Outcast [Paperback]

Rosemary SUTCLIFF (Author)

Book Description

Rescued as a baby from a shipwrecked Roman galley, Beric is raised in a British tribe but is never fully accepted by them. When disaster and bad times come to the clan, they believe it is down to Beric - that he has brought bad luck and misfortune to them - and they cast him out. Left alone without family or friends, Beric is sold into slavery in Rome and then condemned to a life on the rowing-bench of a Roman galley. With danger and death all around him, Beric must free himself and try and build a new life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Roman boy is brought up by a British tribe and forced to make his way in a hostile climate in this epic yarn set in Roman Britain. Ages 10-up.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

`[For The Eagle of the Ninth]: 'Decades later, I can still hear echoes of The Eagle of the Ninth in my head: the chink of mail, the tired beat of the legionaries' feet.' The Independent

`What a splendid story it is, compulsive reading!' Junior Bookshelf

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford Childrens; New edition edition (July 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192755579
• ISBN-13: 978-0192755575
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #842,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rosemary Sutcliff wrote more than 40 historical novels for young adults-including The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, The Lantern Bearers, The Sword and the Circle, and Black Ships Before Troy-five adult novels, and several books of nonfiction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rosemary Sutcliff has done it again!, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Outcast (Paperback)

Once again, Rosemary Sutcliff has written an outstanding work of fiction! Enticing, suspensful, and all-around wonderful, Outcast is the best book I have read in a long time. Outcast is the story of a young boy named Beric, who is raised in the village of a celtic tribe living in Britain at the time of the Roman Conquest. However, Beric is actually a Roman child, whose parents died in a shipwreck and who was rescued by a kind-hearted Celt and then adopted. But when the village has a series of bad turns, the local druid manages to convince the chief that Beric is the cause of all the trouble. Exiled from the only life he has known, Beric must learn to survive in the harsh Roman world that is so different from his own. And things take a turn for the worse when Beric falls into the hands of a slave trader! Outcast is a refreshing historical novel that gives startling insight into the ancient cultures of Britain. This one is definately a keeper!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beric must begin his life as an outcast..., June 6, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Outcast (Paperback)

"Outcast" is an excellent literary composition that tells the tale of Beric, who is branded as cursed by a druid since he was in a frightful shipwreck whilst he was only a newborn child, and was the solitary survivior.
So the tribe that have taken in Beric are insistant that the holy beings in which they place their faith are unhappy with them for this, because Beric is a red-crest.
I found parts of the book deeply disturbing and so would reccomend any easily - unsettled reader of my age to be prepared before you read it.
Nevertheless Rosemary Sutcliff vividly describes every needed detail without overbalancing action with description.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Roman British History, April 25, 2001

By 

Tina Gardner (Stamford, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Outcast (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. I have always been interested in this period of British history. This book is too scary for young children: I would not recommend it for a child less than 10 years of age. The Outcast is a Roman boy, found nearly dead on a beach after a shipwreck, fostered by a Celtic family. He is thrown out of his tribe when a series of misfortunes convinces some in the village that they have offended their gods by harboring a Roman. Going to the Roman village, he is captured by slavers, and a truly horrible four years as a slave begins. The book reveals the Horror That Was Rome, when we have too often heard only of the Glory.