Druids by Morgan Llywelyn Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Druids
Book Review: Not as great as I thought it would be
Summary: 3 Stars
I found Druids to be a bit of a disappointment. It's been a little over a week since I finished it, and very little of the book has stayed with me. When I read it, I couldn't put it down, but that was mostly because I wanted to get through it and see if there was anything more interesting at the end. There wasn't, at least for me.The plot isn't bad, but it's not very deep. Young boy is raised to become a druid by grumpy older druid after showing he has the ability to bring the dead back to life, shows great power in a few things, less power in acquiring his current love interest, who happens to be a female druid. She snubs him, he learns more, and then he's sent off to study in other holy groves. As he's leaving, a band of female prisoners come in, and one decides she wants boy/druid. He leaves, meets up with friend he hasn't seen in a while, bard, and picks up an older dancer/slave while touring the area the Romans conquered. Comes back to his grove, becomes leader of the grove becuase grumpy druid was killer, and watches the Celts wage a huge battle against Julius Caesar, which they lose. Goes into the forest with a host of woman, and lives there.
I'm pretty disappointed in this book, it gets three stars for not being terrible, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless you can check it out from the library.
Book Review: One of my favorite books
Summary: 5 Stars
I wont go into a lengthy review, but this is one of the best books I've ever read. The author is an exceptional writer and the world - and characters - which she presents completely pulled me in. From front to back.If you're a mature reader then don't let some of the sillier reviews here deter you. This book deserves a chance, and while I'm sure that your appreciation of it will vary from my own, I'm nearly positive that you wont regret reading this.
Thanks Morgan for such a great book,
~Steph
Book Review: One of my very favourite books
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of my favourite books. I can't understand why it never became a best seller. It's beautifully written, well researched, and contains a spiritual depth which is rare in most fantasy books.
The struggle of the Celts against the Romans is beautifully portrayed, and rings true. It is the epic fight against the oppressor, which will always be a reality in the world while human greed exists.
Although one knows that, for historical reasons, the Druids will lose the battle, there is also the knowledge that the winner only gains that which is transient. Because the one who wins will also die one day, and then all that remains is the memory. People who have loved deeply, like Ainvar, like Briga, like Lakatu, like Vercigetorix - they are the ultimate winners, when the wheel of time has turned both the good and the bad into ashes.
Book Review: Otherwhen
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a strong historical novel about a little-known episode. Ainvar, Chief Druid of a tribe in Gaul, comes of age during the era when the Celtic peoples of Gaul were being wiped out by Julius Caesar. Of special interest is Ainvar's friend Vercingetorix, who was a real historical personage and is reconstructed here as a valiant freedom fighter, in a doomed struggle to save his people and their way of life, rather than as a simple barbarian guerilla fighter, as in the Roman version of history. (The place names and tribal names here are authentic too.) Ainvar and Vercingetorix are two fascinating characters with great chemistry, and both are defined by a hopeless struggle against overwhelming power. Morgan Llywelyn does a great job exploring the mysterious culture of the ancient Celts, plus the religious beliefs and supposed magical powers of the Druids (who were not an ethnic group as is sometimes believed). Another advantage of this novel is that Llywelyn makes strong points about imperialism and war, with Caesar's use of fractious politics and false promises of freedom and progress in the drive to create empire, which have been used to destroy less powerful peoples ever since.
Unfortunately, there are several underlying problems that keep this novel from total greatness. Ainvar achieves the office of Chief Druid at a miraculously young age, but has little trouble assuming authority and utilizing his powers. Most of the subplots concerning Ainvar's personal life are messily constructed and of little usefulness, either for the plot or the development of his character. Ainvar also has a book-long grudge against a personal enemy, which is left hanging and unresolved. Meanwhile, the final quarter of the book becomes tedious and overblown, as Llywelyn bites off way more than she can chew in the final war for the freedom of Gaul. Huge armies travel immense distances in very little time and engage in one bombastic battle after another. Fans of battle fiction will probably find the depictions here to be highly implausible. A potentially interesting character, Caesar, has almost no definition whatsoever, and the Romans and Germans, as the enemies of Gaul, are depicted as soulless machines of slaughter, as opposed to the virtuous Celts. Still, this is a generally compelling historical novel, but just not quite a classic. [~doomsdayer520~]
Book Review: Psychologically Unconvincing
Summary: 2 Stars
I wound up reading this book for my local science fiction and fantasy discussion group, and would not have normally read a story in this genre otherwise. I'm not likely to again either.I'll give Llywelyn credit for the ability to plot and create characters, but she never convinces me that she's depicting a shamanic figure of the Classical period in her protagonist of Ainwar. In particular, the number of anachronistic phrases that kept popping up irritated me. No one of this period would have said "professional jealousy," as is done by Ainwar after he undergoes some of the deepest secrets of his order, and then mulls over why the druids hold back their secrets.
Toward the end of the book, the neo-ecological slant of the work also started to gall, as I seriously doubt that the people of this time would have cared.
The bottom-line is that while we know precious little about the druids, these priests just come off as too sophisticated in their behavior for me to grant them credibility. ....