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Indlæser... The Circle of Ceridwenaf Octavia Randolph
Indlæser...
Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. Highly recommended and entertaining read. Some readers might be put off by the language at first: my advice is to stick with it. It will rapidly become addictive. The voice remains true, immersing us in the lives of very human characters. I happen to be married to a military historian, so I spotted the liberties taken for the historical period in question, but I think most readers will either not notice or will not be bothered by them. I didn't have the heart to dock a point for it because the story is fascinating and rolls right along. The amount of detail is enough to paint a wonderful setting without pulling us out of the action. It's longer than most ebooks, but you find you don't want to put it down or have it end. Kudos to the author! An excellent story of 9th century Britain, slow-moving yet exciting, with an amazing sense of being part of everyday life at the time. Young Ceridwen, after being orphaned and raised by monks, flees to seek employment rather than marry one of her few options. She falls in with Aelfwyn, who is being sent to marry the Dane Yrling against her wishes. The two are fast friends. Yrling's nephew, Sidroc, immediately senses in Ceridwen a kindred spirit, but she is intimidated by his certainty and devotion. Then a prisoner is brought to the holding, whom the women learn is Gyric, the young man whome Aelfwyn loved. When Ceridwen sneaks in to help him escape, she discovers that his eyes have been burnt out and he is barely alive. So she escapes with him, despite his apathy, and while they travel they fall in love. They are married by a forest priest shortly before they reach Gyric's home. ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
Belongs to Series
Fiction.
Thriller.
Historical Fiction.
HTML: It is the year 871. Of seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, five have fallen to the invading Vikings. No trait is more valued than loyalty, and no possession more precious than one's steel. Across this war-torn landscape travels fifteen year old Ceridwen, now thrust into the lives of the conquerors. Lost in the frozen woods, Ceridwen is discovered by the warriors accompanying young Ã?lfwyn, daughter of a Saxon lord, sold against her will in marriage as part of a peace treaty with a marauding Viking war chief. Their destination is the captured fortress of Four Stones, a ruin holding glittering treasure. There Ã?lfwyn must keep her vow and wed Yrling - and Ceridwen must do all she can to support her new friend in the rebuilding of the ravaged village and great hall. But living with the enemy affords Ceridwen unusual freedoms - and unlooked-for conflicts. Amongst them she explores again her own heathen past, and learns to judge each man on his own merits. Yrling's nephews Sidroc and Toki, both formidable warriors yet as different as night and day, compete to win Ceridwen for their own. Through both guile and goodness Ceridwen and Ã?lfwyn begin transforming the world of Four Stones. But the threat of full-scale war escalates, and a midnight party of furtive Danes delivers someone to Four Stones who destroys the girls' hopes of peace and contentment. Now Ceridwen must summon all her courage - a courage which will be sorely tested as she defies both Saxon and Dane and undertakes an extraordinary adventure to save a man she has never met.This should hook the reader and tell what your book is about and why they should bother reading it. Lose yourself in The Circle of Ceridwen No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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Aelfwyn is increasingly torn between loyalty to her family and her feelings for her husband and his people. Ceridwen is always the outsider – the child of a dead Mercian man and an unknown Welsh woman, brought up a pagan but taken in by the church, now living among Danes. She is also literate, which is unusual at that time, particularly for a woman.
The novel is clearly based on exhaustive research and paints a vivid picture of daily life in the Anglo-Saxon world, from food and medicine to religious practice to jewellery and, of course, weaponry. Through Ceridwen and Aelfwyn we see the responsibilities and privileges of women of their status, and the lives of the impoverished and defeated Saxon families coming to terms with Danish rule. At times I felt there could have been less quotidian detail and more plot, but as the book progresses the pace picks up nicely.
War is never far away and the lives of the two women undergo further dramatic change. While one element of the story is resolved, this book mainly, brilliantly, sets up further conflicts for the main characters. By the end I was convinced I want to read more.
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Read more of my reviews on my blog at https://katevane.com ( )