The Scourge of God [Hardcover]

William Dietrich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2005

After decades of assault by barbarian tribes, Rome is weakening and in danger of being overrun. By a.d. 449, Attila, ruler of the Huns, has become Europe's most powerful monarch, his ferocity earning him the title "the Scourge of God." Now he is poised to assault the West.

It begins with an illicit affair. Honoria, sister of Valentinian III, emperor of the Western Roman Empire, creates a scandal when she is discovered in bed with her steward. Imprisoned for her indiscretion, Honoria sees the instrument of her deliverance in the form of the most feared warrior in the known world -- Attila. Desperate, she dispatches a messenger to the leader of the Huns, asking for his aid. Taking the entreaty as a marriage proposal, Attila begins to mass his forces to claim the half of the Roman Empire he feels should be his dowry, thus setting in motion the engines of war.

Fearing that open war with the ferocious Huns could destroy the empire, the Romans seek a clandestine solution. Dispatching a group of ambassadors to Attila's camp under the guise of seeking a diplomatic accord, the Roman leadership intends instead to corrupt one of Attila's lieutenants into an assassin, eliminating the threat by murdering the Hun leader.

Jonas, an ambitious intellectual, joins the party as its historian. But when the plot is discovered, he becomes much more. Taken hostage by the Huns, Jonas realizes that it will require all his skills in diplomacy, and some newfound skills with the sword, to survive. But survival isn't his only concern. Within the Hun camp he encounters Ilana, a Roman beauty imprisoned by the Huns and promised to one of their warriors. To attempt an escape alone would be foolhardy. Tocombine it with a rescue would be suicide. But Jonas knows he cannot leave the camp without Ilana, even if his devotion costs him his life.

As Jonas plans his escape, he seizes what could be a crucial element in the coming war between Rome and the Huns. Now his life isn't the only thing at stake. To save the empire and Ilana, Jonas must bring warning and an ancient sword to prepare Rome for the biggest battle in history, in which two vast armies will clash to determine the future of Western civilization.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in the dark final days of the Roman Empire, Dietrich's rousing fifth novel (after Hadrian's Wall, etc.) chronicles the bid of the charismatic Attila the Hun to conquer the West and dominate all of Europe. Standing in his way are the crumbling vestiges of the Roman Empire, now divided between West (Rome) and East (Constantinople) and still struggling with the adoption of Christian faith. The story of Attila's western march is given additional human dimension by a romance between Jonas Alabanda, a scribe assigned to an embassy mission to Attila from Theodosius II, emperor of the Eastern Empire, and Ilana, a gorgeous Roman taken by the Huns as a slave. Because of a foiled Roman plot to assassinate Attila, Jonas finds himself held hostage, but with the aid of a cunning and intrepid dwarf jester, Zerco, he manages to steal a legendary giant sword and upset Attila's plans and fortunes long enough for the Roman general Aetius to assemble the Germanic tribes into an effective defense force. Because the period is comparatively undocumented, the historical background is somewhat thin, and the standard-issue romance doesn't quite fill in the blanks. Still, the story unfolds swiftly and satisfyingly, and the confusing array of tribes and leaders are deftly presented--no mean feat.
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From Booklist

Life was not secure for citizens of the Roman Empire in the mid-fifth century, who had reason to fear the "scourge of God," as Attila the Hun was called. A canny leader and warrior, Attila had his forces destroy everything in his path as he set out to conquer both eastern and western Roman empires. Dietrich (Hadrian's Wall, 2004) hews strongly to historical fact, providing a cast of characters and map of the period, adding just three fictitious characters to his primary cast: Jonas Alabanda, a Roman historian and diplomat from Constantinople; Ilana, a Roman who loses father, home in Axiopolis, and fiance to the Huns, who take her hostage; and Skilla, a Hun soldier and nephew of warlord Edeco. Their personal relationships help connect the actual events of the time and add humanity to them. Dietrich vividly describes treachery, betrayals, assassination attempts, executions, and battles, culminating in the almost incomprehensibly massive and bloody Battle of Chalons, in 451 A.D. Michele Leber
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1St Edition edition (March 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006073499X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060734992
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #574,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a novelist and non-fiction author, with a series on American adventurer Ethan Gage in the Napoleonic era that has sold into 31 languages. My newest novel, a Nazi thriller, is "Blood of the Reich."

I began my writing career as a newspaper reporter in 1973, published my first non-fiction book, "The Final Forest," in 1992, and my first fiction, "Ice Reich," in 1998, completing a first draft on an Antarctic research ship. I share a Pulitzer for covering the Exxon Valdez oil spill while at the Seattle Times and then taught for five years at Western Washington University's Huxley College of the Environment. While there I authored "Green Fire: A History of Huxley College."

My work at HarperCollins has been historical fiction that ranges from the Roman Empire to my latest tale that ranges from Germany to Washington's Cascade Mountains to Tibet. My Ethan Gage series starts with Napoleon's invasion of Egypt ("Napoleon's Pyramids") and continues on to the Holy Land, America's Great Lakes frontier, the Barbary Pirates of North Africa and (coming) the Caribbean and Haiti. I've also done thrillers for Warner Books (Ice Reich, Getting Back, and Dark Winter, now available again as E-books on Amazon) and non-fiction about the Pacific Northwest.

My award-winning first non-fiction book, "The Final Forest," was just reissued by University of Washington Press. For any Twilight fans, it's a book about Forks, Washington, written well before the vampire craze: it gives you the real Forks.

Research for my novels has taken me to the Arctic, Antarctic, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Australia, Sicily, Greece, Paris, Britain, Hungary, Tibet...hey, someone's got to do it. I've traveled on a sailboat in the South Pacific, landed on an aircraft carrier, flown in a B-52, visited the South Pole, and been terrified flying with the Blue Angels.

As a journalist, I was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, won National Science Foundation fellowships to Antarctica, and speak frequently on environmental issues. I've covered Congress, the eruption of Mount St. Helens, the environment, science, social issues - even the military. I've traveled frequently for my writing, but live in the Pacific Northwest where I was born. I'm married, with two grown children.

I live in a house looking out at the San Juan Islands, surrounded by fir, cedar, and hemlock, and sometimes get to watch bald eagles while I'm writing. Connecting with readers is one of life's biggest thrills.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written book on Attila, Aetius and Rome, March 31, 2005

By 

J. Groen "Jerry Groen" (GURNEE, ILLINOIS USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Scourge of God (Hardcover)

This is a well written book on Attila and Aetius and Rome. The writer creates the story from the perspective of an individual named Jonas who is sent to Attila as an ambassador and his experiences living with the Huns, and afterwards including the battle of Maurican plain. The writing style is quick, short sentences with numerous changes in plot resulting in continual excitement wondering what will happen next to Jonas. The images painted about the different protoganists are also very realistic:
- images of Attila, a brutal, violent individual who was somewhat neurotic;
- images of the Huns, who murdered and treated others with cruelty,
- images of the Romans, with the decadence of a declining, rotting empire with graft and corruption from officials and a military in significant decline;
- images of the Visigoths who reminded me of the Rohan knights from Lord of the Rings (in fact some believe that the Lord of the Rings was written from the apocayptic story of 451AD);
- images of Aetius, a Roman with integrity and honor trying to keep a dying empire together;
and other images providing a very realistic perspective on what happened in 451AD.
The realism of the story was shown in other ways also. The author painted a realistic picture of the look of a Roman soldier, the Visigoth knight, the Frankish soldier, the Hun and all the protoganists of that period. The author did not get into the numbers game on how many soldiers were involved in the battle (although he discusses his believes in an ending section), just saying that there seemed to be "hundreds of thousands", and the Visigoth army was made of 10,000 men. The story is so well written that it really doesn't have to harp about the numbers of men involved. Even the idea of storekeepers in the Roman army and runaway slaves in the Hun army swelling the numbers made sense.
Although the ending did not make much sense, but that time, I was drawn into the book and accepted it. This is a well-written and well researched book and well worth the purchase.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another good one, May 24, 2005

By 

A. Professor (Claremont, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Scourge of God (Hardcover)

There is some similarity to the set-up of the author's excellent previous novel, "Hadrian's Wall." But "Scourge of God" has a broader sweep, convincingly contrasting life in Constantinople with Attila and the Huns before the main character goes on to the Western Roman Empire. The dilemmas faced by the Romans of the mid fifth century, both east and west, are very well brought out. But this book is far more than just an interesting, and well-researched, history lesson as it skillfully threads a gripping storyline around a series of pivotal historical events. I found it very hard to put down and, if anything I would rate it slightly above "Hadrian's Wall." I certainly hope the author will give us more from this era.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars (4.5 stars) It's the end of the world as we know it..., June 23, 2008

By 

Lilly Flora "by Lilo Drandoff" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Scourge of God (Mass Market Paperback)

Generally speaking I have a policy about epic books and that is they have to be long. After all if you're telling a tale of an epic battle, or generations in a family life, or about two civilizations clashing together (or crumbling) shouldn't it be long? Shouldn't there be hundreds and hundreds of pages to mull over, to fit every detail into it and every perspective? Most of the time, it suits an epic to be long. But occasionally there comes around an author who manages to cram an epic into about 300 pages-and does it brilliantly with nothing lacking from the novel.

"The Scourge of God" by William Dietrich is one such novel. It is the story of the time leading up to and including the huge clash that was the battle of nations- the great battle where the Western Roman empire briefly united with the Visigoth's, Franks and many others in order to beat back Attila and his allies and keep them from conquering the West. Even though it's only 338 pages long it is an amazing novel of war, love and the beginning of the end from the Roman Empire. I loved it!

It's also an amazing education into the massive effect that Attila and his Huns had on the world. Considering that the same time they were ravaging the Eastern Roman Empire (which was functioning completely on its own) and the West was crumbling (Rome was essentially abandoned as the capital in favor of Venice) and all kinds of Barbarians were preparing to swoop down and end the empire for good-well people must have thought that Attila hailed the end of the world!

In fact they did. I believe that's how he got the title the scourge of god.

Unlike Dietrich's previous historical novel,Hadrian's Wall: A Novel "The Scourge of God" is told in first person by Jonas, a young man from the eastern Roman Empire whose life is forever changed when he becomes part of a failed embassy to the Hun encampment, with some scenes Jonas isn't involved in written in third person (but still, the whole story is being told by an older Jonas, so it's all first.) I liked Jonas quite a lot as a narrator-he's engaging, funny, and smart and doesn't mess around with his motives for doing things, but the fact that the novel was told exclusively in first person kind of led onto the fact that certain people must have survived in order to tell Jonas their part of the story, which cut down the suspense a little.

Still this was an amazing novel, about twice as good as "Hadrian's Wall" (which I still recommend) I loved and recommend it to everyone (though I should warn you-there is a lot of violence in this book) and I fully plan on reading Dietrich's other historical books. And anything else on Attila the Hun I can find.

But because of the little suspense downing problem mentioned above I have to dock a few points. Four point five stars.