The Eagle of the Ninth in Operation Read All the Sutcliff

Jun 04, 2008 Nicky rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction-alternatehistory, children-s-and-ya, favourites, greek-roman

This book is fully as good as I remember. That's a lot to say for a book that I adored from the age of eight until about fourteen, reread at seventeen-ish, and then haven't read for a few years... In my head, it was always one of the most amazing books of my childhood, and my memory didn't overstate it. It is written for children, so it's very easy to read and perhaps a little less than subtle, in places -- particularly with foreshadowing. "Little did he know how important this piece of informat This book is fully as good as I remember. That's a lot to say for a book that I adored from the age of eight until about fourteen, reread at seventeen-ish, and then haven't read for a few years... In my head, it was always one of the most amazing books of my childhood, and my memory didn't overstate it. It is written for children, so it's very easy to read and perhaps a little less than subtle, in places -- particularly with foreshadowing. "Little did he know how important this piece of information was going to become" sort of thing.

But Marcus and Esca are still the bright, real characters I remember. I always loved the parts that show the bond between them, the friendship, that transcends the initial fact of Esca's slavery. In fact, reading it again, it kind of amazed me how strong their friendship was -- realistic, yes, and with boundaries, but strong. I can picture both of them as characters, down to the way they move, can almost hear their voices. Part of that is years of imagination as a child, but I wouldn't have bothered if I didn't have good material to work on.

It's been a while since I did Classics, and longer since I learnt anything about the Roman occupation of Britain, but I think the historical details are reasonably accurate, too. I like the development of the two mysteries -- the entombed Roman Eagle, and the disappearance of the Hispana.

One thing I did notice was similarities in description and ideas to The Capricorn Bracelet, which I read for the first time last week. That was a little disappointing.

Edit: Reread again because I'll be getting the rest of this series for Christmas. Each book stands alone, I gather -- certainly The Eagle of the Ninth does, in any case, with no trailing plotlines left behind -- but I wanted to revisit a childhood favourite, and this made an excellent excuse.

For some reason, the moment that sticks in my mind right now is when Esca tells Marcus he saw the march of the ill-fated Hispana to where they fell, and Marcus replies that his father's crest was the scarlet hackle next after the eagle... ...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Sineala rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, paper-books, e-books, historical-fiction, rome, young-adult, fiction, roman-britain, favorites

I have read this book four or five times now, and I like it more and more every time, enough that by now I think I have to give it five stars. It's the story of a young man in Roman Britain, Marcus Flavius Aquila, and his quest for the lost Eagle standard of the Ninth Legion, his father's legion. (I have by now entirely stopped snickering at the fact that his name is Aquila, but I think this used to strike me as funny.)

This is a children's book of the sort that I don't think anyone writes anymor I have read this book four or five times now, and I like it more and more every time, enough that by now I think I have to give it five stars. It's the story of a young man in Roman Britain, Marcus Flavius Aquila, and his quest for the lost Eagle standard of the Ninth Legion, his father's legion. (I have by now entirely stopped snickering at the fact that his name is Aquila, but I think this used to strike me as funny.)

This is a children's book of the sort that I don't think anyone writes anymore -- it is a quest story, but an occasionally slow, very richly described one. Descriptions, especially landscape descriptions, are one of Sutcliff's strong points. I am not sure how it would appeal to the youth of today -- it contains some words I still don't know -- but I really love it. It's also the story of the friendship between Marcus and his slave (very soon former slave) Esca, who is a native Briton. Even though Esca is not from the tribe they're taking the Eagle back from, there are layers of complexity in their relationship, and in the descriptions of Britannia as a province in the midst of colonization.

Now that a film has been made, comparisons with it are more or less inevitable, and I have to say that I like them both a lot. They are, however, entirely different stories -- even though they have basically the same premise, that's about it. I did like that in the film, Esca was angry about Rome and angry about his slavery. In the book, Esca never is, and it used to bug me. He pretty much adores Marcus unequivocally from the beginning ("it was in my heart that it might be you that we went to"), and the most negative he is about Rome is the shield-boss conversation, which is wistful ambivalence at most. Only Cottia gets to be angry about Rome. Of course, she's not in the movie at all.

So essentially you have to accept that this is the kind of book where Esca (though at least he's not a slave for long) is going to be happy about slavery -- it problematizes Roman imperialism, but not slavery -- and move on. There are plenty of things it does right, though. I appreciate that Marcus, a disabled character, gets to be the hero and go on a quest.

If there is a flaw, I think it's that Sutcliff doesn't really know what to do with her minor characters, especially her minor female characters. I like Cottia a lot, and the happy ending everyone gets (at least, the portion of the ending that is happy) is very nice, but Cottia really has very little to do and it seems like even the author forgot about her for the bulk of the story.

Other than that, though, recommended highly, and I am now going to read all the rest of the Sutcliff I can find. If this is the sort of thing you will be into, you will be into this. It's a boys' own adventure story about Roman Britain, with epic quests and deep friendships! You can't go wrong with that!
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Dec 25, 2011 Sea rated it it was amazing

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Jun 09, 2011 Oreotalpa rated it really liked it

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Jun 04, 2014 Stephen rated it it was amazing

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