The Eagles' Brood [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Jack Whyte (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

The Eagles’ Brood continues the saga of the Colony known as Camulod, and the tale of the descendants of those brave Romans who forged a new way of life for the Celt and Roman peoples when the Roman legions departed Britain.

Most know the new leader of the Colony as Merlyn; all call him Commander. Cauis Merlyn Britannicus is responsible for their safety, and all look to him for guidance, leadership, justice, and salvation. It is a harsh life but a good community, and Merlyn is dedicated to spreading the influence of Roman culture beyond the Colony’s borders.

Uther Pendragon, the man who will father the legendary Arthur, is the cousin Merlyn has known and loved since they were birthed, four hours apart on the same day, the year the legions left Britain. He is the tireless warrior--the red dragon to Merlyn’s great silver bear--and between the two of them, the Colony knows few enemies.

As different as they can be, they are inseparable: two faces of the same coin. In a world torn apart by warfare and upheaval, each is the other’s certainty and guarantee of the survival of the Colony . . . until a vicious crime, one that strikes at the roots of Merlyn’s life, drives a wedge between them. A wedge that threatens the fate of a nation . . . .

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

In the author's The Skystone (1996), set in the last years of the Roman occupation of fifth-century Britain, the sword Excalibur was forged, presaging the reign of King Arthur years later. This time, the narrator, grand-nephew of the forger of the sword, is none other than that (traditionally) eerie being, Merlin the sorcerer--sanitized here to the most high-minded of soldiers who survives wars, betrayal, and a tragic love affair. Caius Merlyn Britannicus, born in a.d. 401, is the son of the Commander in Chief of the forces of the fortress/town of Camulod, a community of Romans and Britons. Merlyn's best friend from boyhood is his cousin Uther Pendragon, a mighty warrior and the son of a Celtic king, though with a terrible temper that can show itself off the fields of war. Torturing Merlyn is the suspicion that it might have been Uther who brutally beat the waif whom Merlyn will name Cassandra after she violently resists Uther's sexual games. The deaf and dumb Cassandra (her real identity will be a surprise) is healed and then secluded, eventually becoming Merlyn's wife until her savage death. There are wars and invasions, waged principally by King Lot of Cornwall, wars that bring awful innovations like poisoned arrows. There are also theological conflicts, since the free-will doctrines of Pelagius are condemned as heretical by the Church. Merlyn's trek to a seminal debate of theologians is marked by skirmishes--he rescues the warrior/bishop Germanus at one point--and by the discovery of a half-brother. All ends with the deaths of those fierce antagonists Lot and Uther, and with Merlyn holding up Uther's baby son by Lot's dead queen, a baby who has ``the deep golden eyes of . . . a mighty bird of prey . . . a King perhaps, to wield Excalibur.'' With plenty of hacking and stabbing, pontifications, dogged sex, and a few anachronistic mind-sets: another dipperful from the fertile Arthurian well, sans magic but brimful of action. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“From the building blocks of history and the mortar of reality, Jack Whyte has built Arthur's world, and showed us the bone beneath the flesh of legend."--Diana Gabaldon

“The very best storytellers keep their readers glued to the story with plot, character, and a keen sense of the dramatic. . . . Whyte breathes life into the Arthurian myths by weaving the reality of history into it.”--Tony Hillerman

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765304597
• ASIN: B0002Y6AIU
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,462,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jack Whyte is an actor, orator, singer, and poet and the author of the critically acclaimed Dream of Eagles series. He lives in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to put down, September 6, 2001

By 

doug (North Bay, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eagles' Brood (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I forget how I came upon this series of books but I can tell you that once you start you will not be able to put the books down. This Canadian author must have travelled back in time to be able to write so discriptively and knowledgeably. The series begins just shortly after the Romans leave Great Britain and continues on through the life of Merlin and on through the early years of young Arthur. I cannot begin to tell you how enjoyable this series of books are....a must read.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Diminishing Returns - Sequelitus, March 20, 2000

By 

Richard Warner (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eagles' Brood (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I read the second book first, not realizing this was a series, and liked it enough to purchase the others. Reading them one after another, I see a marked dropoff in quality with this installment. Never strong on character, the plotting gets weaker and a lot reads like filler. If I didn't have the remaining volumes already I would not buy them. I recommend the Skystone and Singing Sword and stop there.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The third in the Camulod Chronicles series, June 13, 2000

By 

Joseph H Pierre "Joe Pierre" (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Eagles' Brood (The Camulod Chronicles, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the third in the series of novels called the Camulod Chronicles. If this is your introduction to the series, you will benefit from taking them in order, beginning with 'The Skystone,' although the books will stand alone.

This book introduces us to a young Caius Merlyn Britannicus and the adventures he has growing up. The plot is complex, one adventure leading to another. The characterization is excellent, and the book held me enthralled. In the end, of course, since this is the story of Merlyn and Arthur, he meets his ward.

Jack Whyte, like Mary Stewart and Bernard Cornwell, has done his research well--such research as is available. Each wrote a fascinating series, and each approached their subjects from a different viewpoint, of course. It is, after all, fiction. John Steinbeck also wrote a book on the subject: The 'Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights,' deriving his material from one of the earliest sources, Thomas Mallory.

All are worthy and entertaining. My advice would be to read and enjoy all of them, which I have.

Joseph Pierre,
Author of THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS: Our Journey Through Eternity