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A review by morgandhu
Island of Ghosts by Gillian Bradshaw
4.0
Gillian Bradshaw's Island of Ghosts is a complex and entertaining tale, set in Roman Britain during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The narrative thread of the novel is played out against the story of the Sarmatian auxiliary forces taken into the Roman army and posted to Britain after the Empire's victory over the their people. Little is known of the fate of the Sarmatians - a nomadic people, known as formidable mounted fighters, who had migrated from Central Asia into Eastern Europe - once they arrived in Britain, but Bradshaw has taken what is known about them, and about the much better documented history of the Roman occupation of Britain, and created a story of romance and political intrigue.
Bradshaw paints a picture of colonial Britain that puts considerable emphasis on the diversity of cultures, and the issues of cultural clashes beyween them - the imperial military culture of the conquering Romans, the unassimilated Sarmatian warriors, the varied British tribes and their different histories with the Empire, the Christian underground, the hidden remnants of the druidic order - as well as on the different political factions within these groups.
Navigating these complexities is Ariantes, the commander of one of the first three Sarmatian dragons (a unit of 500 soldiers) to arrive in Britain. Weary of wars fought for glory, emotionally devastated by the death of his wife and children during the wars with Rome, determined to take care of his men and honour his vow to serve the Empire, Ariantes is caught between Romans who distrust the "barbarians" they assume the Sarmatians to be, Britons who hope for freedom and a return to the old ways, and his fellow Sarmatians who are unwilling to make the changes necessary to live in the new land they have come to.
A well-researched and thoroughly engaging historical novel.
Bradshaw paints a picture of colonial Britain that puts considerable emphasis on the diversity of cultures, and the issues of cultural clashes beyween them - the imperial military culture of the conquering Romans, the unassimilated Sarmatian warriors, the varied British tribes and their different histories with the Empire, the Christian underground, the hidden remnants of the druidic order - as well as on the different political factions within these groups.
Navigating these complexities is Ariantes, the commander of one of the first three Sarmatian dragons (a unit of 500 soldiers) to arrive in Britain. Weary of wars fought for glory, emotionally devastated by the death of his wife and children during the wars with Rome, determined to take care of his men and honour his vow to serve the Empire, Ariantes is caught between Romans who distrust the "barbarians" they assume the Sarmatians to be, Britons who hope for freedom and a return to the old ways, and his fellow Sarmatians who are unwilling to make the changes necessary to live in the new land they have come to.
A well-researched and thoroughly engaging historical novel.