Monthly Group Reads: JUNE 2014 (Group Read 1): The Lion and the Lamb by John Henry Clay

[Darcy]

My copy arrived today, so I'll start reading tonight while, glancing occasionally at the US vs. Ghana match.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Watching that game now.


Finished the book (or near enough to it).
4 stars.

[Deba]

Your are commenting to Jane, yet posted it under Amy?

[Dawn]

Debra wrote: "Your are commenting to Jane, yet posted it under Amy?"

?? *confused*

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I did my review the other day. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I didn't talk much about what actually happens in the story. I don't like doing that much, especially when the book is a group read.

So you don't have to worry about spoilers in the review.

[Suzanne]

I've finished the book and I don't think I'll give it a rating or review, as it just really didn't grab me but I don't think it's a badly written book by any means - just not my thing. I found it frustrating to have the story told almost entirely from the perspective of the younger characters, as it always felt like there was a whole other more complex story sitting underneath that we only saw glimpses of.

[Darcy]

Un finding it a case I'd déjà vue. It reminds me that much of Hannibal: Enemy of Rome. Obviously a different story, but it's shaping up to be very similar to me.
Plus, I'm getting a sense that boys in the Roman era are very much like girls in the medieval era - not happy with the parental guidance? Join the army/convent and things can only improve. I guess I'm bored by the trope.

[Dawn]

Maybe Terri will like Hannibal: Enemy of Rome more than I thought she would then....

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Dawn wrote: "Maybe Terri will like Hannibal: Enemy of Rome more than I thought she would then...."

I want to say yes, but no. I wouldn't. I have read samples and it does bleed into the second book too. It reads too young for me. Some authors accidentally write that way when their characters are young. Then it becomes more adult in feel as the characters become life experienced.

I felt The Lion and the Lamb wasn't written in the same way, and there was no actual childhood in this one.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

My 4 stars was a very weak one. I gave it 4, but I started the review by saying it is a 3 1/2 star. I have ended up slinging it back to 3 as your comments have made me think about it and I probably shouldn't be upscaling when I think it was only a little better than a 3 star for me.

So I brought it back to 3 and give it, unofficially, a half star for being a book about this topic in this setting. I liked that someone wrote an epic fiction in this period.

[Jane]

Terri wrote: "My 4 stars was a very weak one. I gave it 4, but I started the review by saying it is a 3 1/2 star. I have ended up slinging it back to 3 as your comments have made me think about it and I probably..."

Too bad the others I've read set in this time period in northern Roman Britain are older books and probably O.P., but they/re still readable, I think. There's a new one I have my eye on called Britannia - Part 1: The Wall / Richard Denham & M.J. Trow

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

The cover seems interesting, Jane. What a shame the author chose just to direct people to his website instead of including a blurb on GR.

I won't fall for that old trick. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

There are so many books that are out of print that I wold like to read. The chances of me ever finding them for an affordable price and in decent condition are slim to none.

Such as this one Hadrian's Wall

[Jane]

Terri wrote: "The cover seems interesting, Jane. What a shame the author chose just to direct people to his website instead of including a blurb on GR.

I won't fall for that old trick. :)"

It would have made it a whole lot easier, that's for sure. A GR Friend led me to this one. This one concerns the usurper Valentinus; I believe the sequel will concern Magnus Maximus [Macsen Wledig], if I'm not mistaken.