Categories: History

Review of Byzantium by Stephen R. Lawhead

In the realm of Historical Fiction, there is no better author than Stephen R. Lawhead. This goes double when he is writing about Celtic peoples during the Dark Ages. His attention to detail and vast knowledge of the customs and social structure of post-Roman world provide a realism that is unmatched.

Byzantium (HarperPrism, 1996) is a prime example of an author in his element. The story of Adian mac Cainnech follows the young monk as he joins a pilgrimage to Constantinople to bring what would later be known as the Book of Kells as a gift to the Emperor. But some of his fellow monks have an ulterior motive. Along the way Adian is forced by fate (or the Hand of God) to take on the guise of a warrior, a Viking slave, a spy for the Emperor and a Saracen who falls in love with the beautiful Kazimain.

Byzantium, however, is not merely an adventure tale. It is the story of one man’s struggle to understand the God whom he serves. It is a struggle that each reader can identify with at some level. Mankind’s relationship with God is fraught with many difficulties and perils and through the life of Brother Adian each one of us recognizes those moments when we have come to question God’s intentions. Sometimes the places and situations we find ourselves in seem to contradict what we think we know about God’s plan for us.

Early on inByzantium, Adian receives a vision that leads him to believe that he will die a martyr’s death in Constantinople. It is a fate that he is resigned to and that he believes will give glory to God. When the pilgrimage runs afoul and Adian finds himself a slave of the Vikings that attacked them, he, at first, resigns himself to fulfill his calling as a priest and to share the Gospel with these barbarian Sea Wolves. Adian’s attempt to evangelize the Vikings provides one of the most joyous tellings of the Gospel that I have ever read. However when he finally arrives in Constantinople and discovers that the Emperor (whom he assumed to be a holy man) is involved in political intrigue that he himself becomes entangled in, Adian begins to question whether God truly cares about him or is simply using him as a pawn.

As various calamities fall upon Brother Adian, he slowly abandons his faith, seeking instead to control his own destiny. Why should he serve such a cruel God who would abandon His faithful servants to humiliation, the sword, and pointless suffering? But as Adian’s faith wanes the faith of the Viking’s he journeys with grows. Near the end of Byzantium Adian has a conversation with his former Viking captor, Gunnar. Adian speaks venomously as he derides God. Gunnar, however, has now gained a different understanding. Recalling a particularly harsh torture, Gunnar muses,

“I was thinking: I am going to die today, but Jesu also died, so he knows how it is with me. And I was thinking, would he know me when I come to him? Yes! Sitting in his hall, he will see me sail into the bay, and he will run down to meet me on the shore; he will wade into the sea and pull my boat onto the sand and welcome me as his wayfaring brother. Why will he do this? Because he too has suffered, and he knows, Aeddan, he knows.”

It appears that, just as suffering has turned Adian away from God it has drawn Gunnar closer to Him.

Byzantiumis a literary journey worth taking. The adventure will take your breath away. The characters will entice you. And Adian’s battle with faith will cause you to consider your own.

Sources: Byzantium, HaperPrism Publishing, 1996