The Eagle of the Ninth | Rosemary Sutcliff | Remember it is a Young Adult Novel

The Eagle of the Ninth | Rosemary Sutcliff | A moving adventure tale set in Roman Britain

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The Eagle of the N...

	The Eagle of the Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 1993 - 264 pages average customer review:based on 38 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In a.d. 125, a young Roman centurion must recover the infamous Ninth Legion's missing symbol of honor, the eagle standard.

Remember it is a Young Adult Novel

Like many others who have written reviews of "Eagle of the Ninth", I read this novel as a teenager and was very impressed by it. I am now middle aged and I can see why the book has sold more than a million copies. Is well written and tightly plotted. Rosemary Sutcliff was a worthy successor to H.E. Henty and the Victorian English tradition of the "Boys Own Adventrue Story". It is sad to see that the young adult historical novel has declined. That youthful need for adventure has been taken over by the science fiction and fantasy genre of young adult literature.

When reviewing this book, adults need to keep in mind that this is book was written for teenagers. There is a young adult sensibility to which many adults can no longer relate. This book is a classic of its genre and should be judged in its young adult context.

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A moving adventure tale set in Roman Britain

The Eagle of the Ninth is a moving adventure tale set in Roman Britain of the 2nd century AD. The straightforward, uncomplicated story was probably intended for children and certainly for young adults. Nevertheless, adults of all ages will find in it much to enjoy. The characterization of life in early Britain is quite convincing. Rome and the Senate are but a distant echo. Here we live the provincial life of a barely pacified country. A young Roman centurion recently injured in battle and so unable to serve in the legions, sets out to find the lost "eagle" (i.e. battle standard) of his father's legion. That legion, the Ninth Hispana, along with his father, had disappeared twelve years previously in Caledonia (the north of modern Scotland). In the course of many adventures the hero will learn of his father's fate. Interestingly, the book reminds me of the works of Rudyard Kipling dealing with the Indian subcontinent. Ironically, instead of English colonizers living among "noble savages", the shoe is on the other foot, and colonial Romans live among the barbarian tribes of Britain. Anyone with an inclination towards historical fiction will enjoy this moving adventure story. Commentators have pointed out that this is probably an apt description of how the British national identity was forged over the centuries.

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Eagle of the ninth

Wonderful, accurate depiction of both military and civilian life in Romano-Britain. Good character development and well-plotted with plenty of action.

Satisfying read, even for an adult

This book is skillfully done in many ways. The story is smooth and the pacing good. There are several exciting and suspenseful parts. If you are an adult you might think of this as chocolate ice cream rather than double fudge macadamia crunch. Good, but not overly complex.

One of the reviewers imagines some kind of wrong relationship between a 20 something man and a 13 year old girl. If anything like that is implied, it must be awful subtle because I didn't see it. Anyway, in ancient times it wasn't unusual for girls as young as 13 to get married. When average life expectancies were in their 30's, you had to start families young.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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