The Circle of Ceridwen

Book 1 of The Circle of Ceridwen by Octavia Randolph is the beginning of a multi-volume Saga of Anglo Saxon people in the 9th Century CE migrating from Northern lands like Dane-Mark to establish and maintain farms, settlements, and kingdoms in Southern Territories like Angle-Land. The “Circle” refers to 15-year-old Ceridwen’s family, friends, and foes that she meets in her own travels. In the novel, Ceridwen leaves the Priory of the Black Monks where she was placed by her guardians to grow and master the skills of reading and writing. Although she is young, Ceridwen decides to leave the Priory taking her property including a horse, valuable assets, clothing, and provisions. On the road, the young wanderer meets a richly endowed show more maiden who is traveling with an entourage to meet her future husband at Four Stones Hall. During this trip, Ceridwen agrees to serve the maiden and is an intelligent and accurate observer of people in her circle. She becomes the excellent narrator of the extensive action and relationships in Book1. There is much to learn about the people’s customs, beliefs, dress, food, and emotional expressions as they all travel to Four Stones for the marriage. Octavia Randolph’s simple and direct writing style makes the characters come alive with enjoyable scenes, stories, and actions. show less

Ceridwen is the orphaned daughter of an ealdorman. She travels with Aelfwyn, the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon lord, who is to marry a Dane as part of a peace treaty.

Aelfwyn is increasingly torn between loyalty to her family and her feelings for her husband and his people. Ceridwen is always the outsider – the child of a dead Mercian man and an unknown Welsh woman, brought up a pagan but taken in by the church, now living among Danes. She is also literate, which is unusual at that time, particularly for a woman.

The novel is clearly based on exhaustive research and paints a vivid picture of daily life in the Anglo-Saxon world, from food and medicine to religious practice to jewellery and, of course, weaponry. Through Ceridwen and Aelfwyn show more we see the responsibilities and privileges of women of their status, and the lives of the impoverished and defeated Saxon families coming to terms with Danish rule. At times I felt there could have been less quotidian detail and more plot, but as the book progresses the pace picks up nicely.

War is never far away and the lives of the two women undergo further dramatic change. While one element of the story is resolved, this book mainly, brilliantly, sets up further conflicts for the main characters. By the end I was convinced I want to read more.
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Read more of my reviews on my blog at https://katevane.com show less

Highly recommended and entertaining read. Some readers might be put off by the language at first: my advice is to stick with it. It will rapidly become addictive. The voice remains true, immersing us in the lives of very human characters. I happen to be married to a military historian, so I spotted the liberties taken for the historical period in question, but I think most readers will either not notice or will not be bothered by them. I didn't have the heart to dock a point for it because the story is fascinating and rolls right along. The amount of detail is enough to paint a wonderful setting without pulling us out of the action. It's longer than most ebooks, but you find you don't want to put it down or have it end. Kudos to the author!

An excellent story of 9th century Britain, slow-moving yet exciting, with an amazing sense of being part of everyday life at the time. Young Ceridwen, after being orphaned and raised by monks, flees to seek employment rather than marry one of her few options. She falls in with Aelfwyn, who is being sent to marry the Dane Yrling against her wishes. The two are fast friends. Yrling's nephew, Sidroc, immediately senses in Ceridwen a kindred spirit, but she is intimidated by his certainty and devotion. Then a prisoner is brought to the holding, whom the women learn is Gyric, the young man whome Aelfwyn loved. When Ceridwen sneaks in to help him escape, she discovers that his eyes have been burnt out and he is barely alive. So she escapes show more with him, despite his apathy, and while they travel they fall in love. They are married by a forest priest shortly before they reach Gyric's home. show less

I am a fan of the movie series Vikings and Game of Thrones (which I have not read) so this ebook was right on with this theme. I enjoyed it very much and will have to read the rest of the series.