2023/164: Shadow of the Eagle — Damion Hunter

2023/164: Shadow of the Eagle — Damion Hunter

He had wondered, between meeting the Old One at Llanmelin and the little blue trail markers in the bog, whether this province that had bred his mother was going to take him in or spit him out. The bog had offered an unpleasant third possibility, a gruesome combination of both. [loc. 3193]

After my reread of Frontier Wolf, I found myself in the mood for more historical fiction set in Roman Britain. I'd bought this a year or so ago, but not read it: I might have been more inclined to do so if I'd realised that 'Damion Hunter' is a pen-name of Amanda Cockrell. I am, I freely admit, biased against historical novels by male writers: all too often they focus on the military aspects of a story, to the detriment of characterisation and atmosphere. This is not the case with Rosemary Sutcliff (despite the, I think, exclusively male protagonists of her Roman Britain novels) and it's not the case here.

Shadow of the Eagle is set in Britain, around 78-80AD.( Read more... )