Title – A Year of Ravens: a novel of Boudica’s Rebellion
Authors – E. Knight, Ruth Downie, Stephanie Dray, Russell Whitfield, SJA Turney , Kate Quinn, Vicky Alvear Shecter, Ben Kane (Foreword)
Genre – Historical Fiction
Length – 483 Pages
Publication – 17th Nov 2015
My Rating – 5/5 Stars
Synopsis
Britannia: land of mist and magic clinging to the western edge of the Roman Empire. A red-haired queen named Boudica led her people in a desperate rebellion against the might of Rome, an epic struggle destined to consume heroes and cowards, young and old, Roman and Briton . . . and these are their stories.
A calculating queen foresees the fires of rebellion in a king’s death.
A neglected slave girl seizes her own courage as Boudica calls for war.
An idealistic tribune finds manhood in a brutal baptism of blood and slaughter.
A death-haunted Druid challenges the gods themselves to ensure victory for his people.
A conflicted young warrior finds himself torn between loyalties to tribe and to Rome.
An old champion struggles for everlasting glory in the final battle against the legions.
A pair of fiery princesses fight to salvage the pieces of their mother’s dream as the ravens circle.
A novel in seven parts, overlapping stories of warriors and peacemakers, queens and slaves, Romans and Britons who cross paths during Boudica’s epic rebellion. But who will survive to see the dawn of a new Britannia, and who will fall to feed the ravens?
Review
I was very lucky to receive an ARC of this book for review purposes.
This book follows the tale of Boudica and her rebellion against Rome and is split into 7 parts which are told by a different authors.
Each story is full of action and crammed full of emotion which you want but the best thing for me was that every story was told from a different characters perspective.
This is the first book I’ve read with this style of storytelling and I loved it, it’s what made it so enjoyable to read.
The way in which the tales are told add to the growth of the characters as throughout the book you see them through someone else’s eyes and I found myself liking people I originally didn’t.
There are some complex characters and relationships in this book and I particularly loved Sorcha & Andecarus. Each of these stood out for me. I also loved anything involving Duro.
In conclusion I felt everything worked well with this book, it was full of action, fast paced and a joy to read. I also felt having so many authors involved and the writing style of the book brought something to my eyes which was unique. I can see my book pile is going to grow after being introduced to some authors I’d previously not heard of.
It’s also made me want to look into some more stories about Boudica, she seems a very strong and complex character who I’ve not read much about. The one thing that really makes a good book for me is when the author leaves a spark with you.. leaves you wanting to find out more.. to read more. This book has certainly done that.
I feel quite privileged to have had the chance to read/review this before its release. This is a must read for anyone who enjoys the genre.
To find out more information head to Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Pre-order is available now!
David's Book Blurg 