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Druids |
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Author:
Morgan Llywelyn
By Del Rey
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $6.75
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Product Description
“Mine was the vast dark sky and the spaces between the stars that called out to me; mine was the promise of magic.”
So spoke the young Celt Ainvar, centuries before the enchanted age of Arthur and Merlin. An orphan taken in by the chief druid of the Carnutes in Gaul, Ainvar possessed talents that would lead him to master the druid mysteries of thought, healing, magic, and battle— talents that would make him a soul friend to the Prince Vercingetorix . . . though the two youths were as different as fire and ice.
Yet Ainvar’s destiny lay with Vercingetorix, the sun-bright warrior-king. Together they traveled through bitter winters and starlit summers in Gaul, rallying the splintered Celtic tribes against the encroaching might of Julius Caesar and the soulless legions of Rome. . . .
From the Paperback edition.
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 Vercingetorix/Caesar/Gaul through the eyes of a fictional Druid, 2008-03-11
Historical fiction based on the Vercingetorix/Caesar/Gaul saga as seen through the eyes of a fictional Druid. The story runs out of steam about the last third of the book so I can't consider this on the level of her best work like Lion of Ireland or Red Branch but its still worth reading. I enjoy Morgan Llywellyns Celtic themed books and would recomend them to any Celtophile.
Fantastic!!, 2007-08-28
I really enjoyed everything this book has to offer. The only fault I find is that it is quite long in getting to the inevitable downfall of the druidical society of Gauls and says very little about how they end up escaping. Other than that, this is a wonderful novel!
Listening Down the Wind, 2007-07-27
My review's title paraphrases a reference made in the book, I think by Ainvar, regarding the verbal transmission of all the lore and knowledge of the Celts which may be lost, and much was. The classical, written references to the druids (made by Romans and Greeks) comprise about ten pages. So I am thankful for Llywelyn's "channeling" of this tale, her "listening down the wind". I think she did a creditable job with most of what she took on in this book, and her telling of the earth connection, the extension of the senses to all that lives, and the philosophy that Menua taught young Ainvar resonated in some old part of my bones. Most of my complaints have more to do with her characterizations.
Some of the things that unfold between Ainvar and Briga, his first wife made me scratch my head. Her previously described feisty nature didn't lead me to think she would share Ainvar with Lakutu so easily, and the series of events that lead to the loss of Maia seemed flimsy, and I was disappointed no resolution to that surfaced by the end of the book. Well, at least I didn't have to wait 16 years to find out if it's taken up in the new book, The Greener Shore, since I only bought a used copy in 2003 and finally read it a couple months ago.
I also am unsure of her purpose in naming human Celts after deDannans, such as Dian Cecht, who was the Dannan god of medicine, and Crom Daral, who must be modelled after Crom Dubh, who, Mara Freeman says in Kindling the Celtic Spirit, was a small dark hump-backed agricultural god, who may bear a resemblence to Kokopeli of the SW American Indians. Crom Dubh, according to a Sligo legend, taught the people to sew and reap, and advised them about weather conditions. Even if we are reading of characters who may come down mythologized through the eons, the Crom described as a person in this novel seems a far cry from any helpful agricultural deity. Likewise, his father, Ogmios, described in the novel as "stupid as a barrel of hair" is based on a son of the Dagda, the Good God, of the deDannans, and is Ogma in Ireland. He is cognate with the Continental god Ogmios. Ogma is the god of eloquence and literature, so here again, I do not understand or find, the fit in naming characters so different from their originals. Maybe I'm nit-picking, but it lent an inconsistency to the narrative I couldn't put aside as I read it. Still, I plan on giving Greener Shore a go, just to see how she does deal with the Dannans, and if Maia ever shows up.
Lastly, I decided to read this novel while I was watching the HBO series Rome on DVD, to get the perspective of the Celtic side, which she does give quite eloquently. Again, because the Celtic peoples did not write their wisdom, much had to have been lost, and though this novel is total reconstructionism, it does give one a feeling of connection to an important and pivotal time in western civilization. Lately I've been going about saying, if you hate the I.R.S., you have the Romans to thank!
Intelligent, sensitive, evocative historical fiction, 2007-05-21
Not sure what book some of the other reviewers here had read, but this, like all of Llywelyn's prolific oeurve, is written with vibrancy and an epic literacy that few others can match. Bernard Cornwell, Marion Bradley, and Stephen Lawhead do come close. Llywelyn's characters are fully and properly heroic without unpleasantly swollen machismo. Not only is this a highly literate novel, it's also a grand romping adventure. This author has a special knack for capturing the humanity without slighting the history and this dramatic, yet quiet sensitivity is always compelling and soul-satisfying. If you enjoy the works of those authors mentioned above, you'll like this one too.
Otherwhen, 2006-11-16
This is a strong historical novel about a little-known episode. Ainvar, Chief Druid of a tribe in Gaul, comes of age during the era when the Celtic peoples of Gaul were being wiped out by Julius Caesar. Of special interest is Ainvar's friend Vercingetorix, who was a real historical personage and is reconstructed here as a valiant freedom fighter, in a doomed struggle to save his people and their way of life, rather than as a simple barbarian guerilla fighter, as in the Roman version of history. (The place names and tribal names here are authentic too.) Ainvar and Vercingetorix are two fascinating characters with great chemistry, and both are defined by a hopeless struggle against overwhelming power. Morgan Llywelyn does a great job exploring the mysterious culture of the ancient Celts, plus the religious beliefs and supposed magical powers of the Druids (who were not an ethnic group as is sometimes believed). Another advantage of this novel is that Llywelyn makes strong points about imperialism and war, with Caesar's use of fractious politics and false promises of freedom and progress in the drive to create empire, which have been used to destroy less powerful peoples ever since.
Unfortunately, there are several underlying problems that keep this novel from total greatness. Ainvar achieves the office of Chief Druid at a miraculously young age, but has little trouble assuming authority and utilizing his powers. Most of the subplots concerning Ainvar's personal life are messily constructed and of little usefulness, either for the plot or the development of his character. Ainvar also has a book-long grudge against a personal enemy, which is left hanging and unresolved. Meanwhile, the final quarter of the book becomes tedious and overblown, as Llywelyn bites off way more than she can chew in the final war for the freedom of Gaul. Huge armies travel immense distances in very little time and engage in one bombastic battle after another. Fans of battle fiction will probably find the depictions here to be highly implausible. A potentially interesting character, Caesar, has almost no definition whatsoever, and the Romans and Germans, as the enemies of Gaul, are depicted as soulless machines of slaughter, as opposed to the virtuous Celts. Still, this is a generally compelling historical novel, but just not quite a classic. [~doomsdayer520~]
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345491312
ISBN: 0345491319
Label: Del Rey
Manufacturer: Del Rey
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 480
Publication Date: 2006-04-25
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: 2006-04-25
Studio: Del Rey |
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