http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/200... ( )

I greatly enjoyed this book. Too many historical fictions come across as romance rather than fiction. The characters were well developed and the story was clear and interesting. I would highly recommend this series to fans of historical fiction or want a view into the Roman invasion of England. ( )

Judging by the handful of reviews each book in this series has gotten, it seems that not many people have read Scott's Boudica series. This is unfortunate as any lover of historical fiction, and especially British fiction, would really enjoy the story.

As a previous reviewer said, it *is* slow-going, and very heavy. And Scott often uses an omniscient (and long-winded) authorial voice to tell readers things that might better have been described in other ways. It also would have been nice to have a brief summary of characters and the roles they played early on in the book- Scott gives us a pronunciation guide for a small number of characters, but not all. As it's been a while since I read the previous book, and it will probably be some time before I get a hold of the next book, some names and events were forgotten. But these are small quibbles when you consider the grasp of history encompassed by these books.

Being the penultimate book of the series, Dreaming the Hound has the least action. There are not so many outright battles with the Romans. Instead, most of the battles are internal: Breaca's children Cunobar and Graine, both trying to come into their own and earn their mother's respect; Breaca's brother, Valerius, who must determine his identity- Roman or Briton?; and Breaca's personal struggle to come to terms with her conflicting roles of warrior, "queen," and mother.

It is a well-written, thoroughly engrossing book. Highly recommended, especially if you are interested in Celtic tradition before it became Romanized. But be sure to read the first two books in the series beforehand- these are not stand-alones. ( )