The first book, Taliesin (1987), focuses on the relationship between the Atlantean princess Charis and the British bard Taliesin, who will become the parents of Merlin while combating the influence of Charis's half-sister and rival, Morgian.
The second book, Merlin (1988) follows the career of Merlin/Myrddin Emrys through his rise to kingship, descent into madness, and witness of Arthur's birth.
The third book Arthur (1989), covers Arthur's rise and downfall through the perspectives of Merlin's servant Pelleas, Arthur's friend Bedwyr, and apprentice bard Aneurin.
The fourth book Pendragon (1994), is a loose adaptation of the hunt for Twrch Trwyth the Black Boar, here re-imagined as a Vandal king who invades Britain.
The fifth book Grail (1997), follows Gwalchavad, the series version of Galahad, who must embark on a journey into the wastes of Lyonnese to find the Holy Grail, stolen from Arthur's court by the duplicity of Morgian.
Avalon: The Return of King Arthur (1999), is a semi-sequel Distant Finale set in a not so distant future. James Arthur Stuart, the reborn Arthur must reclaim the throne of Britain, while contending with the schemes of Prime Minister Thomas Waring and the evil of Morgian.
Tropes featured in the Cycle:
- Action Girl: The equivalent of Guinevere, Gwenhwyvar, is a Lady of War who often joins the fighting herself despite having a bodyguard or champion (i.e. Lancelot), once they are introduced.
- Adaptational Name Change:
- The Lady of the Lake is named Charis rather than Vivian, Nimue, or Ninane.
- Guinevere's father is named Fergus instead of something like Ogyrvan, Leodegran etc.
- Adaptational Nationality:
- Gwenhwyvar is an Irish Princess rather than a British one.
- The Lancelot equivalent is also Irish rather than Frankish. Both of their names are still in Welsh/British though, despite implicitly presented as Irish.
- Cerdic is presented as a British rival of Arthur allying with Saxons instead of simply a Saxon lord, despite being based on Cerdic of Wessex i.e. the "West Saxons". Though there's some historical basis for this, as the seemingly Saxon name Cerdic is possibly related to Welsh names like Caradoc.
- Aelle is presented as an Angle despite being based on Aelle of Sussex i.e. the "South Saxons". Possibly also referencing Aelle of Northumbria, who was an Angle, but lived centuries later.
- Hengist is presented as a Saxon but traditionally he was claimed by the kingdom of Kent to be of their related tribe the Jutes (who are mentioned in the series in passing with the Angles, Saxons, Frisians etc).
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
- Arthur is oddly the son of Aurelius Ambrosius and Ygerna, rather than the son of Uther Pendragon who is instead his uncle (switching the brothers' roles), and so no Bed Trick adultery happens in order to beget Arthur. Myrddin only later thinks to himself that such a rumor took root, so Arthur is slandered as Uther's bastard.
- Taliesin of Celtic mythology is transplanted backward in time to become Merlin/Myrddin's father. Usually, if he's connected to the Arthurian era at all, it's by making him a bard of Arthur or a peer of Merlin after Arthur's gone.
- Ganieda is Merlin's wife rather than his sister as she was in the original material.
- The Fisher King equivalent is Merlin's grandfather.
- The Lancelot equivalent is Gwenhwyvar's adopted brother, so no adultery happens.
- Adaptational Species Change: Twrch Trwyth is a human Vandal warlord rather than an enchanted boar.
- Atlantis: Here the fall of Atlantis already happened in the backstory, with Avallach's kingdom being The Remnant of a greater continent before it too goes beneath the waves. Atlanteans survivors settle on Yns Witrin/Glastonsbury Tor and found the Kingdom of Lyonesse. An Atlantean sword wielded by Merlin becomes the series version of Excalibur.
- Aerith and Bob: Similar to other historical-flavored Arthurian retellings, most archaic-looking names for people, groups, places etc. are based on Celtic, Latin, Germanic and other languages, sometimes with the author's own spellings or just made up, to go along with the more familiar "Arthur" (itself once given in Latin as "Artorius") and a few other names like "Blaise".
- The Celtic Britons or future Welsh are most often called Cymry.
- Anglo-Saxons are called the Angli and the Saecsens, the latter being more prominent. Justified as they're related groups that merged into one identity later.
- Picts are Picti and Scots are Scotti, but Irish are Irish.
- A Father to His Men: Arthur, despite being younger than many of them at first. At one point Caius and Bedwyr (Kay and Bedivere) are relieved after Arthur's private enemy parley goes well for both sides, and Caius - Arthur's own foster-brother - says he thought they were going to be orphans.
- After the End: Much of the series happens after the Roman withdrawal from Britain, leaving it up for grabs for feuding more or less Romanized Celtic warlords, and the Saecsen and Angli and other invaders from overseas or elsewhere in the British Isles.
- Animal Motifs:
- Merlin/Myrddin, the hawk. He has uncommon yellow eyes akin to birds, plus a type of bird is called a merlin, and he is inducted into the Hawk clan of the hidden little "sidhe" people.
- Vortigern, the fox, matching his red hair and guile.
- Arthur, the bear. He grows up to be a big robust leader guy who's occasionally nicknamed that both in Celtic (Artos) and in English, and the night he's born, a wild bear enters the house, some saying later that its spirit entered the child.
- Artistic License – History: There never was a Vandal invasion of Britain, as in the entire premise of Pendragon. Lampshaded by Myrddin when he introduces the book and calls it "the forgotten war".
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Arthur proves he is the rightful king by drawing the sword from the stone, but doesn't have enough support to actually be considered king, so Myrddin compromises by having Arthur claim the old Roman title of "Dux Brittaniarum", literally "Duke of Britain" but basically "Battlechief of Britain" with his own warband, and Arthur eventually gains more and more allies and victories until he is crowned The High King for real. (The modern word Duke ultimately comes from Latin Dux which originally referred to military commanders, literally meaning "(war) leader".)
- Band of Brothers: Arthur fosters this relationship between him and his warband.'Cymbrogi', he calls us: companions of the heart, fellow-countrymen.Cymbrogi! We are his strong arm, his shield and spear, his blade and helm. We are the blood in his veins, the hard sinew of his flesh, the bone beneath the skin. We are the breath in his lungs, the clear light in his eyes, and the song rising to his lips. We are the meat and drink at his board.Cymbrogi! We are earth and sky to him. And Arthur is all these things to us – and more.
- Bash Brothers: Caius/Cai and Bedwyr (Kay and Bedivere) are inseparable warriors and the closest to Arthur.
- The Berserker: Llenleawg (Lancelot) often goes battle-mad in Irish fashion, to the point that he keeps chopping up dead enemies after the battle is won, has to be splashed with water to stop, and is dazed and unaware of what he was doing.
- Big Bad: Morgian/Morgan le Fay for the whole series.
- Big Good: Myrddin acts as the counter to Morgian, especially in Avalon.
- Cain and Abel: The heroic Charis and her wicked half-sister Morgian.
- Character Narrator: Used by Lawhead through the series, the only exceptions being Taliesin and Avalon which are third-person narratives. Merlin narrates well..Merlin, Arthur has a different character (Pelleas, Bedwyr, and Aneirin) narrate each of its sections. Merlin returns for Pendragon and Grail is narrated by Gwalchavad.
- Christian Fiction: Has strong Christian elements in contrast to most modern Arthurian fiction. The original publisher of the initial trilogy was even an imprint for Christian books.
- The Chosen One: Arthur, naturally. Long before his birth happens, he's prophecized to usher in an age of justice and righteousness called the "Kingdom of Summer", for Britain at least.
- Composite Character:
- The Lancelot equivalent is named Llwch Llenleawg, and the name itself apparently a mash-up of two figures Llwch Leawg and Llenleawg Gwyddel. In the interquels written later, he starts being nicknamed Llencelyn, but most often he's just Llenleawg.
- The bard Aneirin becomes this series version of Gildas.
- Cool Sword: Excalibur, here Caledvwlch/Caliburnus, is an Atlantean sword wielded by King Avallach and later his grandson Merlin. After Arthur's original sword is broken in battle, he receives it as a replacement from Merlin's mother Charis, this series's version of the Lady of the Lake.
- The Fair Folk:
- The Atlanteans are treated as this with their height, fair features and longevity making them basically immortal unless killed, very akin to Tolkien's Elves.
- There's also the hidden pre-Roman, even pre-Celtic inhabitants of Britain, of which only a few remain. They're much shorter than the average. Myrddin is adopted into one of their clans as a youth.
- Fat Bastard: Vortigern is portrayed as one, despite his thus-unused traditional epithet saying the opposite, "Vortigern the Thin".
- The Good King: Myrddin during his time on the throne of Dyfed and of course Arthur as High King are both noble rulers.
- Guile Hero: Starting out, Arthur only has a few warriors under his command but he uses his wits to get more followers and supplies from under the nose of his rival King Morcant. He and his men stop over as guests at his stronghold while he and his son Cerdic are away, and he locks the gates on them until they agree to "donate" men and provisions to their ally the War Duke as is his right. To force Morcant's hand, Arthur pretends to start burning his hall, but only has his men burn wet straw to make lots of smoke. Fortunately Morcant is a Bad Boss while Arthur is charismatic, and many of Morcant's men are willing enough to follow him, but to be safe Arthur chooses those who have no family ties.
- Historical Domain Character: St David/Dafyd of Wales, Magnus Maximus/Macsen Wledig, St Paulinus of York, St Gildas
- Historical Fantasy: A retelling of the Arthurian legend that somehow manages to combine Demythification and Tolkienesque High Fantasy, with the latter mainly for the historical background (Celtic and post-Roman emphasis, no "knights", etc.) and the latter contributing to the wider spiritual good vs evil themes, plus the not-Elves.
- Historical In-Joke: Arthur finally defeats Morcant in battle by exploiting the echoes of a valley and making his force sound much larger than it is. He leads them in chanting "Alleluia!" and Morcant's terrified force flees largely without violence. This is taken from the hagiographies of St. Germanus, who is not directly connected to the Arthurian legend but is said to have defeated a raiding Saxon and Pictish army with the same strategy.
- I Have Many Names: Myrddin, Emrys, Merlin, Mr. Embries in the far future.
- Interquel: Pendragon and Grail are set in the Time Skip between parts two and three of Arthur.
- Interfaith Smoothie: In practice Myrddin is a Christian but he has no issue using both the druidic term for the supreme being/intelligence/good etc. "Great Light" as well as terms like God, Christ, the Trinity etc.
- Misplaced Vegetation: Potatoes exist in Britain centuries too early, since they spread to Europe through the colonization of the Americas.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Aurelius is most often called Aurelius, but once or twice is called Aurelianus, apparently his real formal name. This is due to his historical/legendary basis being known as either Ambrosius Aurelianus or Aurelius Ambrosius, which are not equivalent. (However, unlike in other Arthurian fiction, only Merlin is called Ambrosius, the Latin equivalent of Emrys.)
- Only the Chosen May Wield: The Sword of Britain, originally the sword of Macsen Wledig, which Myrddin embeds in the stone and Arthur draws to prove his kingship.
- Really 700 Years Old: Upon reaching maturity, Atlanteans remain in their physical prime through the decades and even centuries, so even the half-Atlantean Merlin remains a young-looking man adept with swordplay at need even after he mostly transitions to being Arthur's bard/druid/healer. (Quite akin to the much, much later version of Merlin in the Fate Series but with dark hair.)
- Related in the Adaptation:
- The Bard Taliesin and the Lady of the Lake are Merlin's parents here with the Fisher King as his grandfather.
- Gwalchavad/Galahad and Gwalcmai/Gawain are brothers here, sons of Loth/Lot and Morgian/Morgan along with the youngest, Medraut/Mordred. They're thus related to Merlin instead of Arthur or Lancelot. Someone with a name kind of like Agravain appears, Ogryvan, but he's not their brother.
- Llenleawg/Lancelot is Gwenhwyvar/Guinevere's adopted or foster brother.
- The equivalents of Morgan le Fay and the Lady of the Lake, Morgian and Charis, are (half) sisters, and Morgian has no direct blood relation to Arthur.
- Saintly Church: In stark contrast to the opposite trend in other historical-style Arthurian stuff like The Mists of Avalon and The Warlord Chronicles, the series has a very sympathetic and positive portrayal of Christianity, with the clergy being Good Shepherds, plus they have a good ongoing relationship with what remains of Celtic pagans and the otherworldly Atlanteans. These Celtic pagans are also portrayed very sympathetically and treated as on the road to the truth/salvation anyway and the Church welcomes with open arms those who approach, instead of imposing. Everyone gets along well in religious terms, except for the Germanic pagans who get their beliefs called false and evil, presumably for being invaders. Nearly all the heroic characters are portrayed as devout Christians, with Merlin being equally mentored by Christian priests and druids.
- Starter Villain: For Arthur's career as a warleader, his main early rivals are King Morcant and his son Cerdic.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Merlin has golden eyes like a hawk's.
- Token Enemy Minority: Aelle, lord of some Angli, is the only Anglo-Saxon leader who allies with Arthur freely and peacefully after some discussion, without needing to be defeated. He doesn't do much but he attends Arthur's formal coronation.
- Those Two Guys: Among Arthur's ally kings, two guys named Idris and Maglos tend to appear in tandem, like to voice doubts.
- Trilogy Creep: Originally, The Pendragon Cycle started off as the "Pendragon Trilogy" of Taliesin, Merlin, and Arthur. Then Lawhead went back and added in Pendragon and Grail as Interquels set during Arthur, and so the series went from a Trilogy to a Cycle. Then he added in a loose sequel in Avalon to serve as Distant Finale a few years later.
- Villainous Crush: Morgian had one on Taliesin.
- Warrior Poet: Myrddin literally becomes both due to his life and training, and the author often gives him verses and songs to sing and recite. He's basically a warrior, druid and bard at the same time.
- You Killed My Father: Aurelius and Uther capture Hengist alive after defeating him in battle, and they decide to execute him over Myrddin's protests that this will just inspire the Saecsens to avenge him. Gorlas (Gorlois) volunteers to do it on the spot since his brother was one of the nobles killed by Hengist's Nasty Party treachery. Sure enough, Hengist's young son Octa is there to witness it, and though Uther spares him from Gorlas's wrath too, he grows up to be one of Arthur's warlord enemies.
