The Shining Company
by Rosemary Sutcliff
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In 600 A.D. in northern Britain, Prosper becomes a shield bearer with the Companions, an army made up of three hundred younger sons of minor kings and trained to act as one fighting brotherhood against the invading Saxons.Tags
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I read Y Gododdin a few years ago and mostly just took away that it's elegies for a band of warriors who feasted for a long time and then promptly got themselves slaughtered. Sutcliff's retelling of the story really fleshes out character and the logic behind the forming of the company, as well as showing off her masterful ability to evoke historical periods.
This is one of my childhood books, read again for the first time in decades for research reasons. Wow, Sutcliff can write. I loved her when I was a kid, but I appreciate her style even more now. This is a rather dark tale set around 600, in a post-Roman Britain being invaded by the Saxons. I really appreciate the map, the pronunciation guide, and the use of the evolving place names over time.
The poem on which this book was based is apparently (I haven't read the Gododdin) much like the battle scenes of the Iliad, recounting the final heroic end of one young hero after another. This is actually not of gripping interest unless you are a small enough child to take delight in the pattern and chant "He FELL! THUNDEROUSLY! And his armour CLATTERED UPON HIM!" So, kudos to Sutcliff for fleshing out the story and creating a plot to support the few known facts.
Unfortunately, repeated references in the first half of the story to Thermopylae, King Leonidas, and the 300 Spartans who fell, are so frequent and so heavy-handed that no plot could support the weight of that much foreshadowing. They already know they're doomed. In fact, one show more starts to wonder why the commander-in-chief didn't send a different number of young sacrificial victims just to improve their morale. Since they know and we know that they're going to die bravely to a man, what's the point in reading the rest of the book? I did not finish it. show less
Unfortunately, repeated references in the first half of the story to Thermopylae, King Leonidas, and the 300 Spartans who fell, are so frequent and so heavy-handed that no plot could support the weight of that much foreshadowing. They already know they're doomed. In fact, one show more starts to wonder why the commander-in-chief didn't send a different number of young sacrificial victims just to improve their morale. Since they know and we know that they're going to die bravely to a man, what's the point in reading the rest of the book? I did not finish it. show less
In 600 A.D. in northern Britain, Prosper becomes a shield bearer with the Companions, an army made up of three hundred younger sons of minor kings and trained to act as one fighting brotherhood against the invading Saxons.
Adventure and heroism against impossible odds create a moving, robust tale set in Britain in the eighth century and based on actual events.
Adventure and heroism against impossible odds create a moving, robust tale set in Britain in the eighth century and based on actual events.
One of my favourite Sutcliff's. Though not part of the Dolphin cycle, this redacton of "the Poem of Goddoddyn" remains a good tight story with fleshy characters. Someday I mean to get to Catterick just to pace it all out. One of her last books, I think.
Overall this was a rather interesting story. The story was told as a memory of Prosper's past. It is a fantasy historical fiction coming of age story that is full of tragedy. This book was a rather sad tale, but I did enjoy reading it. There were times where I did have to reread sentences a few times as, for some reason, my dyslexia really had troubles with the story and picking up what was on the page (I'm not sure if this was because of the font or not) but this is why I had to bump it down a star. It was a little difficult to get through even if the story was well written.
I liked this style of historical fiction, though the writing does feel dated (in a decades old way, not centuries old). Epic battles and heroes mix with more everyday stories. Its a war story really so it is somewhat gruesome but not overly so. I had a hard time remembering who the heck everyone was but I got the main plot points ok.
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Author Information
83+ Works 22,237 Members
Rosemary Sutcliff was on born December 14, 1920 in East Clandon in Surrey, England. As a child she had Still's Disease, a form of juvenile arthritis. The effect of this led to many stays in hospital for painful remedial operations. She ended her formal education at fourteen, and went to Bideford Art School. She passed the City and Guilds show more examination and worked as a painter of miniatures. She felt cramped by the small canvas of miniature painting and turned to writing. Her first two books, The Chronicles of Robin Hood and The Queen Elizabeth Story, were published in 1950. Her other works included The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, Sword Song, and the autobiography Blue Remembered Hills. She won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for The Lantern Bearers in 1959 and the annual Horn Book Award for Tristan and Iseult in 1971. She won inaugural Phoenix Award in 1985 for The Mark of the Horse Lord and again in 2010 for The Shining Company. In 1975, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to children's literature, and was promoted to be a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1992. She died on July 23, 1992. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Shining Company
- Original title
- The shining company
- Original publication date
- 1990
- People/Characters
- Aneirin; Mynyddog Mwynfawr; Prosper [The Shining Company]; Cenau; Conn [The Shining Company]; Phanes of Syracuse (show all 12); Aethelfrith; Luned [The Shining Company]; Gorthyn; Ceredig; Niamh [The Shining Company]; Faelinn
- Important places
- Kingdom of Gwynedd (medieval kingdom); Gododdin (medieval kingdom); Deira (medieval kingdom); Catraeth (perhaps Catterick, North Yorkshire, England, UK); Dyn Eiden (Dun Eidyn or Edinburgh); Wales, UK (show all 10); England, UK; Scotland, UK; Edinburgh, Scotland, UK; Catterick, North Yorkshire, England, UK
- First words
- "This is the Gododdin, Aneirin sang it."
I am - I was - Prosper, second son to Gerontius, lord of three cantrefs between Nant Ffrancon and the sea, of a half-ruined villa that must have been a palace in its day, of a hundred spears and many horses. - Quotations
- "Every harper plays upon his hearers as he does upon the strings of his harp. It is so that the music comes, between the harp and the hearts of men..."
... the first of the riders swung out into the open, and behind them all the rest. The Fosterling was in the lead, and beside him Aneirin in his favourite cloak that wear and weather had changed from crimson to the colour of ... (show all)old spilled wine; and next behind them Geraint from the far south, with the Red Dragon standard that the Queen and her women had stitched for us through the winter, lifting and rippling on the spring wind. Every rider wore his mail coif, but with the mask left open so that his face was bare. Grey wolfskin cloaks hung loose over a glint of colour or a flash of gold beneath... Two and two they rode, a shining company, and the sun and rain clashing together as they came. And for that one moment the thought came to me - an odd unchancy thought to be pushed away hurriedly - that it is not good for mortal men to wear that particular bloom of light. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"We may not look like the flower of an emperor's bodyguard," he said, "but make ready, Constantinople, here we come!"
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Children's Books, Young Adult
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .S966 .S — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 906
- Popularity
- 29,479
- Reviews
- 12
- Rating
- (3.87)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, German, Japanese
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 24
- ASINs
- 8
