The Eagle and the Raven | Pauline Gedge

The Eagle and the Raven | Pauline Gedge | slow start but don't give up

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The Eagle and the ...

	The Eagle and the Raven Pauline Gedge Chicago Review Press, 2007 - 704 pages average customer review:based on 37 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Spanning three generations, this historical novel tells the tale of Boudicca, the most famous warrior of ancient Britain, and Caradoc, the son of a Celtic king, who sets out to unite the people of the Raven and lead them against Rome. Caradoc's objective is not easily accomplished as the Roman army advances into Britain, raping Celtic women and burning villages to the ground. His efforts are also met with fierce opposition from Aricia, the vain queen of a northern tribe who swears allegiance to the Romans after Caradoc slights her, and from Gladys, Caradoc?s warrior sister who falls in love with her Roman captor. Unfortunately, Caradoc?s endeavors are left unresolved when he is taken prisoner, but Boudicca, a strong-willed woman, ultimately takes up the cause that was Caradoc?s legacy.

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Enjoyable

The front and back covers of this book are very misleading- it implies that the book is all about Boudicca, but she only really comes into the book in the last hundred pages or so, though she makes brief appearances throughout the story. Most of the book is about Caradoc, who was the first uniter of the native British tribes against the Romans.

I first became interested in the British resistance to the Roman invasion upon reading the Manda Scott series about Boudicca which begins with Dreaming the Eagle. In that series, Caradoc also plays a major role, though Scott certainly focuses on Boudicca more. In Gedge's novel, Caradoc takes the spotlight. And deservedly so.

Caradoc led a very large contingent of Britons against the Romans, but was caught and taken to Rome as prisoner, where he and his family lived out their lives in a gilded cage. A tragic way to end a life.

Unfortunately, also not an interesting way to finish a book. There was a lot of The Eagle and the Raven that took place with Caradoc and his family in Rome, but the plot... didn't really go anywhere. The action was clearly in Britain. Granted, there was not =much= action in the period of time between Caradoc being caught and Boudicca leading an army of vengeance. But I would have preferred that time to have been spent with other characters, and not trying to develop a storyline that really didn't go anywhere.

However, other than that minor quibble, I found this book enjoyable and interesting. It took me a LONG time to read it, admittedly, but I was never bored. Anyone who has an interest in ancient British history would enjoy it, but don't read it thinking it's all about Boudicca. It's not, but that's not a negative point.

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slow start but don't give up

The first 200 pages felt tedious. The character development felt lacking... I couldn't relate to any character, nor did I feel connected to any of them. I'm glad I didn't give up though. The story built slowly and by the middle I couldn't put it down. Gedge does a tremendous job of giving the reader a real sense of the time period and the perspectives of both sides of the "argument".

A novel of Boudicca

If you've never encountered Boudicca in history, then you may want to do yourself a favor a pick this book up. Like Manda Scott (and soon Margaret George), Pauline Gedge has chosen one of the most famous female leaders of all time and given her a novel. I really enjoyed learning about Iceni culture, about how Boudicca tried to triumph against the invading Romans, and what life was like several thousand years ago in Britain. I really enjoyed this book, as well as Manda Scott's. I'm looking forward to Margaret George's take on this as well.

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Why They Fight

Pauline Gedge's The Eagle and the Raven is the predecessor to Donna Gillespie's The Light Bearer and Manda Scott's Dreaming of the Eagle. It is also, in many respects, a better book. Of these three books, The Eagle and the Raven best made me understand the reasons for the British defiance of Rome. It is easy to use a word like "freedom" to explain it, but this is the first book that personalizes freedom and shows how the Roman incursion affected the tribesmen's hearts and souls. While The Light Bearer and Dreaming of the Eagle are more descriptive in terms of setting and action, The Eagle and the Raven is more poignant. The characters of Caradoc, Aricia, and Boudicca are emotionally complex, and I felt that I knew them better than their counterparts in other books.

Although The Eagle and the Raven is told through the British perspective, the novel is even-handed with the Romans. They are not all slavers and rapists: in Plautius, Pudens, and Favonius, Gedge presents honorable, respectful Romans. Their interactions with the tribesmen provide some of the most memorable parts of the novel. Also, not all of the British resist Rome; we see that some of them, like Aricia and Prasutugas, accept the Romans for the sake of wealth or peace.

The novel shines when it delves into the tortured relationships of the characters. Caradoc, Aricia, and Boudicca all have lovers at odds with their own beliefs. Watching them struggle with their love and principles is at times heartbreaking and joyful. Also, the romance that Gladys (Caradoc's sister) develops feels genuine and special, when it could have been maudlin or forced in another writer's hands.

The novel is not perfect; it starts slow, and none of the characters is particularly likable at first. (Gedge's characters are flawed, which makes them more authentic.) Most of the action occurs off page. If you are hoping for swordfights, you're better off reading The Light Bearer or Scott's Boudicca series. I believe that those novels externalize the conflict, whereas The Eagle and the Raven internalizes it. In Dreaming the Eagle, Boudicca challenges Rome with the strength of her sword arm. In The Eagle and the Raven, she relies on the strength of her conviction.

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Just all right

I feel really badly about not likely this book as much as all of the other reviewers clearly did. I had read Manda Scott's take on Boudica a while back,. and I remember her books with great detail and fondness. I figured I would be in for another pleasant read with this novel about Boudica, but I found myself disappointed. The writing is just okay, the descriptions seem mediocre, and the only high point for me was the history. But history alone can't carry a book, and I found my attention constantly wandering to other things like my laundry, my dishes, my chores. Not a good sign.

While this book wasn't terrible - far from it - I wasn't carried away either. For me, it was just all right.

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

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