Customer Reviews

Druid Sacrifice

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Even though I am a fan of Trantner's work, I cannot say that I like everything he has done, equally well. Even though I am a fan of Arthurian literature and associated characters, I don't like everything written about them. Druid Sacrifice however, is an incredible read -- a top notch effort. The book, with great pace, portrays the land and the charcters in rich detail. The political-religous climate of that era is, for a fictional work, finely portrayed (the competition between Christian and non-Christian faiths). The villains are villainous, and the heroine heroic. However, be forewarned, that though the main character is female, this is a harsh world portrayed, and a tragedy told. She undergoes no shortage of cruelty in defence of her faith. Violence is not exploitive, but this isn't prissy fantasy either. I highly recommend you pick up Druid Princess, and discover Gawain's sister, Princess Thanea, and her son who would be known as St. Mungo. I was truely surprised at how absolutely caught up in this story I was.

As a whole, I tend to be oriented more tworads science fiction then historical fiction. However, Nigel Tranter draws you in form teh first sentence and keeps you intrigued throughout the whole story. This is not light fiction! Princess Thanea, teh main character, suffers deeply for her faith and is not the only character to suffer the trials of a minority in this book. Violence is not the focus in any way but where it appears Tranter uses no euphuisms. It is touching to have a story of a strong woman portrayed in a time when woman were not supposed to be strong, and also to watch Mungo grow up, and see such insights into what time does to us all by using teh three primary characters of such different generations. The story also focuses well as a whole on the clashing religions of christianity and paganism, and on the state of mormaordoms in that time period. Tranter writes with an uncommon historical accuracy, but sacrifices nothing of his characters power in doing so. Definetly a book to read if you can handle the weight.

This is the story of Thanea, daughter of Loth, King of the Southern Picts. It is a story of her courage to hold to her Christian convictions despite the wishes of her heathen father. The novel also tells the story of the birth and rise of one of Scotland's greatest saints, St. Mungo, founder of Glasgow. In the Dark Ages, when the stories of strong women are largely ignored, the story of Thanea is an enlightening and inspiring tale of conviction and courage.