Island of Ghosts: A Novel of Roman Britain [Mass Market Paperback]

Gillian Bradshaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1999

Ariantes is a Sarmatian, a barbarian warrior-prince, uprooted from his home and customs and thrust into the honorless lands of the Romans. The victims of a wartime pact struck with the emperor Marcus Aurelius to ensure the future of Sarmatia, Ariantes and his troop of accomplished horsemen are sent to Hadrian's Wall. Unsurprisingly, the Sarmatians hate Britain--an Island of Ghosts, filled with pale faces, stone walls, and an uneasy past.

Struggling to command his own people to defend a land they despise, Ariantes is accepted by all, but trusted by none. The Romans fear his barbarian background, and his own men fear his gradual Roman assimilation. When Ariantes uncovers a conspiracy sure to damage both his Roman benefactors and his beloved countrymen, as well as put him and the woman he loves in grave danger, he must make a difficult decision--one that will change his own life forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set during an uneasy, second-century alliance between the marauding, scalp-taking Slavic Samartians and the Roman empire, Bradshaw's fifth historical novel (after Horses of Heaven) is a vivid, atmospheric work that follows the Samartian prince Ariantes and his cavalry troops to Britain, where they are to serve under Roman command. When Ariantes discovers that some of the Samartians plan to support a Druidical uprising against the provincial government by the British queen Bodica, he forms an alliance with the newly emergent Christian sect in order to foil the plot?while saving his life and the lives of his loyal troops. Fluidly written, well researched and luxuriant with colorful authentic detail, this fact-based chronicle of a proud tribe of legendary horsemen and their gradual assimilation by the empire will engage readers with an interest in the history either of Rome or of its most exotic outposts.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-Making good use of the classic storytelling elements of fantasy and legend, Bradshaw creates a believable ancient world populated by compelling characters. Cultural diversity poses some serious operational challenges for the Roman Empire. Picts raid the northern borders while outlawed Druid sects (even as they feud among themselves) forge subversive alliances with the Picts and with the (also outlawed) Christians. Roman administrators have married into local families of questionable loyalty, and the occupying army itself consists of units drawn from some of the Empire's farthest reaches-and they don't get along with one another. Into this volatile situation, the Empire sends 8000 fierce and unpredictable barbarians. Proud and independent, these Sarmatian horse soldiers have pledged their service and loyalty to the Empire in a recent peace settlement, but they have no idea what it actually means to submit to Roman military discipline. It falls upon a prince named Ariantes to find a route through this treacherous political territory and bring his troops to safety in their new lives as Roman soldiers in a strange land. The tale of how noble and clever Ariantes becomes "Romanized" while remaining true to his Sarmatian values is fascinating while the background story of warfare, treachery, and romance in the brutal and distant lands should appeal to fans of swashbuckling adventure. In writing about Sarmatians, about whom little is known, the author has much latitude in creating fictional history while, as a classics scholar, she commands a richness of detail that brings the known facts vividly to life.
Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (May 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812545141
• ISBN-13: 978-0812545142
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #213,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born 1956 in Arlington, Virginia (i.e., Washington DC); grew up there, in Santiago, Chile, and in East Lansing and Mount Pleasant Michigan; educated University of Michigan (Classics and English) and Newnham College, Cambridge (Classics). I published my first novel while I was supposed to be revising for my final exams; the exams suffered, but I still managed a 2.1. I decided to take another year in Cambridge to work on the next novel, and Met a Man, like many a woman before and since. We got married in Paris, where he had a post-doc position and I had discovered an urgent need to learn French. He continued research and teaching, first in Santa Barbara, then back in Cambridge, and finally at the University of Warwick; I continued writing. A lot of my work has used my background in classical Greek and Latin, but I've occasionally branched out into the high middle ages, contemporary, and sci-fi. We have four kids, now grown up, and so far one grandchild.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the kind of book you wish were longer., August 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Island of Ghosts (Hardcover)

Island of Ghosts falls into what I call the Mary Renault School -- historical fiction that is so compellingly good that you end up believing this is how it actually happened. Gillian Bradshaw has taken a historical "footnote"--the arrival of Sarmatian cavalry in Britain--and turned it into a rousingly good story. I sat down and read this book in one afternoon, then re-read it the next day. Characters and their motivations are for the most part quite believable (although the villainess was just a tad extreme) and I found myself caring about what happened to them. This book is a great example of historical fiction, with just a little romance thrown in for good measure. I am quite a fan of the author's -- I have read all of her work -- and while I might not rate this as the best of her books, it's right up there near the top. If you read this book, you will not be disappointed -- I swear on fire.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for ancient history buffs, November 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Island of Ghosts (Hardcover)

This book took me by surprise. I tend to like "girl" books--female protagonists, relationship issues, flowery prose, and so forth. The only reason I gave this book (which is about a Sarmatian soldier)a chance was because I am an ancient history buff, and I was looking for a bit of historical fiction. Well, I could not put this book down! I finished it in one day. Now, I am on Amazon ordering all of Gillian Bradshaw's other books. What really sold me about this book was the attention to detail. I mean, it's about a soldier, but he has been sent to Britain to serve under the Romans. He is constantly negotiating between his own Sarmatian customs (trying to preserve them) and the customs of both Rome and the indigenous British. Everything from food to armor to sleep habits becomes an issue. The book opens with the water-fearing Sarmatians(your soul is lost if you die by drowning)camped at the English Channel. They've never seen such a wide expanse of water, and they believe they are at the end of the world. The Romans intend to ferry them across to the island of Britain, but the Sarmatians fear that there is no island and that the Romans are looking to get them on the boats and drown them. It's really good stuff. You also have a wonderful cross-section of British Roman society--the Christian slave, the evil druid princess, the world-weary Roman centurion. This book is a must-read for ancient history buffs.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's HISTORICAL fiction, not historical FICTION!, October 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Island of Ghosts (Hardcover)

When Samartian cavalry, as the result of a political deal, were assigned to duty in 2nd century Roman Britain, hatreds and cultural conflicts reached the boiling point between the Samartians and the Romans, among the Samartians leaders and also involved all of them with long-simmering conflicts among the island's native residents. It's a political story from Roman times with overtones touching on what happens nowadays in Northern Ireland, in Israel and in the Balkans. That's why there is more "history" than "fiction" to this piece of "historical fiction." It's well worth reading for those who like a good yarn as well as digesting some food for thought about how things remain the same, even though eighteen centuries have passed. Since reading Ms. Bradshaw's book, I have read her "Tower at Alexandria" and "The Bearkeeper's Daughter." Both are in the same Roman setting, but oddly enough relate what happened then to today's feminism. There is nothing new under the sun.