Amazon.com: The Eagle and the Raven: Pauline Gedge, Donna Gillespie: Books

Review

"A novel of majestic sweep, splendid assurance, and controlled imaginative power." —Publishers Weekly

"A big, other-worldly, and beautiful novel. Gedge . . . has brought another age pulsating to life." —San Francisco Chronicle

"[Gedge’s] uncommonly splendid gift for storytelling is again supreme . . . She gives us the daily life and landscapes of Celtic Britain with an almost psychic immediacy." —Toronto Star

"A tremendously moving portrait of a people who have long since disappeared—entertaining, knowledgeable . . . Gedge is a writer who can weave a spell with words." —Montreal Gazette

"It is history . . . it is life . . . there is simply no laying it aside until the end." —South Bend Tribune

Product Description

Spanning three generations, this historical novel tells the tale of Boudicca, the most famous warrior of ancient Britain, and Caradoc, the son of a Celtic king, who sets out to unite the people of the Raven and lead them against Rome. Caradoc's objective is not easily accomplished as the Roman army advances into Britain, raping Celtic women and burning villages to the ground. His efforts are also met with fierce opposition from Aricia, the vain queen of a northern tribe who swears allegiance to the Romans after Caradoc slights her, and from Gladys, Caradoc’s warrior sister who falls in love with her Roman captor. Unfortunately, Caradoc’s endeavors are left unresolved when he is taken prisoner, but Boudicca, a strong-willed woman, ultimately takes up the cause that was Caradoc’s legacy.

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Product Details

Paperback: 704 pages
Publisher: Chicago Review Press (October 28, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 155652708X
ISBN-13: 978-1556527081
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #223,335 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
royal war band, new arviragus, armed chiefs, holding spell, wolf mask, magic egg, peaceful journey

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Great Hall, Rufus Pudens, Julius Caesar, Queen of Victory, House Catuvellaun, Raven of Battle, Aulus Plautius, Raven of Nightmares, Ostorious Scapula, Samain Eve, Only Gladys, Caesius Nasica, Caius Caesar, Finally Caradoc, Aunt Gladys, Raven of Panic, Clivus Victoriae, Cinnamus Ironhand, Divine Claudius, Great Mother, Brigantia the High One, Second Augusta, Manlius Valens, Roman Empire

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	59% buy the item featured on this page: The Eagle and the Raven 4.5 out of 5 stars (39) $17.05
	17% buy World Without End 4.0 out of 5 stars (530) $23.98
	9% buy The Light Bearer 4.7 out of 5 stars (91) $13.50
	9% buy Nefertiti: A Novel 4.3 out of 5 stars (126) $10.17

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Customer Reviews

39 Reviews

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (39 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Print it again!, December 3, 2003

By	Amazonbombshell (Milwaukie, OR, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eagle and the Raven: A novel (Hardcover)

This is an amazing novel. It is not, as the cover claims, so much about Boudicca -- though certainly plays her part in blazing fire and glory -- as it is another historical Bristish chieftan named Caradoc, who united many of the Celtic tribes of England against Rome and fought determinedly until his eventual defeat in A.D. 50. (For those of you who do not know the story -- it's not a common one -- I won't reveal the rest.) It is also about some of the (also historical) Romans who encountered the power of Britannia, though the ultimate sympathy (wrong word, but close) lies with the British tribes. Ms. Gedge sticks to history as far as she can in her writing, and fleshes it out with incredible skill. The book is 827 pages long and I devoured it.

One of the things that makes this book so good is its chosen subject -- obscure figures who have become the stuff of legend; a mysterious and ancient fight for freedom that yet finds a home in our modern souls. Another is its realism -- brutal violence and desperate betrayal alongside deepest love
and noble ideals held, compromised, lifted up. This story does not shrink from death and wrenching sorrow, nor does it invent a hundred miraculous escapes, nor become so caught up in mysticism that it leaves no room for the ordinary man and woman. It is a tale of real people, intermingling and forging lives in less than ideal circumstances, yet time and again forced onto two opposing sides of an issue that has many more facets than two. It is a terribly sad story, but also a triumphant one, and one to stir your blood as others cannot. It deserves many more than five stars. Print it again!

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gedge steps out of Egypt, March 21, 2001

By	Stephanie Smith "a98hoya" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Eagle and the Raven (Hardcover)

Wow! I have always loved Pauline Gedge's novels set in Ancient Egypt. Her attention to detail, historical fact and ability to imagine a civilaztion in the fullest sense of the term based on the knowledge we have available through the work of Egyptologists continues to impress me. In the Eagle and the Raven, Gedge brings her remarkable abilities to another place and time in histroy and is quite successful. I really encourage a reader who wants to see and feel living history to pick up this book. You won't be sorry, I promise.

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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hack work that gives the genre a bad name, March 26, 2008

By	Jacques Talbot (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I awaited this book with high hopes, having read the many positive reviews and being both a historical fiction fan and an avid student of ancient history and archaeology. What a disappointment! It's hard for me to believe that I am reading the same book so praised by many other reviewers. Maybe it's just a matter of expectations.

If you are even half serious about looking for quality writing (skillful use of language, depth of characters, engaging plot, etc.) and/or historical authenticity, or at least plausibility, pass this drivel by. A much better choice that deals with the same historical background would be the four Boudica novels by Manda Scott. On the other hand, if you just want something, anything to read, maybe this is a good choice.

Gedge has written several books that seem to be well-reviewed on Amazon at least, so it was a real shock when I started reading what most closely resembles bad romantic fiction. Gedge clearly made little effort to become acquainted with the historical material on which the novel is based. Her treatment of setting is at best superficial and more often completely generic--the story could take place anywhere and at any time; not what one looks for in overtly "historical" fiction.

The characters are invariably crude one-dimensional parodies of themselves, and although the story spans several decades, there is no discernible development or complexity explored. The charactrers at age 14 act and think like they do at 30. They all end up in what are supposed to be amazingly committed and passionate relationships, but we are given no real basis for believing this; that is to say, Gedge writes that it is so, she does not write anything to show how or why it is so.

In fact, Gedge's writing strikes me as not just historically sloppy, but fatally undermined by her penchant for cliches, her unstinting heavy-handedness, and especially her insistence on telling us what is happening rather than showing us what is happening and letting us, her readers, draw our own conclusions. It reads more like the very ambitious project of an untalented high school student than the mature work of a seasoned novelist. It is utterly unconvincing.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Save yourself! Don't buy this book!
I am a voracious reader. I love historical fiction. I hate this book. I am 100 pages from the end and I'm hoping I can make it to the end. Read more

Published 4 months ago by cycle guy

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
I loved the plot. I hated the length and detail of the time spent in the mountains and gathering forces to fight against the Romans. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Mel

3.0 out of 5 stars Just all right
I feel really badly about not likely this book as much as all of the other reviewers clearly did. I had read Manda Scott's take on Boudica a while back,. Read more

Published 10 months ago by JenJen

4.0 out of 5 stars A novel of Boudicca
If you've never encountered Boudicca in history, then you may want to do yourself a favor a pick this book up. Read more

Published 10 months ago by RitaWalla

4.0 out of 5 stars slow start but don't give up
The first 200 pages felt tedious. The character development felt lacking... I couldn't relate to any character, nor did I feel connected to any of them. Read more

Published 10 months ago by happy

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable
The front and back covers of this book are very misleading- it implies that the book is all about Boudicca, but she only really comes into the book in the last hundred pages or... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Chapati

4.0 out of 5 stars Why They Fight
Pauline Gedge's The Eagle and the Raven is the predecessor to Donna Gillespie's The Light Bearer and Manda Scott's Dreaming of the Eagle. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Rich Gubitosi

1.0 out of 5 stars I hated this book!
after reading the twenty-odd glowing reviews for this book (and the one awful review which i disregarded but turned out to be scarily accurate) i was so excited to read it. Read more

Published 14 months ago by M. Mcmillan

5.0 out of 5 stars The Eagle & the Raven
The author makes you feel like you were there. It is a great book!

Published 14 months ago by jazmine

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly well written and fascinating.
I truly enjoyed this novel and could hardly put it down. It is very detailed and the characters are immensely ferocious.

Published 14 months ago by Jacqueline Gomez

› See all 39 customer reviews...

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