Book: The Eagle of The Ninth (also called The Eagle)
Author: Rosemary Sutcliff
Rating: 7.5/10 This book it hard to do a rating for as it's so different to what I normally read so It's hard to compare, But although not everyone will like it I think it's easily a 7 pushing up into a 8.
Recommended Age: 12- ancient
The Ninth Legion of Rome marched into Northern Britain and were never seen again, four thousand men disappeared and the eagle was lost. Marcus's Father was one of the commanders of that cursed Legion.
Marcus himself is a centurion in a cohort of the second legion. And is heading with his troops to refresh the garrison at one of the frontier forts he's not there long before a druid inflames the native tribes against the Romans and attacks the fort/camp that serves as their base.
Then mid-attack a patrol returns and needs rescuing from the onslaught.The troops march out in the roman legions renowned testudo,or tortoise formation, and carve a path to the embattled group to help them make it back to the safety of the camp. Almost to safety suddenly chariots come charging trying to mow down the soldiers. Marcus hurls himself at the leading one and brings it crashing down then falling unconscious.
Waking up several days later he finds himself alive but his leg is badly injured.His action saved his men but has ruined his career and ambitions .Unfit to return to duty and his leg needing plenty of R&R he gets taken in by his uncle who settled in Britain at the end of his career.
(Now I'm not going to lie but the next 30 or so pages of the book are a bit tedious but stick with it)
It then goes on about his life with his uncle and slow recovery of his leg, meeting the neighbours and one of the most and only important events of this section. He visits the Saturnalia Games where in the fight to death he turns the crowd into sparing the life of the loser who he then buys as a personal servant..
he meets a couple of various other characters which so far seem to have very little to do with the actual story line after this bit. like a fried of this uncles who re examines his leg and finds some of the problem the other surgeon missed, although it will never fully heal. there's a few more bits and pieces that slightly tie in with the rest of the story.
Then the story picks back up with rumours of the Ninth eagle being seen in the hands of some tribes. The legions can't send people after a rumour but Marcus can go by himself. Accompanied by his servant Esca who is now more his friend than servant,, and knowledge in healing eyes as a cover, he sets off in pursuit off the rumours and tales of the Ninth legion and their resurfaced Eagle.
Travelling through the wild north for days on end they meet Guern the hunter who wasn't always a hunter in the tribes.(but you'll need to read the book to find out what I mean).
Until eventually they reach a Dun whose chieftain is a man called Dergdian. His son is near blind and Marcus stays there a while to try and save the poor boys life.
Weeks pass and then he is told that in 3 days time there is the feast of the new spears, an initiation for the young men of the tribe into full members. Marcus is permitted to watch part of the ceremony and is astonished when they go to a cave and a Priest brings out a strange totem, It's the eagle of the Ninth Legion.(minus it's wings). It turns out the Ninth legion died protecting it after many of the legionaries deserted and left barely any to continue their journey through enemy land,they had no chance.
Now Marcus knows where it is all he needs to do is get it and flee back to the wall and Roman occupied territory. Gently prodding for information he finds out the cave is unguarded and makes his plan.
He decides to leave and lets everyone know in advance. Then the night before he leaves Esca steals the eagle and hides it in a lake or loch on the path home.
They leave without a problem but by midday the tribes have caught up with them. Pretending to be confused Marcus allows them to search him and finding no eagle they continue on their search. Then that night Esca goes back and recovers the eagle from it's hiding place and they make a dash for safety.
The relentless speed they have to take to keep ahead of pursers ,even unaware ones, is taking its toll on
Marcus's leg but they dare not stop.
Then they get spotted yet again by another group although this time there is only 3 of them. Marcus and Esca run into a building on a sheer cliff face and ambush the pursers as they enter, 2 are down and tied up. the third enters and others are closing in, Marcus gives the third a choice, lie to the others and send them away then try to recapture them closer to the wall
or
lose the Eagle forever at the bottom of the ravine that backs onto the building.
They get away and in a frenzied dash on the fresher horses the 3 pursers were riding reach the Roman boundaries to safety.
Returning to his uncles house where the Legate Claudius is visiting they present the eagle to him in a moment of their triumph in returning it before it could rally the tribes against them. But unfortunately it seemed that the Eagle of the ninth returning is not enough to reform it so Marcus achievement is diminished somewhat.
Then they get a letter from the senate and it contains all they need to start living in Britain. And the eagle is somewhere where other Legions will go always.
This book is actually amazing. Yes it's rather slow in places, Yes not everyone will enjoy it, but for me it made such a good change to the books I usually read and I found the storyline quite good. True it could be shortened and some bits could be cut out, true also it's not exactly action packed, but that's the style it's been written in and I think it just enhances the story all the more.
It's a great read and anyone would be a fool not to try it and read it all the way through at least once.
Stick with it and don't stop till the end
Hope you found this review helpful,
The Devonian Book Reviewer
Don't wait to read such a different and good book get it now:
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Saturday, 23 April 2011
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
BOOK REVIEW: Eagle Strike(Anthony Horowitz)
Book: Eagle Strike
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Rating: 6-7/10
Recommended Age: 10 - 16/17
Alex Rider continues his adventure in the fourth book of the series but this time it's a complete coincidence. He's holidaying in the south of France when he spots the assassin Yassen Gregorovich getting off a boat. He follows him and over hears a brief telephone conversation about a target being confirmed but there is nothing he can do to stop it as he has no information. Later that day he realises his mistake as him and his friend the daughter of a journalist he's staying with return home to find the house has been blown up and the father rushed to hospital. Alex sneaks on board the boat intending to kill Yassen but get captured and given a choice :
Get shot now and die or take part in a bull fight.?
He chooses the bull.
Surprisingly he manages to escape death by bull and take out one of Yassens henchmen to escape and he thinks that's that apart from the one thing that's bothering him.
The name Damian Cray, the name given by the other person on the phone call to Yassen.
The person who commission Gregorovich to kill his friends Dad.
Where does he go? To MI6 of course but when he gets their he is in for a shock.
MI6 want nothing to do with it, they say Damian Cray is too charitable, too influential and the evidence isn't enough.
So Alex goes it alone armed with a few Gadgets his one ally in MI6 Smithers gives him and up against a ruthless man who is rich,famous about to launch a new game console and about to ruin the world in his deluded quest to save it.
This story will take Alex from a holidaying tourist to a individual hunting Cray down and exposing his plan,
from a games exhibition ot a top secret factory
victory to defeat
and finally end up on the center of it all Air Force One with the American missile system ready to fire.
Alex Rider has ninety minutes to save the world...
This book is very good and written superbly making you not want ot put it down. it explore Alex's life past and present and a possible new truth about his parents. I really enjoyed Reading it and hardly put it down.
I would once again recommend this book and the previous of the series to any reader who likes abit of action and mystery. With the star being a teenage boy.
Hope you found this review helpful,
The Devonian Reviewer
UK :
USA:
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Author: Anthony Horowitz
Rating: 6-7/10
Recommended Age: 10 - 16/17
Alex Rider continues his adventure in the fourth book of the series but this time it's a complete coincidence. He's holidaying in the south of France when he spots the assassin Yassen Gregorovich getting off a boat. He follows him and over hears a brief telephone conversation about a target being confirmed but there is nothing he can do to stop it as he has no information. Later that day he realises his mistake as him and his friend the daughter of a journalist he's staying with return home to find the house has been blown up and the father rushed to hospital. Alex sneaks on board the boat intending to kill Yassen but get captured and given a choice :
Get shot now and die or take part in a bull fight.?
He chooses the bull.
Surprisingly he manages to escape death by bull and take out one of Yassens henchmen to escape and he thinks that's that apart from the one thing that's bothering him.
The name Damian Cray, the name given by the other person on the phone call to Yassen.
The person who commission Gregorovich to kill his friends Dad.
Where does he go? To MI6 of course but when he gets their he is in for a shock.
MI6 want nothing to do with it, they say Damian Cray is too charitable, too influential and the evidence isn't enough.
So Alex goes it alone armed with a few Gadgets his one ally in MI6 Smithers gives him and up against a ruthless man who is rich,famous about to launch a new game console and about to ruin the world in his deluded quest to save it.
This story will take Alex from a holidaying tourist to a individual hunting Cray down and exposing his plan,
from a games exhibition ot a top secret factory
victory to defeat
and finally end up on the center of it all Air Force One with the American missile system ready to fire.
Alex Rider has ninety minutes to save the world...
This book is very good and written superbly making you not want ot put it down. it explore Alex's life past and present and a possible new truth about his parents. I really enjoyed Reading it and hardly put it down.
I would once again recommend this book and the previous of the series to any reader who likes abit of action and mystery. With the star being a teenage boy.
Hope you found this review helpful,
The Devonian Reviewer
UK :
USA:
Germany:
Monday, 18 April 2011
BOOK REVIEW: Skeleton Key(Anthony Horowitz)
Book: Skeleton Key
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Rating: 5-6/10
Recommended Age: 10 - 16/17
In the third book of the series Alex has settled back into normal life when Crawley turns up asking for his help. Despite Alex's reservations it isn't even a proper mission and Alex is talked into it.A break in was found at Wimbledon but nothing was taken or added.He gets to spend a fortnight as a ball boy at Wimbledon whilst keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. And soon enough he See's a Chinese security Guard acting oddly , he follows the guard as much as possible and soon realises that the guard is watching the player whilst talking on a fake mobile but then he makes a basic mistake the guard realises he's being followed and tricks Alex into following him to a deserted part of the complex and then tries to kill him. Fortunately Alex survives but now the Chinese Triads are out to get him. He gets attacked whilst surfing with friends in Cornwall and almost drowns.
This turns out to be perfect for MI6 who use it as a new way to get him to accept a mission whilst they try to stop the triads killing him, he's left with little choice over a mission that seems to be just relaxing in the sun whilst C.I.A agents investigate a ex- Russian general Alexei Sarov on the island "Cayo Esqueleto" aka "Skeleton Key ". Something is wrong but as usual no one is giving Alex the full picture.
Worse the CIA Agents take a instant dislike to him,test him ruthlessly and the blame him for a meeting that went horribly wrong despite him saving Troy's life.
As the agents prepare to go in to the generals fortress of a house through a underwater cave everything goes bad. The agents disappear, Alex goes looking for them and gets attacked by a shark whilst simultaneously finding out why the agents didn't return then he got captured by the generals men.
Still in the dark over what's happening the General confuses Alex even more by offering to adopt him and have him as a son as he changes Russia and the world forever with the use of a single nuclear bomb.
what can Alex do to stop the plan as the seconds tick away to the end of the world?
Although the story line of this book is very good and certainly there are good ideas concepts and events through out i didn't find this book as gripping or exciting as the first and was actually bored in some places. That said it is still an ok book in a pretty good series so don't be discouraged from buying this and any others.
Hope you found this review helpful,
The Devonian Reviewer
UK :
USA:
Germany:
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Rating: 5-6/10
Recommended Age: 10 - 16/17
In the third book of the series Alex has settled back into normal life when Crawley turns up asking for his help. Despite Alex's reservations it isn't even a proper mission and Alex is talked into it.A break in was found at Wimbledon but nothing was taken or added.He gets to spend a fortnight as a ball boy at Wimbledon whilst keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. And soon enough he See's a Chinese security Guard acting oddly , he follows the guard as much as possible and soon realises that the guard is watching the player whilst talking on a fake mobile but then he makes a basic mistake the guard realises he's being followed and tricks Alex into following him to a deserted part of the complex and then tries to kill him. Fortunately Alex survives but now the Chinese Triads are out to get him. He gets attacked whilst surfing with friends in Cornwall and almost drowns.
This turns out to be perfect for MI6 who use it as a new way to get him to accept a mission whilst they try to stop the triads killing him, he's left with little choice over a mission that seems to be just relaxing in the sun whilst C.I.A agents investigate a ex- Russian general Alexei Sarov on the island "Cayo Esqueleto" aka "Skeleton Key ". Something is wrong but as usual no one is giving Alex the full picture.
Worse the CIA Agents take a instant dislike to him,test him ruthlessly and the blame him for a meeting that went horribly wrong despite him saving Troy's life.
As the agents prepare to go in to the generals fortress of a house through a underwater cave everything goes bad. The agents disappear, Alex goes looking for them and gets attacked by a shark whilst simultaneously finding out why the agents didn't return then he got captured by the generals men.
Still in the dark over what's happening the General confuses Alex even more by offering to adopt him and have him as a son as he changes Russia and the world forever with the use of a single nuclear bomb.
what can Alex do to stop the plan as the seconds tick away to the end of the world?
Although the story line of this book is very good and certainly there are good ideas concepts and events through out i didn't find this book as gripping or exciting as the first and was actually bored in some places. That said it is still an ok book in a pretty good series so don't be discouraged from buying this and any others.
Hope you found this review helpful,
The Devonian Reviewer
UK :
USA:
Germany:
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