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Roman Trilogy #3
Artorius Rex
The first edition of this novel of King Arthur, which completes Gloag's trilogy of historical novels about Roman Britain. 197 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. St. Martin's Press (ISBN 0-312-05548-X). 1977 stated first US edition.
197 pages, Loose Leaf
First published January 1, 1977
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July 27, 2014
I'll be fair and I'll immediately say that I found this book boring but I am not sure if it's the way the author write, if it's because it's the third book in a trilogy I haven't followed or if it's for the choice of narrative. I actually don't think it's because I haven't followed the trilogy because they other two books seem to be about the Roman empire, so I tend to think it's the fault of the narration.
The author decided to make Kay (Caius, a general of the East Roman Empire) the main character, narrating in first person, writing a fictional journal necessary to help the Emperor in future decisions about Britain. The fictional journal has the aim to talk about the political problems and military problems that Kay encountered when he accompanied his pupil Arthur around through Britain, to unify it.
I think it was extremely boring. Somehow, it lacked passion. Kay only makes a few personal remarks (about how much the Saxons give freedom to women, about how Guinevere acts, some remarks on other companions and religion) and most of the narration is a cold and detached talking about facts and actions.
There is nothing of the relationship between Kay and other characters, mostly Arthur, as if Kay wasn't even there. I also missed the characters. Basically all the characters are OC created by the author himself. Arthur's band of warriors is made by Kay, Merlin and a series of original characters (I think one of those can be interpreted as Lancelot but nothing more).
The only things I liked are the descriptions of the culture of Saxons and the integration of the various culture and religions. I also liked how Kay described Guinevere. It is clear that the narrator/Kay doesn't like Guinevere (and he directly tells so) but he is fair in describing her and her ideas and the result is a really interesting character, probably the most interesting character in the book along with Merlin. A pity that there wasn't too much about her.
The end of the book was really original. It shows Arthur as a man who failed and was even inferior to the man who later marries Guinevere. It is kind of sad and peculiar and we finally see also some emotions from Kay.
To sum it up: a nice book if you are interested in historical facts, historical realism, military and probably even Saxons, but it's overall a boring book.
The author decided to make Kay (Caius, a general of the East Roman Empire) the main character, narrating in first person, writing a fictional journal necessary to help the Emperor in future decisions about Britain. The fictional journal has the aim to talk about the political problems and military problems that Kay encountered when he accompanied his pupil Arthur around through Britain, to unify it.
I think it was extremely boring. Somehow, it lacked passion. Kay only makes a few personal remarks (about how much the Saxons give freedom to women, about how Guinevere acts, some remarks on other companions and religion) and most of the narration is a cold and detached talking about facts and actions.
There is nothing of the relationship between Kay and other characters, mostly Arthur, as if Kay wasn't even there. I also missed the characters. Basically all the characters are OC created by the author himself. Arthur's band of warriors is made by Kay, Merlin and a series of original characters (I think one of those can be interpreted as Lancelot but nothing more).
The only things I liked are the descriptions of the culture of Saxons and the integration of the various culture and religions. I also liked how Kay described Guinevere. It is clear that the narrator/Kay doesn't like Guinevere (and he directly tells so) but he is fair in describing her and her ideas and the result is a really interesting character, probably the most interesting character in the book along with Merlin. A pity that there wasn't too much about her.
The end of the book was really original. It shows Arthur as a man who failed and was even inferior to the man who later marries Guinevere. It is kind of sad and peculiar and we finally see also some emotions from Kay.
To sum it up: a nice book if you are interested in historical facts, historical realism, military and probably even Saxons, but it's overall a boring book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review