Rosemary Sutcliff

Rosemary Sutcliff was a 20th-century British children's author. Her writing is excellent; in fact, it's so good that even if you skip ahead, read the end of the book and know how things end, it's worth reading. (Not that I speak from experience or anything...) She seems to be well-researched too, and I have really enjoyed learning more about Roman Britain through her books. From what I've been able to find out she was not a Christian, though, so be forewarned that her works do contain elements of paganism and other non-Christian elements. For that reason I couldn't give a blanket recommendation to all of her books, and I would not suggest them for young readers to read on their own (though as read-alouds some of them would be really good). These would be a tremendous addition to a unit study about the Roman era through the opening of the Dark Ages.

Here are some reviews of the books I've read:

The Eagle of the Ninth

The first in a series that follows the Aquila family through Roman Britian; takes place around the middle of the 2nd century AD. Marcus was trained to be a soldier and when an injury forces his retirement from the Eagles, he doesn't know what to do with himself. Then a chance comes for him to go north and attempt to find the Eagle (similar in significance to our flag, I think...) of his father's lost Legion...). I liked the characters, the relationships, practically everything about this book except for some the references to pagan religion. Yes, they did worship other gods, but when it comes to a detailed description of a Druidic festival I though it was a little too much. If you read it, you may want to skim or skip a few pages. Overall, though, a very good story.

The Silver Branch

Picks up sometime around 290 AD, over 100 years after the events detailed in The Eagle of the Ninth. Justin, a young and rather silent surgeon, is sent to the garrison at Rutipeae in the east of Britian. He meets Flavius Aquila, a distant cousin, and the two strike up a friendship. After discovering clues leading to a plot on the life of the emperor Carausius, they become deeply involved in a group determined to assist Rome and bring down a traitor king. It's neat to see how Sutcliff brings things together, tying into Eagle of the Ninth while setting the stage for The Lantern Bearers.

The Lantern Bearers

This one's my favorite, and it's the book that got me started on this whole thing. :) It follows Aquila (the son of Flavius from The Silver Branch) through about twenty years of his life. I actually didn't expect to like it very much, but I was happily surprised. Though, to be honest, I almost ditched it somewhere in the middle. Glad I kept up. It's deeper than the other books in the series; it's real and I found it satisfying. A lot about relationships. Just a good book.

Sword at Sunset

Picks up just after The Lantern Bearers and follows Artos the Bear. This is Sutcliff's take on the Arthurian legend, written for an older audience than her other books. I skimmed around in it and would not recommend it; it's not clean.

Flame-Colored Taffeta

Written for a younger audience, and it actually breaks away from Sutcliff's usual time period: this is set around 1750. Damaris (12) and her good friend Peter live in an English village where smuggling runs are a usual part of life. After one such run Damaris finds a young man wounded in the woods and she, Peter, and the village "wise woman" Genty Small must care for him and help him to safety. Enjoyable story; reminded me of a Constance Savory book, though not as good as Enemy Brothers or The Reb and the Redcoats. However, Genty Small is also something of a witch and her "powers" figure in the storyline--I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend this one.

The Shining Company

Wow. This one would come next to The Lantern Bearers in my list of favorites. It's set around 600 AD--the Romans are long gone. It's based on a very early British poem (The Gododdin), about a group of 300 picked men who were sent to fight the Saxons in order to protect Britian. Written in the first person by Prosper, from Cymru (modern-day Wales), a shield-bearer to one of the 300. Starts out simply, but builds to an amazing (though sobering) climax.

A note here about reading the Eagle of the Ninth series...each story can stand alone, but if you're going to read them all you might as well do it chronologically. They do fit together nicely. ;)