Dreaming the Eagle

The first novel in a planned trilogy begins in 33 c.e. [Common Era] with 11-year-old Breaca (later to become Queen Boudica of England) as the book's galloping hero. This story is evenly divided between the lives of Celtic Britons and their physical exploits and efforts to repulse Roman Christian invaders from their shores. Josephine Bailey's voice has a smoky, at times almost rusty, quality that enhances the story. Her voice carries within it the long thrust of the blade of history, as well as the piping sounds of a young girl casting her first near-perfect piece of ironwork in her father's forge. As Breaca approaches womanhood, Bailey's voice changes into that of a warrior wreathed in a blazing halo leading her dreamers through harsh battle to safety. This book is outstanding, and Bailey's reading is flawless. M.D.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

May 26, 2003
Scottish writer Scott has already turned out three crime novels, but this is her debut historical fiction, the first in an ambitious trilogy about the life of Boudica, the warrior queen of Britannia who fought the Romans in the first century A.D. Long on meticulous detail and religious spells, and short on suspense and battle action, this lengthy volume runs from A.D. 32 to 43 and covers Boudica's youth (when she was known as Breaca), during which she kills her first opponent in battle and begins a life of leadership and bloodshed. Many of the tribes in Britain were either ruled by women or held men and women as equals. Breaca's tribe, the Eceni, had both men and women as warriors, healers and elders. Violent feuds, territorial rivalries, shifting alliances and desire for plunder made Britain a bloody patchwork of warring tribal lands, but invasion by the Romans gave the tribes a common enemy. Breaca meets Caradoc, warrior son of a rival king, and the two develop both a romantic relationship and a battlefield camaraderie that will be sorely tested over the decade. They fight Caradoc's evil brother, Amminios, who is allied with the Romans and whose treachery makes him a formidable foe. Tribal life and Roman politics are well depicted, and there is no shortage of juicy love triangles in all kinds of exotic configurations. The plot, however, needs tightening; it bogs down in too many soap-opera subplots about shocking betrayals. And those looking for blood-soaked battlefield mayhem will be disappointed. Not until the Romans arrive, 400 pages into the book, does the real action begin.