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David McK (3721 KP) rated The Eagle of the Ninth in Books

Jan 28, 2019

So, this is history (and told in the foreword of this novel): Sometime about the year AD 117, the Roman Ninth Legion marched north to deal with an uprising among the Caledonian tribes (in what is now Scotland), and were never heard of again. Also, nearly eighteen hundred years later during excavations at Silchester, a wingless Roman Eagle was dug up, buried under the fields.

But how did it come to be there?

While no-one knows for certain, those 2 facts together form the starting point for this story, which sees the son of the last commander of said Legion traveling North 'beyond the [Hadrians] wall' to search for and return said Eagle after his partial recovery from his laming during an attack on his outpost, and after he hears rumours of an Imperial Eagle in the Celts hands.

He is accompanied on this journey by his freed slave, whom he had previously (before the journey, during his recovery) rescued from the Arena.

While I had previously seen the 2011 film of the same name, I'd actually never read the source material before, so was unable to say how truly it stuck to the same.

Now I have, and I have to say: said movie does stick remarkably close, even if not entirely faithfully. the book, I found, could be a bit slow at times, and also tended to gloss over the less pleasant (shall we say) aspects of Roman society, with the Romans largely portrayed as civilized as compared to the uncouth Barbarians.

But then again, this is -supposedly - a children's book, and also a product of its time (first published, remember, in the 1950s).

Kudos

Lindsay (1796 KP) rated Christmas in London: A Novel in Books

Dec 19, 2019

This book I thought would be more about one couple getting to know each other and the other being a young man they get together and see more of London at Christmas. This did somewhat happen though not the way I pictured it.

It about two women, one a pastry chef and the other network producer. The one named Kate was a better story line that kept me reading. I was half attempting to not complete reading it and making it DNF. It was boring to read. It was a romance. There was not much going on about this cooking show. The woman Louisa was more worried about her dreams. She did not see that she had two men falling for her. If the author had made it more about cooking and her recipes. I would then see how Louisa was acting. No, that not what I got.

The subplot with Kate seems more like what I was expecting. Her penning for her love and see London with her lost love. She runs into him at the hotel and spends the week sightseeing. This story is a better storyline and more enjoyable. I enjoy meeting Trevor. Their story was more of a love story and seeing their experience in London at Christmas.

I enjoyed hearing about some of the places in London. Imaging the couples there experiencing London during Christmas. Kate and Trevor's story is one that I would have read more about. Trevor and Kate have a history together. Reading about St. Andrews and their past. I may be happy to read. I was could picture the area. Scotland and some of the landmark the best parts.