Lawhead, Stephen R
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1950- ) US author of Christian Fantasy (see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, which also see for entry on this author); permanently in the UK from about 1991. He began writing work of genre interest with the Dragon King fantasy trilogy beginning with In the Hall of the Dragon King (1982); a later fantasy sequence, the Pendragon Cycle, beginning with Taliesin (1987), Christianizes (which is to say, re-Christianizes) Arthurian legends [for Arthur see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below]; the catechizing impulse evident in earlier titles seems to have been moderated in later productions.
Of sf interest are Dream Thief (1983), set on a Space Habitat called Gotham (see New York) menaced by a hypnopompic Alien; the Empyrion sequence – comprising The Search for Fierra (1985) and The Siege of Dome (1986), both titles being assembled as Empyrion (omni 1990) – set in a mysteriously dysfunctional colony planet (see Colonization of Other Worlds); and the Howard Had sequence for younger readers (see Children's SF) beginning with Howard Had a Spaceship (1986 chap), each title built around a voyage of Discovery undertaken by Howard at the behest of inventive relatives. [JC]
Stephen Robert Lawhead
born Kearney, Nebraska: 2 July 1950
works
series
Empyrion
- The Search for Fierra (Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1985) [Empyrion: pb/]
- The Siege of Dome (Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1986) [Empyrion: pb/Kernie Erickson]
- Empyrion (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Lion Publishing, 1990) [omni of the above two: Empyrion: pb/Lee Gibbons]
Howard Had
- Howard Had a Spaceship (Belleville, Michigan: Lion Publishing, 1986) [chap: Spaceships: Howard Had: hb/]
- Howard Had a Submarine (Batavia, Illinois: Lion Publishing, 1987) [chap: Under the Sea: Howard Had: hb/]
- Howard Had a Hot Air Balloon (Batavia, Illinois: Lion Publishing, 1988) [chap: Balloons: Howard Had: hb/]
- Howard Had a Shrinking Machine (Batavia, Illinois: Lion Publishing, 1988) [chap: Miniaturization: Howard Had: hb/]
Bone Empires
- The Skin Map (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2010) [hb/]
- The Bone House (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2011) [hb/]
- The Spirit Well (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2012) [hb/Wes Youssi]
- The Shadow Lamp (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2013) [hb/Wes Youssi]
- The Fatal Tree (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2014) [hb/]
fantasy (highly selected)
series
Dragon King
- In the Hall of the Dragon King (Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1982) [Dragon King: pb/]
- The Warlords of Nin (Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1983) [Dragon King: pb/Jack Stockman]
- The Sword and the Flame (Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1984) [Dragon King: pb/]
- The Dragon King (Oxford, Oxfordshire: Lion Books, 1998) [omni of the above three: Dragon King: pb/]
Pendragon Cycle
- Taliesin (Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1987) [Pendragon Cycle: pb/]
- Merlin (Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1988) [Pendragon Cycle: pb/]
- Arthur (Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1989) [Pendragon Cycle: pb/Chuck Gillies]
- Pendragon (New York: William Morrow/AvoNova, 1994) [Pendragon Cycle: hb/Mike Posen]
- Grail (New York: William Morrow/Avon, 1997) [Pendragon Cycle: hb/Mike Posen]
links
- Stephen R Lawhead
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Christian Fantasy; Stephen R Lawhead.
previous versions of this entry