Rating: 4/5
Review:
An enjoyable historical adventure
I enjoyed this book, but had some small reservations about it. Rosemary Sutcliff is a terrific writer and I had read a couple of her books when I was young, so I was very glad to try this. It is the story of Owain, a young Briton at the very end of the 6th Century AD, who survives the battle in which the Saxons finally destroyed the resistance of the Britons in Wessex and his subsequent adventures. It paints a fine portrait of life in Britain at the time and the power struggles between different Kings and peoples, and Sutcliff also shows a very good understanding of the characters who would have been living then and brings them to life for us wonderfully.
Owain is an engaging protagonist and there are some very exciting episodes as well as a great evocation of domestic life at the time. I did find that the book dragged a little between about pages 100 and 160 - a surprise from Rosemary Sutcliff - but it picked up very well and I was glad I had persevered. Sutcliff writes very well; she is straightforward but never patronising and meshes her characters, the setting and historical events with great skill so that they form a coherent whole.
Plainly, other reviewers here didn't share my slight reservation (there is a charming and heartfelt review by Hongertree beginning "This is my favourite book in the whole world ever!" which I suggest you read for another view) and I wouldn't want to put anyone off. This is an enjoyable and engrossing book with real content and in spite of having found it slightly hard going in places, recommend it to both young adults and to not-so young adults like me.
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