The Song of Albion is a series of books by Stephen Lawhead consisting of The Paradise War, The Silver Hand and The Endless Knot. The series combines Christian religious themes with that of Celtic folklore, and tells the tale of a pair of men who find their way into a parallel world in which Celtic peoples (or something very much like them) still live as they might have in our own world in ages past.
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Major Characters ==
Lewis Gillies/Llew (Silver Hand)
Lewis starts out a complacent graduate student at Oxford only to fall into an extended period of uncertainly and self-doubt after seeing his friend Simon disappear. When he enters into Albion himself he is hardly a fitting companion for the powerful fighters he finds himself embroiled with in the courts of [king] but after years of training and life in Albion, he grows into a mighty and respected warrior with a new name, Llew. He is eventually selected by Tegid to be the next king, but Meldron usurps the throne instead, with Simon backing him. He loses his hand when Meldron cuts it off, but later gains a new hand of silver when he defeats [prince]. He eventually becomes the High King, but is forced to lead a rescue party to the Cursed Land when his beloved queen, [queen] is kidnapped. He is ultimately killed by Simon but only in Albion, and returns to his own world where he tells his story.
Simon
Simon is Lewis's best friend and roommate at Oxford at the start of the series. However, he disappears into Albion early on without warning. It is later implied that this was his plan all along to escape the tedium of life in England. He becomes a respected member of [king]'s army but gradually implants the idea of a heritage kingship in his son, prince Meldron. He becomes a machiavellian villian who wants only to gain control over Albion through manipulating the prince, and eventually succeeds in having the king murdered by [champion]. His plans are brought to an end by Llew when Meldron is killed, and is grievously wounded before returning to his own world. He returns to the world of Albion later after making a deal with greedy industrialists to strip-mine the Cursed Land. He is finally killed toward the end of The Endless Knot when the Song of Albion restores the land to its former glory by burning away all its corrupting influences (including Simon and his cohorts).
King
A wise and benevolent ruler of Albion who accepts both Simon and Llew into his court. It was revealed that he was actually the High King in secret, and guarded the Song of Albion. He is murdered by his own former champion, [champion]. It is revealed that Simon's hand was in his murder and was part of his plot to install Meldron on the throne.
Meldron
Meldron is the son of king [king] and seems dutiful until Simon works his way into his warrior group, the Wolf Pack. After Simon instills the idea in him to ascend the throne after his father, instead of allowing Tegid, the bard, to name his successor as is proper, Meldron eventually enters into a conspiracy to murder his father and usurp the throne. This act, which disrupts the normal rite of kingship, causes teh lHe attempts repeatedly to capture Llew and Tegid, and kills the bards of the land to prevent their rebellion against him. He cuts off Llew's hand and blinds Tegid, sending them off into the sea to perish, but they survive. Eventually he catches up with Llew and his followers. He attempts to kill Llew but is instead killed himself when he falls into the corrupting waters and dies an agonizing death.
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The Paradise War
The book begins with Simon, a British native and his American friend, Lewis, both graduate students at Oxford, embarking on a journey to a farm in Scotland where an legendary Ice Age creature known as an aurochs has been supposedly recovered. While expecting it to be a hoax, Lewis is startled to find that not only is the aurochs real but that Simon disappears after entering a cairn nearby. After enduring weeks of uncertainly and doubt, Lewis encounters the eccentric Professor Nettles who helps him understand what has happened. Simon had disappeared into the parallel world known as Albion. Although skeptical of this Lewis eventually comes to believe it, and eventually returns to the cairn with Nettles where he himself stumbles into Albion. In Albion he encounters Simon again, who is on his way to becoming a respected warrior, and he is trained and gradually assimilated into the culture and people of Albion. [To be added later]. Eventually it is revealed that Simon was manipulating the king's arrogant son into pursuing a kingship by heritage, rather than the established and true rite of selection. Lewis tried to force Simon to return to their own world with him so as to prevent him from causing more trouble, but Simon escapes, and Lewis encounters Nettles once more with a set of researchers bent on discovering Albion for themselves. The book ends with Lewis returning to Albion to seek Simon out and bring him back.
The Silver Hand
[To be added later]
The Endless Knot
[To be added later]