The Mark of the Horse Lord

Well, that was... wow. An enslaved gladiator wins his freedom by killing his friend, but after a disastrous first night, is drafted to take the place of the heir to the kingship of a northern tribe. His journey from slave to king is an extraordinary one, from intrigue to uprising to mysterious ceremonies to war to sacrifice; it's epic, told with precision and toughness and pathos.

This perfectly written piece of historical fiction is worthy of its author, the inimitable Rosemary Sutcliff. In The Mark of the Horse Lord, she weaves a compelling tale of a gladiator turned king among the Dalriads of Roman Scotland. Phaedrus, freed from the arena, is soon drawn into another and perhaps deadlier arena of war between the Pictish tribes, who are struggling for supremacy between the worship of the Sun God and that of the Earth Mother.

It's been too long since I have savored Sutcliff's writing. Her dialogue rings true, her history is flawless, and she doesn't shy away from the harsher, bloodier aspects of the period. Yet somehow her characters never lose their touch with the reader. They remain relatable across oceans of show more time, custom, and religion and I always come away from her novels feeling slightly awed at her ability to balance historical fidelity with more modern sensibilities.

Without giving anything away, I was rooting very hard for a different ending. But it was beautifully done. show less

A couple things: Phaedrus was a stand-up dude, clearly. But I wondered why his final deed as gladiator didn't come back to haunt him more than it did later on. The other thing was Liadhan. For how interesting and relatively complex the key characters were, and the fine attention given to the politics and power games necessary to running kingdoms (see Romans), I'd hoped she'd get an equal(ish) shake. She was assigned the narrow role of The Ultimate Evil & Power-hungry Queen, but not given room to say her piece. Almost all of the time, she was running away off-page while everyone else talked about how Evil she was.

However!!! This was a totally engrossing story, and it is just beautifully written. You get an incredibly complete sense of show more time and place. show less

Rosemary Sutcliff at the height of her powers. I read this as a youngster, but have got far more out of it as an adult. This edition however lacks Charles Keeping's bold black Sixties style illustrations which I remember added to the atmosphere. Vivid, fast-paced adventure set amongst warring Picts and Scots in the parts of Scotland the Romans never managed to subdue, north of the Antonine Wall. Phaedrus the gladiator accepts his destiny, to become leader of the clan of the Horse Lord, having an uncanny likeness to their lost chieftain Midir. There's a witch-goddess woman to defeat, and a love interest with the witch's daughter. Builds to a tragic yet triumphant ending.

More on the Celtic than the Roman side of the Romano-British books of Rosmary Sutcliff, this is the best of them that I have read this year, with a strong moving core that pushes pass the co-incidence of appearance that involves Phaedrus with the Dalriadains, to create a cohesive and telling narrative. There is a really great chariot battle scene!

An ex-gladiator in prison for brawling is offered a way out by impersonating the rightful king of the Dalriad, deposed by his aunt.

More high adventure beyond the Roman Wall from Rosemary Sutcliffe. Once again her sense of place and landscape stands out as much as the story and characters.

Rosemary Sutcliff is at the top of her form, in this story of adventure on the northern frontier of the Roman empire in the fourth century. An interesting story of Romans trying to substitute one of their own for a chieftain of the Scotti, there's betrayal, and noble self sacrifice. Even adults find this one interesting.