Customer Reviews

Druids

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Ms. Llywelyn's DRUIDS is a tour de force of historical fiction, wrongly classified under "science fiction" or "Sword and Sorcery." If there is any magic portrayed in Ms. Llywelyn's books, it is subtle and not accompanied by pyrotechnics.

DRUIDS relies on a very strong storyline to provide its magic. It is the story of Ainvar ("He Who Travels Far"), a young apprentice Druid in pre-Roman Gaul (France) who is sent, true to his name, to the far corners of his country to report on the growing menace of Julius Caesar and his legions.

Ms. Llwelyn is a Celtic scholar, and paints a masterful portrait of life among the European Celts, the aboriginal people of Europe, whose contributions to world history are, sadly enough, little known. While much of Ms. Llwelyn's storycraft is necessarily invention, it does have the powerful ring of truth, and her gifted weaving of historical personages such as Caesar and Vercingetorix, the king of the Gauls, into this true to life and very detailed story of an advanced and settled culture on the verge of cataclysmic change, only underscores what was lost when "civilization" reached the "barbarians" of Europe.

DRUIDS is a pleasure to read. It reads more like an actual memoir than fiction, and is written with humor, sensitivity, and pathos. DRUIDS sheds light on a little-known portion of history, and for those of us dissatisfied with the "official" brand of history sold to us in most books, DRUIDS is a refreshing and very successful tale of the meeting of cultures, and the rise and fall of civilizations, told from the perspective of one observant but imperfect human being.

This is the only book I have ever read from the perspective of the defeated Gauls. The clash of cultures is vividly portrayed by contrasting the mechanical Romans, with their square camps and uniformity, to the nature loving Druids and semi-disorganized warriors.
The book was thrilling and brought alive the events from history. It is one of the best historical novels I have ever read!

DRUIDS takes place in Gaul when Rome (Caesar) is trying to conquer it. The story is told through the eyes of a druid who tries to help a Gaulish warrior, king of a different tribe, unite the tribes of Gaul that they might stand against Caesar and his well-trained Roman soldiers.
This is a great historical novel telling the loser's side with love and passion. My brother-in-law recommended this to me several years ago and I finally got around to it. Now I want to read more of Llywelyn's books as I'm always looking for good historical novels and this is one.

I usually have trouble reading novels based on historical events, mainly because the outcome is obvious. Nonetheless, I found Morgan Llywelyn's 'Druids' a delight to read.

The plot is fairly simplistic and easy to understand. We follow the boy Ainvar as he has his first awakening when he somehow revives his grandmother from death at a Druidic ceremony, to his eventual role of Chief Druid, and advisor to one of the greatest Celtic warriors.

The characters are all very carefully woven, and interesting to watch develop. If you think you know a character, then they will often suprise you with new aspects surrounding their personality.

Finally, this book is quite emotional. There are many heart-breaking events, but they all seem to be handled in a wonderful fashion, and they aren't used as useless plot points.

The romance may bother some, 'Druids' doesn't preach monothesic relationships by any counts. The main male seems to get himself involved with about three women at the same time. This didn't bother me however, and it is written in a 'classy' style and not in a fashion that would insult a woman.

I reccommend this novel to practically everybody. (Except, perhaps, historians who could probably find many errors) Read this if you want an engrossing tale.

Seeing as the Celts didn't believe in writing anything down, it's really hard to know exactly what it was like to be a member of their civilization. Llywelyn's vision of a society living in harmony with nature isn't so much New Agey as it is an intelligently woven tapestry composed of our best guesses about this once-prosperous people. Despite it being historical fantasy, it's still one of the best texts I've ever read on the subject of the druids.

The characters are extremely likeable, and the story is infused with the very magic that the main character/narrator weilds. It's also got a fair amount of excellent spiritual and practical wisdom as well as a fair amount of accurate historical data. It's a book that you regret finishing.

To me, this book is special in many ways. I've read it many times, and it never fails to instill in me a sense of awe at Morgan Llwelyn's powers as a writer and sadness that the Gods of Corruption and Currency triumphed over the druids and their Celtic civilization.

It was unsettling being a college student and trying to read this at the same time as I had to put it down to do homework! This book was by far the best in the telling of the story of Caesar's advance into Celtic Gaul. I loved the way she entwined the druidic way of life into the story giving you a feeling of actually being there rather than just simply reading another history book.

This is a strong historical novel about a little-known episode. Ainvar, Chief Druid of a tribe in Gaul, comes of age during the era when the Celtic peoples of Gaul were being wiped out by Julius Caesar. Of special interest is Ainvar's friend Vercingetorix, who was a real historical personage and is reconstructed here as a valiant freedom fighter, in a doomed struggle to save his people and their way of life, rather than as a simple barbarian guerilla fighter, as in the Roman version of history. (The place names and tribal names here are authentic too.) Ainvar and Vercingetorix are two fascinating characters with great chemistry, and both are defined by a hopeless struggle against overwhelming power. Morgan Llywelyn does a great job exploring the mysterious culture of the ancient Celts, plus the religious beliefs and supposed magical powers of the Druids (who were not an ethnic group as is sometimes believed). Another advantage of this novel is that Llywelyn makes strong points about imperialism and war, with Caesar's use of fractious politics and false promises of freedom and progress in the drive to create empire, which have been used to destroy less powerful peoples ever since.

Unfortunately, there are several underlying problems that keep this novel from total greatness. Ainvar achieves the office of Chief Druid at a miraculously young age, but has little trouble assuming authority and utilizing his powers. Most of the subplots concerning Ainvar's personal life are messily constructed and of little usefulness, either for the plot or the development of his character. Ainvar also has a book-long grudge against a personal enemy, which is left hanging and unresolved. Meanwhile, the final quarter of the book becomes tedious and overblown, as Llywelyn bites off way more than she can chew in the final war for the freedom of Gaul. Huge armies travel immense distances in very little time and engage in one bombastic battle after another. Fans of battle fiction will probably find the depictions here to be highly implausible. A potentially interesting character, Caesar, has almost no definition whatsoever, and the Romans and Germans, as the enemies of Gaul, are depicted as soulless machines of slaughter, as opposed to the virtuous Celts. Still, this is a generally compelling historical novel, but just not quite a classic. [~doomsdayer520~]