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The Singing Sword
by Jack Whyte
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780765304582 
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Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
We know the legends: Arthur brought justice to a land that had known only cruelty and force; his father, Uther, carved a kingdom out of the chaos of the fallen Roman Empire; the sword Excalibur, drawn from stone by England's greatest king. <BR>But legends do not tell the whole tale. Legends do not tell of the despairing Roman soldiers, abandoned by their empire, faced with the choice of fleeing back to Rome, or struggling to create a last stronghold against the barbarian onslaughts from the north and east. Legends do not tell of Arthur's great-grandfather, Publius Varrus, the warrior who marked the boundaries of a reborn empire with his own shed blood; they do not tell of Publius's wife, Luceiia, British-born and Roman-raised, whose fierce beauty burned pale next to her passion for law and honor. <BR>With "The Camulod Chronicles," Jack Whyte tells us what legend has forgotten: the history of blood and violence, passion and steel, out of which was forged a great sword, and a great nation. "The Singing Sword" continues the gripping epic begun in "The Skystone": As the great night of the Dark Ages falls over Roman Britain, a lone man and woman fight to build a last stronghold of law and learning--a crude hill-fort, which one day, long after their deaths, will become a great city . . . known as Camelot.<BR>
Synopsis:
As the Dark Ages fall over Roman Britain, a lone man and a woman fight to build a last stronghold of law - a crude fort which, long after their deaths, will become a great city, a fort known as Camelot.
About the Author
Jack Whyte is a Scots-born, award-winning Canadian author whose poem, The Faceless One, was featured at the 1991 New York Film Festival. The Camulod Chronicles is his greatest work, a stunning retelling of one of our greatest legends: the making of King Arthur’s Britain. He lives in British Columbia, Canada.
What Our Readers Are Saying
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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
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smacn27076, January 3, 2008 (view all comments by smacn27076)
Jack Whyte's grasp of history is very strong, and is the centerpiece to the backstory of the fictional King Arthur and (second cousin?) Merlyn, told against the backdrop of 5th century England.
The Singing Sword tells the story of Caius Britannicus and Publius Varrus, brothers-in-law whose bloodlines will produce both Arthur and Merlyn. Whyte's characterization of these men and the details of the day-to-day events that shape the greatness that inspires their progeny is much less compelling than their military and political achievements overall.
The dialogue in this novel is artificial, and the problems encountered by Caius and Publius, though presented as challenging, are rather contrived. It's almost as though Whyte developed his conflict resolutions first, and then created conflicts to fit the resolutions he needed.
I suppose that within the context of writing about an existing fictional character it would be necessary to do so, but as the vehicle for a novel, it doesn't work very well at all.
Having said that, I am staying with the series, although I am reading these books out of order. The backstory on King Arthur is just interesting enough to hold my attention, despite the rather bland storytelling.
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780765304582
- Subtitle:
- The Dream of Eagles, Volume 2
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Forge
- Location:
- New York
- Subject:
- Historical
- Subject:
- Great britain
- Subject:
- History
- Subject:
- Historical fiction
- Subject:
- Fantasy - Historical
- Subject:
- Historical - Arthurian
- Subject:
- Romans
- Copyright:
- 1996
- Edition Number:
- 1st ed.
- Edition Description:
- 1st trade paperback ed.
- Series Volume:
- 890.
- Publication Date:
- May 2002
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Language:
- English
- Pages:
- 384
- Dimensions:
- 927x612x99 89
