20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Captivating historical tale, January 28, 2005
At the end of this book, Llewelyn includes a brief bibliography-- complete with ancient sources as well as contemporary accounts-- and the attention to detail shows in the book.
It's really a treat to read a book about Druids that lacks the new-agey stonehenge-reverent "true religion" tone-- these Druids are the healers/holy people of the Celts, but they are also just people, they marry, have children, etc. They do work magic but it's more to do with perception than transformation.
The story follows young Ainvar from his intrusion into a sacrifice (which is also not what it seems-- the human sacrifices come willingly, and drink a tonic the night before, so that the knife is just a ritual) to bring spring on-- his adoption by the aging chief Druid, his "man-making" in which he meets his soul-friend, Rix-- Vercengetorix-- and ultimately his involvement in the dream of forming a great alliance among the Celtic tribes to resist the incursion of Caesar.
If you've ever read or even just had any knowledge of "All Gaul was divided in three parts" you probably know this isn't going to be a huge success for the Gauls. Still, you can't help hoping...
Ainvar is resourceful and likable. At times the elegaic tone for the Celts ("we were a people who sang") is a bit twee, and it's true the Romans are presented as out and out villains which oversimplifies the story. There are also a few loose ends-- a kidnapped daughter's fate and the betrayal by a friend.
But on the whole this is an engrossing story with a sense of historical accuracy, and a must read for anyone interested in Celts and ancient Rome. Llewelyn's prose is a treat and she writes engaging characters throughout.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Historical Fiction at its Best, March 11, 2000
I have read a number of Morgan's novels, all of which are excellent reads in their own right, however "Druids" is by far the most compelling. It is a wonderful attempt to show history through the eyes of the vanquished, and not the usual creators of history - the victors. As in all her books, the writing is fluid and enthralling. The person to person stories written around the historical events are so well done the reader feels anticipation and hope even though we all know how tragically it all ends. A definate must read for anyone who has an interest in the Celts, history, or simply a well written story.
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Defense, October 1, 2002
By A Customer
While I do not consider this to be one of the greatest books I've ever read, it certainly is a good one. It has it's flaws, yes. Every book does.
I was a little surprised that Llywelyn actually included human sacrifice in her portrayal of the druids, considering that the only source of "witness" to such practices were the Romans themselves, who, being the enemy of the Gallic Celts, were known to create various lies to plant fear of the druids in the minds of their followers. Note that I am not deducting any stars due to this, though, because there is very little we know about the Celts and their lives and one cannot be absolutely certain.
However, I feel the need to defend this book against some of the reviews, because, frankly, many of them were down-right stupid.
Take, for instance, the reviewer who deducted a star merely because it had a "sad ending". How many books have sad endings? Some of the greatest books of all time do! It has nothing to do with the quality of the book, so don't deduct from the average star review for such a stupid thing as that! He follows up with an "Oh, well, that's history" attitude. So why deduct the star at all?
Oh, and the person who complains about the central character being "egotistical"...So what if he ever showed any signs of egotism? That's his character! Once again, that's a part of the story. And then you spoke of the Romans being "exaggerated". That's because it was from the Gallic Celts' point of view. Of course they're going to portray the Romans that way! It's their point of view! Oh, and if you're going to bash a book, at least use something resembling good English grammar so you don't look like a complete fool. There's a difference between typos and not using anything resembling capitalization, punctuation, etc. When talking about the Romans, use the plural form of the word. "of Roman" does not cut it.
And there was another man who said the characters were too "sophisticated" for him, because the Celts are shrouded in such mystery. You're right, there is much we do not know. But the author has the license to guess. She seems to have done a fairly good job at remaining as historically accurate as possible. What do you want her to do? Have paper-thin, 2-dimensional characters? Come on! She has to breathe life into them somehow! And there is hardly a reason to believe that the Celts didn't have the vocabulary to express concepts such as "professional jealousy."
Sorry for ranting like this, but I'm tired of stupid, trivial reviews complaining about stupid things. Reviews such as "this isn't what I was looking for", so the book itself is terrible because "I was unaware of its true content".
Like I said, this wasn't a perfect book. I give it four stars because I believe it deserves that much for it's fluidity and presentation. It reads pretty well. But it lacks something.
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