Eagle of the Ninth and Goldenhand
Jan. 13th, 2018 08:28 pmAmong my Xmas presents were a trilogy of Rosemary Sutcliff books from
venta and a Garth Nix book from my parents. I've now read the first of the trilogy and the Garth Nix book.
Eagle of the Ninth is a children's book set in Roman Britain (apparently Hollywood made a film of it in 2011 called The Eagle). It's about a Roman officer (Marcus), his friendships and his keenness to discover the fate of his father's Legion. I really liked it, wished I'd met it when I was a child and thought that the chase in the last part of the book was probably the basis for pursuits a number of other stories (Eagle of the Ninth was published in the 1950s). I'm looking forward to reading the other two parts of the trilogy.
I then read another children's story - Goldenhand which is the fifth book set in the Old Kingdom fantasy series. I'm very fond of the Old Kingdom stories and this was a solid enough addition. However, it seemed a little too concerned with romantically attaching all the unattached protagonists of previous books to the extent that the main plot felt rather secondary. I have always liked Sabriel and thought it the best of the Old Kingdom simply because it does a very original back-ground/set-up so nicely, but this was a nice, comfortable read and I hope for more.
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Eagle of the Ninth is a children's book set in Roman Britain (apparently Hollywood made a film of it in 2011 called The Eagle). It's about a Roman officer (Marcus), his friendships and his keenness to discover the fate of his father's Legion. I really liked it, wished I'd met it when I was a child and thought that the chase in the last part of the book was probably the basis for pursuits a number of other stories (Eagle of the Ninth was published in the 1950s). I'm looking forward to reading the other two parts of the trilogy.
I then read another children's story - Goldenhand which is the fifth book set in the Old Kingdom fantasy series. I'm very fond of the Old Kingdom stories and this was a solid enough addition. However, it seemed a little too concerned with romantically attaching all the unattached protagonists of previous books to the extent that the main plot felt rather secondary. I have always liked Sabriel and thought it the best of the Old Kingdom simply because it does a very original back-ground/set-up so nicely, but this was a nice, comfortable read and I hope for more.