Hello everyone!
I'm not even sure I believe this myself, BUT. Lo and behold, I managed to finish this one monster of a book that has pretty much sat there, neglected, for the better part of this summer for some unknown reason or other. No, well, okay, there was a good reason for it, but it sounds better if you write that other explanation haha!
I'm talking, of course, about Manda Scott's first novel in her Boudica saga, titled Dreaming the Eagle (I'll explain all about the whole dream thing in the review a little later on, so bear with me please).
Manda Scott is an author I stumbled upon rather randomly while shopping in the capital and perusing through random books in the shop. I think I ended up taking Conn Iggulden's home instead of these, though I'm definitely rethinking buying them in physical form instead of as an ebook because they ARE quite good, and there isn't all that much out there about the fabled battle queen of Britannia (England, for those of you who aren't as savvy in history terms).
But let's get to the actual review!
Like I said, I first saw this book by accident, and held it in my hand because of it's title page. It's unbelievably attractive to me, in a bold dark colour with a sort of golden-yellow for the letters and the central symbol, with some other splashes of vivid red and green to go with the horse in the center. You'd think that it would be an eagle because of the title, but the horse is actually a very good representation, and I'll explain why in a moment.
As this is the first of four books, one has to understand that there will be a lot of world building.
And by that, I really do mean A LOT.
There ar roughly 500 pages to get through in the physical edition, and a little bit more in the electronic, and the first half of that is spent in describing the Celtic Britons and their tribal distinctions, the tribes themselves, their lives, and their view of the world. So you should be prepared for a lot of history and a whole lot of day-to-day life in the middle of nowhere on how you shoe a horse, make a spear tip, listen to the elders, and obey the gods.
Not that it's a bad thing. But it takes a while.
At the halfway point of the book, the action turns and switches gears dramatically, and it was a lot easier for me to read as the plot begins moving forward with the sudden spead of a Kawasaki Ninja instead of one of those old Vespas. It's quite astonishing actually, but by that point we move through Romans and their lands in ancient Germania, and their subsequent invasion into Britannia with four full legions, after which the book ends.
The tribes that have a significant place in the book are, number one, the Eceni, to which Breaca (pronounced Bray-a-ku, of all things), who will later take the name Boudica, and her half-brother Bán belong, then there are the Trinovantes, to which the characters of Cunobelin, the Sun Hound, and his three sons, Togobundos, Caradoc and Amminios belong, then the Brigantes, the Cantiaci, the Catuvellani, the Dobunni, the Ordovices, and the Silures ... and I think that's it.
The symbol of the Eceni is the horse, because they are the ones who produce the best lines and are the best riders (hence the horse on the cover since most of the book is about them). We learn about Breaca and her upbringing, her mother's death, her first kill at the age of twelve, and then proceed on to the culture of her people with their long nights (when boys and girls reach their maturity and try for their dream), and the dreams.
Now these dream things are something that I figure is similar to what the Delphi oracle used to be, when there were fumes that were inhaled and the girl then spewed out her prophecies. The dreams here are deeply connected to nature and the spirit world, and each dream then represents a sort of symbol the person will wear for the rest of their life. For example, Bán's dream is that of the horse, and Breaca's is the serpent-spear. Others are the frog, the fox, the falcon, etc. etc. Dreamers are revered and can summon visions or a dreamscape world to others, and are in direct contact with the gods.
In the process of learning all this, we also learn that the Sun Hound's son Amminios favours Rome, and is in contact with them, which makes him a traitor. Actually, as soon as Rome is mentioned in the book, you can tell things won't end well for one side or the other, and indeed, at the halfway point, Breaca and her group are attacked, with her brother kidnapped, and believed dead (and on that matter, Bán is told his sister and mother are dead, too). He is sold into slavery but later escapes and becomes a soldier of Rome, and actually falls in love with a Roman, Corvus, who the Eceni had once spared when he had been shipwrecked along their coast.
By this point in time, Breaca is on the island of Mona, where dreamers and warriors train, ans become closer to the old ways, the ways of the gods, and the Romans are preparing an invasion on Britannia. After Cunobelin's death, Togobundos leads the joined tribes, with Caradoc and Breaca at his side, and they harass the invaders at every chance they have.
At the actual battle, they win during the first day, and it's at this point Breaca gets called Boudica, as this means 'She Who Brings Victory', since it's mostly because of her that it came about. But during the night, the Romans cross the river that lies between the enemies, and the Britons are outnumbered, forcing them to flee so that they may survive to fight another day - and teach their children the old ways instead of Roman.
This review falls woefully short of the actual book, but there's so much that happens and then so much that's described that I really can't summon it better than saying the first three hundred or so pages are about life in England before the invasion, and the second half of the book shows the clash of cultures, the Roman invasion, and Bán's horror at realizing 'Boudica' is his sister, who is in fact very much alive, and who he will have to eventually face on the battlefield.
The battle descriptions are really well-paced and definitely worth pushing through if you're not into that kind of stuff, but they're not too gorey either. Tastefully done, the book definitely is one I'd recommend, with the warning that it starts off slow before exploding down the lane.
And no, I can't wait to read the second, Dreaming the Bull.
xx
*image not mine
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