Pulpy around the edges so that I feel indulgent, but few books lose me in themselves like this, why not five stars? I have been gobbled up by this book. Not the other way around.Too much action-oriented hf bores me to tears and a Manda Scott is rare, who involves me, who even describes a fight with true excitement, not those tedious literal battles. The likes of Bernard Cornwell never made my heart race but Manda Scott knows how to. The first thing that jumps out is that there is a world behind these people. When she puts such care into the behaviour of a chicken that’s settled outside the forge (I don’t think it was a chicken. It was a bird. And Manda Scott knows more about the behaviour of these birds than me; it did its own thing and that’s why it’s stuck in my head.) The writing is rich and visual. There wasn’t a word too much for me or a word too slow as she paints us a world. And no, I didn’t find that world New Agey, though I did fear to from what’s said. I was happy to believe it Ancient Britainy. Shaman-type animal and spirit contact saturates the culture, but I found that real. What’s more I was genuinely interested in the results of Breaca’s vision-quest: I think that’s an achievement of story. There’s an intimacy with animal life without which this style of society wouldn’t be authentic. It’ll help if you’re fond of horses, or dogs. Maybe Breaca is too splendid, but then heroes are. I can lose Caradoc I’m afraid. I think I am most struck by the side-figures and the general cast, because they can be unusual. The elder grandmother. Airmid, though she remains a mystery. Braint, who doesn’t say much but a girl who I can wish to be. We are in a woman-focused or woman-led society and sexuality is fluid. For me, this helps her get away from convention. You can see this as idealised, or then again you might underestimate the effects of the Judeo-Christian tradition. I don’t always like goddessy or mother-earthy stuff, I go near with caution, but this one laid my suspicions and I simply liked the world. I thought pulp reared its head when we had a captive in Roman territory: a victimization that tried too hard to tug on the heart. On the other hand I’m not into Rome, I’m into the tribal societies on the frontiers of Rome, and I love a story of a freedom fight. I did enjoy, for instance, the description of a Roman villa with its atrocious ideas of home decor, a mermaid with gilt tits or similar. I’ve settled in for the series and have the next in the mail.
Dreaming the Eagle is the first of Manda Scott's historical fantasy quartet based on the life of Boudica, leader of the Iceni - one of several British tribes that rebelled against Rome in the early years after the Claudian conquest. Very little is known about Boudica, or indeed about any of the inhabitants of Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and most of what is known, come to us through the eyes of the victorious Romans, who looked at the British tribes and saw barbarians. Thus the writer who choses to tell stories of this time has a great deal of free rein to tell whatever story she wants. I label this series specifically as fantasy not just because so much of the lives of the Iceni and other tribes is - as it must be - invention, but also because the author's interpretation of pre-Roman British spirituality plays a large role, at least in the one book I've read so far. In Dreaming the Eagle, Scott gives us an imaginative and engaging story of the young woman warrior who will grow up to be, not just the leader of the Iceni, but the Warrior of Mona, a title in some ways akin in meaning to battlechief of the Britons, given to her by the dreamers (Scott's version of the Druids) of the Isle of Mona. We also follow her half-brother Ban, captured and sold into slavery by a traitor of the tribe of the Trinovantes, who, believing all his kin including Boudica (here named Breaca for the early part of her life) killed in the ambush in which he was taken, has given his allegiance to the Romans who gave him back his freedom. The book ends after the first major encounter between the invading Romans and the British defenders, led by Boudica and her lover Caradoc, leader of the Ordovices. The British forces have retreated, and when Ban discovers on the battlefield the bodies of some he believed dead for years, including that of his own mother, he starts to realise that he has been lied to. But the suvivors among his own people still believe him dead at the hands of the now dead traitor Amminios - brother to Caradoc.I'm looking forward to the next volume.
What do You think about Dreaming The Eagle (2003)?
Pretty awful. Feminist, spiritual 'in tune with mother nature' noble savages vs. corrupted, morally paedophilic Romans. Like 'Avatar' without the pretty. Overly contrived and obvious plot devices, no real sense of character - characters only described by hair and eye colour, or she tells us 'they had an ironic sense of humour' without it being evident. Some beautiful descriptive writing but in the end I simply didn't care if anyone lived or died, I positively hoped the Romans would come and build hydrocausts all over their animistic mother worshipping faces. To be fair I gave up after two thirds of the book on the grounds that I had better things to read and not enough time to read them in, it's possible it was just a very slow starter.
—Neula
I really loved this book. My mom's friend lent it to her and I ended up picking it up after she was done with it. I thought I was getting into a historical fiction and was surprised to find so many of my favorite fantasy elements in place as well. Boudica, real person, Romans conquering every civilization that can sink they're swords into, real events, but then there are the visions, and energy of the gods and tons of subtle mystical events. Also, the writing style is wonderfully detailed. The only thing that occasionally throws me off is how the book jumps forward in time. I was really into the story and then it abruptly jumped several years into the future and I had to get into it all over again. Other than that though, really unique and original book.
—Sarah
I enjoyed the historical fiction aspect but sometimes the novel seemed too 'New Age' for my taste. These Britons reminded me of Native Americans, because of their visions, guardian animals or birds, and 'kill feathers.' They also reminded me of Native Americans, in that their country was overwhelmed by a militarily superior force. I have a different conception of Boudica in my mind because of other reading; she was not believable. I enjoyed more the story of her brother, Bán. I'd find myself skimming over her story to concentrate on his. I plan on reading every book in the tetralogy although I know Boudica's fate. The physical descriptions of the characters seemed to consist mainly of hair color [mostly all shades of blond, red, with a couple of black or brown thrown in] and eye color, so I couldn't visualize anyone very well. I thought it logical that the author chose two landing sites for the Roman invasion: two landing sites being one of the theories.
—Jane
