Tagged: britain
Avalon by Anya Seton
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
This saga of yearning and mystery travels across oceans and continents to Iceland, Greenland, and North America during the time in history when Anglo-Saxons battled Vikings and the Norsemen discovered America. The marked contrasts between powerful royalty, landless peasants, Viking warriors and noble knights are expertly brought to life in this gripping tale of the French prince named Rumon. Shipwrecked off the Cornish coast on his quest to find King Arthur’s legendary Avalon, Rumon meets a lonely girl named Merewyn and their lives soon become intertwined. Rumon brings Merewyn to England, but once there he is so dazzled by Queen Alrida’s beauty that it makes him a virtual prisoner to her will. In this riveting romance, Anya Seton once again proves her mastery of historical detail and ability to craft a compelling tale that includes real and colorful personalities such as St. Dunstan and Eric the Red.
As I do often, I picked up Avalon in a store because it had really cool cover art. Also, the setting I thought was pretty interesting.
Now, this book is categorized as historical romance. Normally I don’t read romance stories, but I do read historical ones, and when I got it I didn’t even know it was defined as romance anyways; its cover art looked cool as already stated, and the side panels on the interior of the book showed it had a setting I enjoyed, although if you get the book, I’d recommend you don’t read much of those, as they tell virtually the entire plot bar the end. I saw where these mischievous panels were going and just started reading the book instead.
This book took up a lot of my time initially. I was engaged in the time period, the characters, all of it.The plot does not span a small time-span; it follows two characters, Rumon and Merewyn, over the course of decades — from the late 10th century through the 11th — and weaves through many locations, such as southern Britain, Iceland, Greenland, and even a small portion of the Americas. It takes all these different historical events and characters of those times, and uses Rumon and Merewyn to fling you along and through them.
A lot happens in the plot, and it has a unique structure somewhat because of what it spans. I never felt like it was just slogging me through back- or sidestory too much, but for me it was very suspenseful, occasionally wishing Rumon would move a little faster because a lot depends on it and I am way into this plot.
I don’t want to spoil ending, but the book does a good job at not going where you think it will go. It stubbornly sticks with this until the end, and even though it probably isn’t where you thought it would end up, I can’t fault the book for that. I instead believe that it gives a suitable ending, that fulfills, just not in the way you were hoping.
Also, the ending sets up the events that happen after the considerable span of the book. In this way, I think the book, albeit an old one at this point (published first in ’65), does a masterful job of placing a personal story and plot inside the major history, without conflicting, and in fact using both to support each other. So I’d like to give my compliments to the author, who wrote that book so long ago.
The Eagles’ Brood by Jack Whyte
(Cover picture courtesy of 49th Shelf.)
The Eagles’ Brood continues the saga of the Colony known as Camulod, and the tale of the descendants of those brave Romans who forged a new way of life for the Celt and Roman peoples when the Roman legions departed Britain.
Most know the new leader of the Colony as Merlyn; all call him Commander. Cauis Merlyn Britannicus is responsible for their safety, and all look to him for guidance, leadership, justice, and salvation. It is a harsh life but a good community, and Merlyn is dedicated to spreading the influence of Roman culture beyond the Colony’s borders.
Uther Pendragon, the man who will father the legendary Arthur, is the cousin Merlyn has known and loved since they were birthed, four hours apart on the same day, the year the legions left Britain. He is the tireless warrior–the red dragon to Merlyn’s great silver bear–and between the two of them, the Colony knows few enemies.
As different as they can be, they are inseparable: two faces of the same coin. In a world torn apart by warfare and upheaval, each is the other’s certainty and guarantee of the survival of the Colony . . . until a vicious crime, one that strikes at the roots of Merlyn’s life, drives a wedge between them. A wedge that threatens the fate of a nation . . . .
For me, The Eagle’s Brood was such a sad book. I had to say goodbye to some of my favourite characters from the previous two books: Picus, Publius Varrus and Equus. Although Caius Merlyn doesn’t have the flair and sense of humour of Publius Varrus, I really did grow to love him as a narrator.
The characters were great in this. We see everything through Merlyn’s eyes, with all of his judgments and flaws. He’s a good person but not a perfect character and gradually realizes his flaws. He can be more than a little judgmental and arrogant at times, but I love how the perspective is told from his older self looking back on his youth. It brings a little more balance to the equation and I loved Merlyn all the more for it. Uther was an okay character, but we didn’t really get to see much of the good side of him at all. That’s why I feel I need to reread Uther (the standalone Jack Whyte later wrote from Uther’s perspective) to fully understand him better.
The plot wasn’t the most fast-moving at the beginning, but the last few hundred pages went fast. The familiar Arthurian mythology we all know and love is now present almost all of the way through the novel and combined with the other events like the war with Lot, this made for a fast read. If you’re just picking this book up without reading the first two in A Dream of Eagles you won’t appreciate it as much, but each of Jack Whyte’s books can stand on their own.
I can’t and won’t really comment on the historical accuracy of The Eagles’ Brood. Although the main events of the novel are correct: the Romans withdrew from Britain, the Saxons started raiding the shores, tribes squabbled for control while the remaining Romans in the province tried to restore some order. I have a feeling that most of Jack Whyte’s novel is historically accurate because of what I know of ancient Rome as well as how he really sucks you into that period of time. You really do feel like you’re there and that’s something I’ve always admired in him as a writer.
Despite some rather graphic, disturbing scenes I really did enjoy The Eagles’ Brood. I’d highly recommend A Dream of Eagles series to anyone who enjoys the Arthurian legends, with or without magical elements.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Skystone by Jack Whyte
(Cover picture courtesy of Jack Whyte’s website.)
Born of the chaos of the dark ages, the dream of eagles produced a king, a country and an everlasting legend—Camelot.
Publius Varrus is a veteran Roman officer and a maker of swords. In the early fifth century, amid the violent struggles between the people of Britain and the invading Saxonx, Picts and Scots, he and his former general, Caius Britannicus, forge the government and military system that will become known as the Round Table, and initiate a chain of events that will lead to the coronation of the High King we know today as Arthur.
A Dream of Eagles is yet another series that I didn’t start at the beginning. Instead, I received one of the spin-off books, Uther, for my birthday. I loved Uther, which made me track down The Skystone, the first book in the series. But in the back of my mind I was wondering if I would like Jack Whyte’s earlier writing just as much as I liked his later writing.
The answer? Absolutely! Jack Whyte’s A Dream of Eagles (or The Camulod Chronicles, depending on when it was published) is a series that documents how the Arthurian legends could have really happened. That means there’s no magic and a bit of historical speculation, but otherwise the series is accurate. Rome really did withdraw from Britain in the late 300s AD when the Motherland was being threatened (hint: it didn’t help). Before the chaos of Roman withdrawal, we meet Publius Varrus, our narrator, and his best friend, Caius Britannicus.
Publius is an amazing man, but is also a flawed character. He can be incredibly wise and Jack Whyte has given him an unique voice, but he does things that will make you want to reach in and slap him. Publius is far from perfect, but I guarantee you’ll love him anyway. Caius doesn’t feature nearly as prominently as I would have liked, but he undergoes an amazing transformation in the last hundred pages or so. And the ending was fabulous, tying together the mystery of the skystone and one of the very, very important parts of the Arthurian legends. I can’t wait to read the next book, The Singing Sword.
I give this book 5/5 stars.