersionin the Cele De. I think the previous reviewer might be correctin saying that it might be better to be a practising christian when reading it, but seeing as christians manage to read such books as phillip pullmans trilogy & dan browns da vinci code then i don't see why non-christians find it so hard to read books with a christian content?!? A great story though it is hard to explain why, you will just have to read the series to find out.
