Customer Reviews

Raptor

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must just add my words of praise to all those before for this absorbing, entertaining and often confronting book. My friend Sue had long raved about Gary Jennings' writing, but I never indulged until she insisted I read her copy of Raptor (five years later, I realise I haven't returned it!).

Thorn is an unusual protagonist, and whether you love or hate him/her, one you will not forget in a hurry. Sometimes (and this is what lost one star) I would find myself thinking "Oh yeah? As if!" when Thorn got out of yet another scrap by demonstrating yet another skill. Like so many main characters in novels of this type, Thorn is just a little bit too amazing to be be entirely credible, and I found myself wondering how Theodoric, an actual historical character, possibly managed to rise to his greatness if Thorn was only a figment of Jennings' imagination!

However, once you take the leap of faith to accept that besides having ambiguous gender characteristics (although I always saw Thorn as essentially male) and considered an incredibly handsome man and an exceptionally beautiful woman, Thorn also had been endowed with superhuman strength and endurance, a strategic brain to rival any chess master, treachery, deviousness and guile second to none, survival skills and instincts of a bushman, and loyalty only to himself and Theodoric, you find yourself accepting the story for what it is, a competently written, entertaining, absorbing work of fiction, that brought with it some awareness of the past.

Like other reviewers, I was keen to find out more about Theodoric, and was interested in how Jennings showed Vandals have been vilified down through the ages.

The wonderful thing about good writers is that they can effortlessly and completely transport you so far in time and space, that returning to reality seems to be the really big leap. I was there, seeing, smelling, tasting everything. If you enjoy page-turning journeys into the distant past, off the top of my head I can recommend Noah Gordon's 'The Physician', Wilbur Smith's 'River God', Stephen Lawhead's 'Byzantium', and Judith Tarr's 'Pillar of Fire'. Of course, they all contain the occasional historical inaccuracies and super-talented progagonists endemic in this genre, but when you're still reading at 3am, who cares?

If you're amazed by what we as a people are learning, you'll be more amazed by how much we've forgotten. Set in the fifth century, Thorn, the hermaphroditic protagonist, travels from what is now France, across Europe, down to Constantinople and beyond. What his travels reveal about his (our) history, religion, sexual mores, life, death and everything in between is staggering. So is the amount of research Mr. Jennings must have done for this book. Coming in at just under 1000 pages, it's a story you don't want to end yet you can't wait to find out how it ends. If you're at all interested in ancient cultures or even the roots of the English language, you'll have a field day with this book. Read it, love it, be amazed by it

Jennings is always graphic in his writings. This book is no exception. If you are squeamish, you should pass this one. Still, he is a skillful writer and seems to do his research. Well worth the read.

I love Gary Jennings....All his books are great....It is ashame that Raptor and the Journeyer are out of print....Why do you think Raptor is out of print? My guess is that because is bashes the church constantly....

Great story, good history, action and wonderful characters....I would rate this book as Jennings second best after the journeyer.

Thorn is a great character, with the only exception being that he can do no wrong. He never gets caught, severly hurt and appears too lucky in life.....

After reading Aztec (rated 10), I looked for other works by Jennings and found the Journeyer and Raptor. Both were just as satisfying to read and also rated 10 in my opinion. While this may not be an official 'review' I must comment that I have misplaced my copy of Raptor and have been trying to find another, only to find out that the book is out of print! After noticing that other readers and reviewers agree with my high rating of this book, I have to wonder why it is no longer being published? Might it be the hermaphroditic nature of the hero? I believe that many people would enjoy this book and it's a shame that such an extensive search is needed to acquire it. While I generally tend to purchase cheaper paperbacks when possible, this is a book that I would not hesitate to buy in hardcover. Let's Start Printing It Again!!

Raptor is on my list of favorite books, and although it may not be everyone, everyone deserves a bit of a jolt every now and again. The story of Thorn, although difficult to imagine is extremely interesting to follow and although the reader sometimes wonders if this is plain fiction or fantasy, the reader might not care. Of the three Gary Jennings books I've finished (Aztec, and Aztec Autumn were the other two, I never got far into Journeyer) Raptor is by far the best. It may have been the history of the Goths and the decadence of Rome or the far-from-infrequent sex scenes, but regardless of why, Raptor is an astounding book.

First let me warn romance novel readers to look elsewhere. Although this novel contains copious amounts of sex and violence from a historical perspective, it is hardly of the tame vanilla variety that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside. The variety that this novel does contain, is an intimate peek into what this author believes, to be the reality of what life must have been like in the 5th century, from a male and female perspective. To do this he uses a transgender avatar, Thorn, whom I happened to like. If you are sheepish and want your characters to follow convention and fit into categories or stereotypes, this book is not for you. For me, this book was inspirational enough to start me on an educational journey that led me through continental Europe, to hillforts, aqueducts, and monasteries like those depicted in the book (although I didn't recognize at the time that this book was the impetus). I read this book over ten years ago. Although it is fiction, it was the first book to get me interested in the Roman Empire and the first time I had ever heard of the Ostrogoths and Visigoths. When I decided to return to college, it was one of the reasons that Anthropology became my major. I have since graduated, done a study abroad stint in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and France, and become an Archaeologist. Had I not read this book, I would not have had the passion for recreating and reconstructing the cultures contained in it. In fact, I hope Jennings writes a sequel, as there are so many other European cultures, of that period, that he has yet to give us a glimpse into. Whether you love or hate this book, you have to give credit to any 900 page volume that can keep your interest and even addict you. Much more interesting than the actual historical documents (mostly written by Romans) that give an account of those times.

Now I've read AZTEC, Spangle, and Raptor! Jennings is my new favorite author. I second a previous review that Raptor is not as good as AZTEC but what a searing story, you really have to keep with it though...my goofy anology: reading Jennings is like dancing with fred astaire; you are waltzing along, spinning, then slowing then suddenly you're dropped to the floor! you get up gasping then begin again, twirling, floating and just when you get comfortable, SLAM down you go again! Read it! I'm afraid I'll have trouble reading books not by Jennings! He's that good!

The Roman Empire has fallen, but vestiges hang on in the very Goths who overran it. Set in the century after, this is the story of Thorn, who as a boy had his quick mind trained in a monastery until it is discovered he is not a boy at all, and is sent away. In fact, he is a hermaphrodite and manages to grow into a man and at times, live also as a woman. The book is a series of picaresque adventures, a travelogue of the sites and civilizations of the remnants of the Western Roman Empire, from Constantinople to Rome and to the lands of the Ostrogoths up to the shore of the Baltic Sea. The young Thorn at first falls in with an old Centurion, now a woodsman and fur-trader, then eventually binds his fortune to Theodoric, who rises to King of the Ostrogoths and hopes to revive the civilization of Rome.

Along the way are battles, small and large, intrigue and adventure, love and sex, torture and betrayal. Thorn has unique abilities that enable him/her to thrive in this shadowy time of the last flickerings of the light of the Classical Era before it falls into the Dark Ages. Thorn is meant to be a rather ambiguous character of indifferent morals, as uncategorizable as his sex, but he remains ultimately sympathetic, true to his friends, even if he must harden his heart to do what he thinks he must. He aims to be the Raptor of the title, hoping to be the predator rather than the prey.

This is a long, lush and vivid view of the time and the places and the characters, bringing it alive with sufficient immediacy so that we feel it and the people are understandable and true. At times, it seemed to ramble on a bit too much, but if one is a fan of minutia and little-known facts, at least that will sustain some interest. But most of the book was surprisingly well-paced and intriguing, given its length. Thorn lived an incredibly adventure-filled life (some of it stretching believability), dealing with all parts of society, and all manner of people, and we see it all in great detail.

I really like books by Gary Jennings, but this one is not as good as all the others (e.g. Aztec). The writing is good, the idea of Thorn being a hermaphrodite is also interesting, but the charcters are not really explicitly defined. What I really thought to be sad is that some historic facts are just wrong: by 400something there were no convents yet, the first convent was foundet in the late 6th century. Also comparing the western roman empire with the eastern roman empire is wrong: while the west was already in its decline the eastern roman empire was still at its hight. However, being German myself, I liked the idea to write a (historic) novel about this period. Overall it is not a bad book, just not comparable to all his other writings.