AD 57: Caradoc is lost for ever, betrayed to Rome and exiled in Gaul, leaving Boudica bereft, to lead the tribes of the west in an increasingly bloody resistance against Roman occupation.
Only if she can drive Rome from the land will she find the peace she needs and to do that she must once again raise the tribes of the east. But her people, the Eceni, languish in the shadow of the Legions, led by a man who proclaims himself king and yet allows slavers to trade freely in his lands.
Across the sea, Boudica's half-brother has been named traitor by both sides. He, too, seeks peace, on a journey that takes him from the dreaming tombs of the ancestors to the cave of a god he no longer serves.
Only if these two meet can their people - and all of Britannia - be saved. But the new Governor has been ordered to subdue the tribes or die in the attempt, and he has twenty thousand legionnaires ready to stop anyone, however determined, from bringing Britain to the edge of revolt...
What can I say? Manda Scott is brilliant!! She's taken what little we know of the historical figure that is Boudica and masterfully woven a back-story that breathes live into the Celts of first century. Only the fourth book in this series contains what we know of this Warrior Queen of early Britannia, and much of that is courtesy of a Roman historian, yet Scott is able to draw from that and bring this woman to life on so many different levels. Scott reminds us that Boudica was not only a Warrior Queen but a mother and a lover as well. She struggled with self-doubt, but in the end she overcame all to lead the greatest uprising against Rome that had ever been witnessed.
As the third book opens, Breaca (the Boudica) has been spending time alone wandering the western hills attacking Roman garrisons at will. When word is received that her sister, leader of the Eceni has died, she decides it is time to return to her people. All those important in Breaca's life make the journey with her, including her estranged children, Graine, Cygfa and Cunomar.
Through the physical journey comes the emotional/spiritual journey of not only Breaca, but her children as well: Graine the dreamer as powerful as any on Mona, Cygfa the warrior so much like her father Caradoc and the only son, Cunomar who wants nothing more than to follow in his mother's footsteps but has yet to become a man.
Scott brings all of their lives to a complex climax setting the stage for the final book and the final assault on Roman presence in their beloved land. See the author's website here: Manda Scott
Labels: historical fiction