Victoria seems the classic girl wants to fight and rejects traditionally feminine roles. Except for iceni, women warriors are far from a novelty and Victoria´s own mother belonged once to that tribe, whose language they speak and whose gods they still worship in the Roman household of her abusive father. Victoria, alias Boudicca, is an able fighter but still has much too learn, she is also not great at people, managing to antagonize both Romans and iceni of her own age and not impress many of her elders either.

I started the book fearing Victoria would be a Mary Sue protagonist but she is far from perfect and therefore far from boring.
Mostly the narrative is driven by battles, escapes and accidents, although most of these stem from character flaws. Character flaws are something there´s an overabundance of in this novel, which impressed me as original and realistic; in most books, the good and the bad are rewarded by the universe (author) with what they deserve. Not so here, suffering is random and although courage is admired, it does not ensure safety or peace. Not all slave owners are evil or all slaves hapless victims.

The historical details are so interwoven with the plot and characterization that I was left wanting to know more, even though I have, indeed, learned quite a bit. ( )

Victoria seems the classic girl wants to fight and rejects traditionally feminine roles. Except for iceni, women warriors are far from a novelty and Victoria´s own mother belonged once to that tribe, whose language they speak and whose gods they still worship in the Roman household of her abusive father. Victoria, alias Boudicca, is an able fighter but still has much too learn, she is also not great at people, managing to antagonize both Romans and iceni of her own age and not impress many of her elders either.

I started the book fearing Victoria would be a Mary Sue protagonist but she is far from perfect and therefore far from boring.
Mostly the narrative is driven by battles, escapes and accidents, although most of these stem from character flaws. Character flaws are something there´s an overabundance of in this novel, which impressed me as original and realistic; in most books, the good and the bad are rewarded by the universe (author) with what they deserve. Not so here, suffering is random and although courage is admired, it does not ensure safety or peace. Not all slave owners are evil or all slaves hapless victims.

The historical details are so interwoven with the plot and characterization that I was left wanting to know more, even though I have, indeed, learned quite a bit. ( )