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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fifth century historical fiction, May 23, 2006
This review is from: Ursula's Maiden Army (Paperback)
In the fifth century, when the Roman-Britannia men leave their island home to fight on the continent defending the Roman Empire, their women and children seem like easy pickings for the other residents of Britannia. Knowing that the Picts, Hibernians and Saxons will at a minimum plunder, but more likely rape and kill, Princess Ursula knows she must lead the left behind with boldness. Her plan is to raise an army of women to defend their people. Enlisting her best friends Pinnosa, Brittola, Cordula, Martha and Saula to assist her, they establish an all female military that effectively defeats their adversarial neighbors in combat.
When their men fail to return home as expected, Ursula and her inner circle believe most are dead as Rome is falling to the barbarians. They need a new plan that provides them with male allies and mates. Ursula leads her eleven thousand all female army onto the continent heading to Germania for an unheard of marriage of two giant forces. However, instead of reaching their wedding destination, URSULA'S MAIDEN ARMY battles the Huns knowing that of they lose, death would be the most comfortable fate.
This is a terrific fifth century historical fiction based on the limited knowledge (more legend than factual) of Saint Ursula the martyr of Cologne, Germany. The action-packed story line brings alive the era through the eyes of the sextet of females, which Philip Griffin shows his writing skills by making each of the six contain different personalities. Fans of ancient era thrillers will appreciate this rendering of a legendary courageous warrior woman and her army of fighting females.
Harriet Klausner
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, March 6, 2007
This review is from: Ursula's Maiden Army (Paperback)
URSULA'S MAIDEN ARMY is a work of historical fiction based loosely on the legend surrounding Saint Ursula. According to the author's notes in the book, there is a popular German legend that surrounds a young woman who was sainted by the Catholic Church hundreds of years after her death. She had lived in the fourth or fifth century A.D., at about the same time that Rome collapsed. According to the legend, Saint Ursula led a band of armor-clad virgins on a mission. The names of Ursula's closest friends survived in the legend, and these are featured in the book.
URSULA'S MAIDEN ARMY tells the story of Britannic Princess Ursula and her band of loyal friends. The young women are all aristocrats, well-educated and schooled in hunting and weaponry. They are devastated when their intended husbands are all sent away with the Britannic forces to fight for Rome. While the men's army is away, Ursula's homelands are exposed to raiders and invaders of all sorts. This leads Ursula to form her women's army to protect her people. The force's efforts are a huge success at home, which encourages the women to attempt an even bolder campaign.
Since details about Ursula's real-life exploits are few, the author of URSULA'S MAIDEN ARMY, Philip Griffin, had to take quite a few liberties when writing the book. For example, no one knows exactly what the mission was that led Ursula and her all-female army from their homes, so Griffin supplied one. No one knows what these women endured on their campaign, so Griffin offers readers a possible scenario. And no one knows exactly what fate befell them, except that the bones of thousands of women form the foundation of the ancient St. Ursula's Church in Cologne, Germany. This mystery led Griffin to create an event so devastating that it would explain the deaths of that many young women.
This is an interesting tale for readers of historical fiction. It offers a great deal of information about ancient military campaigns and weapons. Sometimes too much information. I found parts of it dry and skipped chunks of text where the characters discussed military matters. That sort of information might be fascinating to some, but I just wanted to get back to the story. I was also irritated by the religious fervor demonstrated by one particular young woman, together with the fact that her friends consistently just went along with her zealotry. Finally, I had some trouble believing that Ursula's troops enjoyed as much success in their battles as they did. These were essentially girls who were trained by other girls, and they fought against battle-hardened men. Yet time and again, Ursula's army walked away virtually unscathed.
All in all, URSULA'S MAIDEN ARMY is an intriguing peek at the sorrows and triumphs of life fifteen hundred years ago. It is clear that this piece of historical fiction is very heavy on the fiction, but it is an entertaining story nevertheless.
Reviewed by: K. Osborn Sullivan
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Karen Morse, January 24, 2007
This review is from: Ursula's Maiden Army (Paperback)
"Out of love for our land, our people, and our beloved home!
For the defense of the Province, and to the glory of God...
The women of Britannia shall fight!"
The story of Ursula and the 11,000 martyrs is the stuff of legend. In fact, so little is known about Ursula and her life that in 1969 the Catholic Church suppressed her cult as part of a larger revision of the canon of saints because of doubts about her historicity.
In Ursula's Maiden Army, Philip Griffin provides his own take on the legend of Saint Ursula and her maidens, creating an adventure story in which Ursula and her friends become the commanders of an
all-female army.
The story begins in Roman Britain where teenage Ursula is the daughter of a Christian king. When the provincial armies are conscripted into the service of Rome, Britain is left virtually unprotected, making it easy prey for Hibernian and Pict raiding parties as well as the warring Saxons. With the encouragement of her friend Pinnosa, Princess Ursula creates an army of women to protect and defend Britain while the men are away. Led by Ursula, Pinnosa, and their friends, Brittola, Cordula, Martha, and Saula, the First Athena is a resounding success. However, as its fame spreads to Europe, the First Athena becomes a target of the enemies of both Britain and Rome.
Ursula's Maiden Army is a moving tale of love, loyalty, honor, and friendship. It is well-paced and its action-packed plot will keep readers interested. In Ursula, Pinnosa, Brittola, Cordula, Martha, and Saula, first-time novelist Griffin has created surprisingly full-bodied female characters, characters that will stick with readers long after they have put this book down.
First published in Germany as Das Heer der Jungfrauen, Ursula's Maiden Army gained much exposure when it was featured in Die Welt, Germany's largest newspaper, as a 'paperback of the week' in December 2004.
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