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thisjaelynn's review against another edition
5.0
This book took me so long to get through, but it was worth it. While I can't say I always LIKED everything in the book, I lost myself to it at times, the world and characters so complex and alive in my mind, and reading it was an incredible experience, even though I occasionally needed breaks to process and understand everything that was going on (much like Hild herself!).
redchippednails's review against another edition
Just wasnt the vibe for me at the time
eccles's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
For some reason I didn’t write this up - probably because I read it on Kindle and some part of my brain didn’t realise it was a book? An extraordinarily complete piece of historical fiction, set in 700s England, imagining a childhood for the Venerable Bede’s famous uber-nun of that period. Fantastically fine-grained historical detail, with lashings of incomprehensible Middle English words and place names that are impossible to keep track of unless you have her maps and glossary beside you. Hild is a little bit of a medieval Alia, a preternaturally clever child, destined to command kings and topple empires, but here a little more human and sympathetic than that diminutive abomination on Dune. The obsession with historical accuracy - the place names and relations and gethis and gemacce - is trying at times, but along with that you get wonderful detail on the functioning of a medieval community and well-drawn characters. Cultivation and wool processing, spinning and weaving, mead and ale production, feasts and fighting are woven into this narrative, giving it a texture, as real space for these personalities to inhabit. Sure the prose isn’t always sparkling, but this is a workmanlike piece of historical fiction to be absorbed and obsessed over. And by the end we love Hild and Cian, and forgive, a bit, their mothers, and worry - a lot - about what Edwin will do next.
mayaaaaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sunwitch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
wyvernfriend's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent, un-fantasy, historical look at the life of Hild at the beginning of the invasion of Christianity in England.
cassiope_fastigiata's review against another edition
3.0
Very mixed feelings - Paige has done a great review that sums up a lot of my feelings about this (I don’t know how to link it) so won’t even try to replicate. L..o…n…g and often tedious, but clearly thoroughly researched and thought out. Lots of descriptions of what women’s lives may have been like in the time period and lots of beautiful passages. But it just dragged on and on in the middle!! Not a lot of plot, just like actual history… but did we need all that detail? Got caught up again in the end… might even try the second one… but not right away.
dawnwich's review against another edition
4.0
This reminded me of the Rosemary Sutcliffe books I grew up with. It also reminds me strongly of the Poul Anderson Viking novels, especially Mother of Kings. I'm going to read it again because I missed a lot with all of the strange names and political intrigue, but even with the huge confusing cast of minor characters it was an engrossing read. The women in this book are some of the best examples of historically accurate strong female characters I've seen -- the characterizations are well drawn, and the women show a strong sense of agency without having to resort to anachronistic world views.
annepetersen's review against another edition
Too long, complex, slow moving, dense.