Stephen R. Lawhead

Stephen R. Lawhead (born July 2, 1950) is an American writer known for novels, both fantasy and science fiction and more recently his works of historical fiction.

He was born to Robert Eugene Lawhead and Lois Rowena Bissell Lawhead at Good Samaritan Hospital, Kearney, Nebraska. In 1968 Lawhead graduated from Kearney High and entered Kearney State College as an Art major. In 1969, while at Kearney State College, he wrote a weekly humor column for the college newspaper and was a frequent contributor of poetry and short stories to The Shore Anthology and The Antler. Lawhead met Alice Slaikeu in 1971 and married her in 1972. He graduated from Kearney State College in 1973 with B.A. in Art and then went on to enroll in Northern Baptist Theological Seminary for the winter semester of 1975. In 1976 Lawhead became an editorial assistant for Campus Life Magazine.

Beginning in 1981, Stephen Lawhead began to author novels, initially fantasy and science fiction. Most of these had a slant towards the Christian beliefs he holds. In 1986 he moved to Oxford, England, to do research for the Pendragon Cycle, a reinterpretation of the legend of King Arthur in a Celtic setting combined with elements of Atlantis. For a while lived in the house previously occupied by C. S. Lewis. Following this work he became more interested in Celtic history and culture, especially Celtic Christianity. He penned The Song of Albion, a trilogy of books set between the Celtic Otherworld and present-day Britain. In 1996 he published Byzantium, a work of pure historical fiction. Since then his work has moved more towards the historical, with The Celtic Crusades set at the time of the Crusades and Patrick which follows the historical life st Saint Patrick.

Many of his books are in series following a common theme:

Dragon King trilogy:

• In the Hall of the Dragon King (1982)
• The Warlords of Nin (1983)
• The Sword and the Flame (1984)

Empyrion Saga:

• Empyrion I: The Search for Fierra (1985)
• Empyrion II: The Siege of Dome (1986)

The Pendragon Cycle:

• Taliesin (1987)
• Merlin (1988)
• Arthur (1989)
• Pendragon (1994)
• Grail (1997)

The Song of Albion:

• The Paradise War (1991)
• The Silver Hand (1992)
• The Endless Knot (1993)

The Celtic Crusades:

• The Iron Lance (1998)
• The Black Rood (2000)
• The Mystic Rose (2001)

He has also written several stand-alone novels:

• Dream Thief (1983)
• Byzantium (1996)
• Avalon (1999) - related to the Pendragon Cycle
• Patrick (2003)