Amazon kindly put this book on its free Kindle list briefly, and I had a chance to snag it. It was a good read, but my opinion is conflicted.
Lawhead gives us an unlikely hero in a weak, procrastinating Graduate student in Celtic studies at Oxford named Lew. This American-in-Oxford has a rich, spoiled upper-crust Brit as his roomate and foil. Both characters enter the Celtic Otherworld, and the adventure truly embarks. Lawhead uses Lew's development to drive the story and reveal his cosmic plot. While the story and plot are compelling, the lengthy descriptions of the Otherworld and Celtic mythology bog down the story. Despite these informative interludes, the character development hits some severe Lamarckian gaps. Lew grows in fits and spurts, but years pass so fast in the Otherworld that his growth requires awkward retrospective explanations. Lew's perspective on his roommate is similarly disjointed. At the beginning of the book, Simon is presented as an adventurous, carefree chap who is somewhat spoiled. By the end, Lew's perspective (which initially had included some resentment) has shifted to see Simon as an arrogant, conniving plotter. The two are not mutually exclusive, but Lew's resentment is the only clear connection between them.
The first chapter of the book is more promising than the rest, and I can't quite decide whether I should pick up the next two books for light, relaxing reading or whether the plot weave is too thin to hold my interest. Perhaps the library is the best option if I have a hankering for more rewoven Celtic mythology.
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