Just fantastic

I never usually read this type of novel however I am so pleased I did! What a fantastic book, historical and highly exciting, I just couldn't stop reading it. All I can say is sit back, relax and let the story unfold.....enjoy.

Would Make A Lovely Gift!

This book has a lovely simple rhyming rhythm thats easy for children to follow.<br />With beautiful framed pictures and pages its a lovely book to read and share with your child, exploring both pictures and text... Perfect as a gift for any expectant parents!<br /><br />The board backed pages are perfect for eager children and babies and allows them to love this book for as long as possible!<br /><br />Highly recommended!

Battles, conspiracy and then some

The second in the series follows the legions of Claudius from their beachhead near Rutupiae to the battles on the Medway, Thames and before Camulodunum (Colchester). It moves at a great pace making use of several plot threads to keep tension high. As before, the main characters, Cato and Centurion Macro, unify all the threads from the terror and exultation of battle through the politics of military strategy to the machinations of conspiracy. <br />Scarrow does battles extremely well, if always at the service of plot. Confusion never lasts long; the reader always knows what part the detail plays in the whole picture. The fight is not clean, but it is clear, and Scarrow is able to draw out the action so that every battle has its own arc and could be extracted and read for itself. <br />Cato is seen to grow in this book. The action in the first was dominated by his need to prove himself; here, though his part is often heroic, he must also come to terms with helplessness and the aftermath of slaughter. His infatuation with the slavegirl, Lavinia, continues and plays a part in the machinations of Vitellius to assassinate the Emperor. Cato is decisive at the denouement of this conspiracy, but Scarrow does not allow him to take the hero's palm - a sign that the book is a little more than a boys' own adventure.<br />There is, as well, another point of view for Cato to understand and absorb: that of the conquered. Nisus is a surgeon and from North Africa, not only Carthaginian but a direct descendent of Hannibal! He voices the opinion that some might not be grateful for the benefits of Roman civilisation, that they might have been happier as they were. We're not told what Cato makes of this, and Nisus is soon involved in grand conspiracy. It is not clear if the seditious sentiments he uttered were merely a ploy by the author to justify the character's eventual treachery, or if they portend an important theme for the other books. I was a little surprised by the inclusion of these thoughts; they interrupted the flow of the narrative in what might have been an interesting way. <br />The prose does not hold you up. Nouns have immediate call on their tabloid adjective:"crush the enemy in an iron vice; deadly efficiency; an icy dread; bleak despair; the ruthless efficiency of vigorous training; the grim reality of their predicament". At times he feels the need to make use of every note taken during research - as a boat moors, who throws every rope to whom for it to be tied to every mooring post. However, these are small faults in a fast-moving narrative set in an exotic Britain.

Superior, realistic 1st C AD Roman Army historical fiction. Highly recommended.

This is the 3rd book in Scarrow's Roman History series. The other books, properly numbered, are: 1. Under the Eagle, 2. The Eagle's Conquest, 4. The Eagle and the Wolves, 5. The Eagle's Prey, 6. The Eagle's Prophecy, 7. The Eagle in the sand.<br /><br />This novel is set during the reign of Emperor Claudius (full name Titus Claudius Nero Germanicus) and follows the fictitious lives of two Roman Army Officers during the campaign season of AD 43 in Britain, Optio (Sgt.) Quintus Licinius CATO and Centurion (Cpt.) Lucius Cornelius MACRO.<br />Centurion Macro and Optio Cato are serving with the II Legion Augusta, one of the historically most famous Roman legions that played a crucial role in the conquest and subjugation of Ancient Celtic Britain. They are under the command of Legatus (Legion Commander) Vespasian,the famous future emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus.<br /><br />One of the characters starring in this book is Boudicca, a.k.a Boadicea or Boadicaea, none else than the historically famous later queen of the Iceni tribe (lived in the vicinity of modern Norfolk), as well as her husband-to-be and future King of the Iceni, Prasutagus. A statue of Boadicaea stands today near Westminster Pier, London.<br /><br />In this novel, the family of Gen. Aulus Plautius, Commander of the Roman Expeditionary Force in Britain are kidnapped by servants of a fictitious druid sect that honours the dark Celtic God Lud (actually LLUD, a dark deity honoured as the ruling God of Celtic Britain whose temple once stood in London's Ludgate, named after him). It falls to Macro and Cato to attempt a commando operation with the help of both Boudicca and Prasutagus in order to save them.<br /><br />I highly recommend this book, as well as each and every book in the series, to fans of Roman military history. Scarrow does a very succesfull job in recreating the atmosphere of the era, and it actually feels like as if you, the reader, are actually a member of the"third century sixth cohort" there side by side with Macro and Cato, living their life, fighting their battles, experiencing their agonies. I have just finished reading the whole series (all 7 books) for the third time, and I still want more of it.<br /><br />My sole complaint of Scarrow is, that he writes his books from the Roman historical perspective (it is as if you read an account of the lives of two Roman Army Veterans written by a third Roman) and he sometimes fails in writing more detail about the fascinating ancient indigenous European cultures that his heroes encounter, namely the ancient Celto-British culture and the ancient Germanic and Celto-Gallic cultures.

Best one of the Four

Out of the four this is the one although they are all brilliant this one has the most action. Great read!

Halloween teamed with Charlie and Lola perfection - lovely!

As you'd expect from a Charlie and Lola halloween book, this is perfectly pitched for young children - it is just a tiny bit scary but really not very frightening. Charlie makes Lola jump so"I really want to make YOU jump Charlie" says Lola in reply. He doesn't think they'll be able to and indeed Lola and Lotta try without luck as cute ghosts under sheets. Then Lola tells a spooky story, with good spooky castle pictures. However, the end is rather soft and sweet so Charlie and Marv laugh. Lola has the last laugh though as Sizzles the dog jumps onto Charlie which does make him jump. I recommend primarily the C&L books that were published prior to the TV series where the text is stronger, better to read aloud, with less dialogue (I am not sleepy and will not go to bed; I will not ever never eat a tomato, I am absolutely too small for school). However, this is a lovely book, and there isn't too much two-way conversation. A smasher for the Autumn.

A must buy for second time mums!

I thought this book was fab. I loved the idea that it has no words but very detailed pictures. You can chose to discuss what you like with your child. Its great to see mum breast-feeding the newborn. A really good buy and very tastefully done.

Caesar's last hoorah!

The Gods of War is the final installment in Conn Igguldens' series of Emperor novels and it sees Julius cross the Rubicon river and take charge of Rome. He follows the fleeing Pompey across to Greece and Egypt where he meets the enigmatic Cleopatra before returning home to be worshipped, idolised and then treacherously murdered by a supposed loyal friend and supporter.<br /><br />As with the three previous novels, this is a highly readable and enjoyable book. Iggulden manages to keep the reader glued to the page right to the very end, even though the majority of us already know the details of Caesar's final years and eventual demise. This was on the whole an excellent series of novels, I had never previously read anything by this author, but now I eagerly await every book he produces no matter what the subject.<br /><br />Now for a bit of a rant, I'm fed up of reading reviews criticising Conn Iggulden's tendency to stray from the facts in order to embellish the tale. If readers want a book that is based on nothing but the facts, then please stop reading fictional novels! These are not intended to be 100% historically accurate as the author willingly acknowledges, they are works of fiction which is generally based on facts but with huge juicy dollops of imagination and intellect thrown in.<br /><br />Overall, I think this was a fantastic novel and indeed series, I don't believe I can recommend them highly enough, so pick them up and find out for yourself!

Straightforward fun

The same people, setting and ingredients as the 3 previous novels in the series but Scarrow brings it all together flawlessly. If you love action-packed historical novels can’t go wrong with this one. Thanks again Simon!

This is poor but read on...

I am putting the same review on this book and Scarrow's latest one in the series,"Centurion". Now this one is poor; poorly written, bog-standard charactarisation and ho-hum action scenes, but...<br /><br />By the time you get to"Centurion" we have an author who has settled into his style, still basic, but eminently readable, with the author's research and expertise in the subject lightly spread amongst the plot and the expansion of the major characters into almost loveable specimens.<br /><br />So for those of you reading this review in"Under the Eagle" stick with this series, it gets way better.

JUST BRILLIANT!

I actually am a massive harry potter fan and read this book years ago - i accidentally come across this been reviewed and reading the other review about reading cs lewis, lord of the rings etc what a load of rubbish - I have read most of the books that author suggested and they do not compare in one little bit to harry potter - it IS a childrens book but is also fantastic for adults to read and i think people forget that when they decide to slag off harry potter - leave him alone hes fab - its nice to have some magic in the world take us away from boring everyday life!

A strong novel bu rather long............

For what it's worth, I thought that Brethren, the first in this yet-to-be-completed trilogy, was very good - the characters had depth, the storyline had credibility, it was a page-turner (never a bad thing if one has had to endure the hideous gloom of Thomas Hardy in one's youth) and the lovely Miss Young writes excellent and well-constructed English. It was a fine effort from one so young and also showed evidence of a great deal of careful historical research to root the novel in a bed of basic fact.<br /><br />Unusually for me, I actually sought out Crusade with real eagerness and settled down on a particularly wet and horrible weekend (which also featured much Gordon Brown on the tele - that's how bad a weekend it was) to enjoy it. Enjoy it I did, but with some reservations and it seems unkind to criticise adversely because Miss Young has achieved a great deal. Here, again for what it's worth, are some of my reservations:<br /><br />1. The novel is about 150 pages too long. There is no doubt that the author wanted to cram in as much as possible and build the book up to a cracking ending - but there are long passages where not a lot happens, and more by circumstance than by style, they plod.<br />2. The characters have become a little formulaic. The Sultan's evil advisor never talks, he hisses. Will's girlfriend is such an unspeakable drip that one is surprised she hasn't dissolved by the 4th chapter. The wronged friend who betrays his old mate and yet comes good at the end is tiresome. Yet I have to say that once again Robyn's depiction of life in Acre during the Crusades is good - hot, miserable, disease-ridden and run through with finance and the intrigues that always follow war and conflict. As J B Priestly said,"Sex, money and food cross all borders."<br />3. Robyn Young's writing is efficient but no so vibrant as in the first book.<br /><br />All that said, I shall seek out the final chapter and no doubt read it with pleasure. Whenever I have tried to write a novel I have run out of ideas by page three so I have no right to judge Miss Young. I do hope, though, that she is economical with the story and with the various plots. She is a fascinating writer and I have no doubt at all that her books over the years will become more and more interesting. To her great credit, nowhere does she affect to be writing history and one is aware that this is a real novel.<br /><br />A sensible and well-thought out novel, but not so available as Brethren. Nonetheless, far, far better than a holiday potboiler.

This is not my favourite, or my best...

Lots of these newer Charlie and Lola books are spin offs from the television series, and aren't written by Lauren Child at all. Sometimes this doesn't matter, as the series and the books do try to stay as close to the original books as possible, and with good reason, they work.<br /><br />This one, to me, is not quite on the money. Child is very playful and cheeky with her stories. It's always clear that Charlie and Lola are good kids who are kind to each other, despite the mischief they get into, but in this book the moral is rather laboured, and it's alarmingly thin on the amusement front.<br /><br />Lola becomes obsessed by dressing up as an alligator, and refuses to do anything unless she is in costume. Charlie worries that she will be teased, especially when she decides to go to school dressed as an alligator. Lola proves that his fears are unfounded and that it is 'ok to be different'. All a bit too chocolate boxy for my liking and my kids least favourite of the books.

Do you need to buy a new car Mr Cornwell?

Bernerd Cornwell is a great authour but he does have his off books. This is one of them.<br /><br />Once again Cornwell is the master storyteller but the book lacks any momentum. The finnish feels like the begining. Considering how short this book is, i wonder if Bernerd wants to buy an Aston Martin and needs some quick cash. Instead of buying this, off a similar genre (and far better) are Conn Iggulden's latest books.<br /><br />Very poor, please reddem yourself with a better sequal.

An inspiring story

What a find-i was on jury service and looking for a good book and picked this up!<br />Such an engrossing story, full of drama and excitment well worth buying its easy to read and the descripition and mental images you get are something else!!!

This book ROCKS

A major favourite with my 18 month old girl. She requests it about 10 times a day, sits on my lap and ROCKS - no other way to put it. She does the wipers with her arms flailing, sticks her little fingers through the holes to turn the pages and observes the well drawn detail of doggies, butterflies etc etc. Much recommended! But of course you can't just read it, you've got to sing it and do the actions/ baby signs too!

Wonderful read

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is witty, laugh out loud funny at times, and thoroughly enjoyable. I am 40 something but that didn't stop me enjoying it immensely! I normally have my nose in a crime thriller murder mystery sort of book but thought I would try this for a change. I wasn't disappointed. Excellent book.