Boudica (Boudica 1) [Paperback]

Manda Scott (Author)

Book Description

Series: Boudica 1 | Publication Date: February 28, 2003

Boudica: the last defender of the Celtic culture; the only woman openly to have led her warriors into battle; the only British warrior to have stood successfully against the might of Imperial Rome - and triumphed. This is her story. It is also the story of the two men she loved most: Caradoc, outstanding warrior and inspirational leader; and her half-brother Ban, Roman captive, slave auxiliary and Dreamer - the Druid whose eventual return to the Celts is Boudica's salvation. It is 33AD, and Breaca, the red-haired daughter of one of the high-born leaders of the Eceni tribe is on the cusp between girl and womanhood. She longs to be a Dreamer, a mystical leader who can foretell the future, but having killed the man who has attacked and killed her mother, she has proved herself a warrior. Beside her is Ban, her half-brother, who longs to be a warrior, though he is manifestly a Dreamer, possibly the finest in his tribe's history. Having saved Caradoc, the future war-leader of his people, who has been shipwrecked on the Eceni shore, Breaca and her family travel to his father's court, where they are betrayed, and Ban is sold into slavery in Gaul. Believing Breaca to have been killed, Ban swears vengeance on Caradoc's tribe, then focuses on staying alive in an alien land where even to admit to being a Celtic Dreamer is to invite instant death. Ten years later, Ban, whose skill as a horseman has enabled him to join the Roman cavalry, finds himself as part of the new emperor Claudius' invading army. Across the Medway, British forces face the Roman legions. At their head is Breaca, leader of both the Eceni tribe and the warriors of Mona, Britain's bravest fighters. Against her, a key member of Claudius' cavalry elite, is Ban, hatred burning in his heart, vengeance on his lips. Both are unaware of the other's existence. Both are prepared to fight to the death. DREAMING THE EAGLE is full of brilliantly realised, luminous scenes of real power, as the narrative sweeps effortlessly from the epic - where battle scenes are huge, bloody, and action-packed - to the intimate in which a closely observed scene between two lovers is movingly described. This is a big book with big themes: the clash of opposite cultures, bringing with it the end of a society with its beliefs, moral codes and spiritual values. It describes with total authenticity and a searing intelligence the way we once were, while pointing forward to what we have become.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Manda Scott is a veterinary surgeon, writer and climber, not necessarily in that order. Born and educated in Scotland, she trained at the Glasgow Vet School and now lives and works in Suffolk, sharing her life with two lurchers and other assorted wildlife. She is known primarily as a crime writer. Her first novel, Hen's Teeth, hailed by Fay Weldon as 'a new voice for a new world' was shortlisted for the 1997 Orange Prize. Her subsequent novels, Night Mares, Stronger than Death and No Good Deed, for which she was hailed as 'one of Britain's most important crime writers' by The Times, are published by Headline. The Boudica series are her first historical novels. They are, she says, the books she was born to write.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Press (February 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0593048784
• ISBN-13: 978-0593048788
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,709,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written, and powerfully emotive story..., June 9, 2004

By 

Al Finke (Dorset, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boudica (Boudica 1) (Paperback)

This is the first book in the Boudica series and sets the scene in pre-Roman invasion Britain, introducing readers to life in the tribes - a life which is beset by the dangers of tribal politics and resulting warfare, but is also beautiful in its simplicity. Life seems idyllic, and Manda carves an impression of what life may have been like prior to the Roman invasion - her descriptions of a simple and basic life giving respect to all living things and living by a good moral code bind the reader to the characters - each of whom are brought to life with wonderful vigour, and a sound sense of individuality.
Life changes and becomes more complicated as the shadow of Rome looms, threatening to change the face of Britain forever...
This book is wonderfully written - beautifully descriptive in a way which guides your imagination and allows it to grow with the characters and events... At times I found my heart beating and the pages turning faster. Manda is able to create an intensity in such simple things as the board game scene - a game played between a sharp witted child and his hated nemesis, with the stakes being very high - I would never have thought that reading about two people playing a board game would raise such tension, however it is wonderfully written, and the interplay between the characters such that I was unreachable to the outside world throughout!
The final scenes are more than one could expect from such a fine book and leave you feeling both exhausted and excited about the forthcoming volume in this series...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Subtle Simplicity, Powerful Storytelling, March 9, 2006

By 

truefeather77 "truefeather77" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boudica (Boudica 1) (Paperback)

I discovered these only about a week ago, and have been totally enslaved! This is masterful writing, and she must be channeling Druid ancestors, because she brings ancient times and peoples to life.

I don't think I've ever seen an author who's so brilliant at structuring a plot, and at knowing just when to reveal information, so that when you need to know something, it's already there. The reader feels events deeply, and understands their significance as if you, too, had been raised among the Eceni.

I was given book three, and began with it, not knowing there were two that came before. I soon discovered the others, so *stopped* reading the third. What I'd already learned had shed light on the earlier story, and gave me a greater appreciation of the story's structure, the mastery of the teller.

This is powerful storytelling, deceptively simple, well-crafted, utterly masterful. Through it all you get a feeling of destiny, as if the gods of the Eceni have planned everything, even the things that seem like disasters, even things as trivial as the color of someone's hair, to weave a master-tapestry and achieve their ends. Those caught up in the weaving of the goddesses and gods may believe that all is at an end, but the pattern is larger than any One can see.

If you have any interest at all in Druids, Celts, ancients, Romans... just about anything, do not miss these books

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I plowed through all three currently in print., March 7, 2006

By 

King's Kid (Right Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boudica (Boudica 1) (Paperback)

What a bunch of page turners! Each was a good as the others. I thoroughly enjoyed all and I am looking forward eagerly to the fourth "Dreaming the Serpent Spear". Great books, I don't remember when I've been so absorbed. Frankly, I envy anyone who hasn't read them, they have tremendous treat waiting between the covers of those books.