Dreaming The Hound (Boudica 3) [Paperback]

The epic that Manda Scott began to weave from the 1st and 2nd books just races on with even more pace in this third volume, with even more twists and turns and surprises along the way.

There is a great deal more character development of Valerius, Cygfa and some wonderful insights with Graine and Cunomar too...along with all the other characters.

The story follows on from the 2nd book and without giving too much away, we see how Breaca/Boudica goes from being a Warrior of Mona to being the wife of Prasutagos and ultimately in the firing line of Rome. And along the way we see some familiar characters return, some in surprising ways and it all leads to a mouthwatering ending, leaving me impatient to wait for book 4!!

From the start this story has been beautifully written, with so much detail and historically accurate observations, and even the things the author admits to creating are very believable and totally in symmetry with the whole atmosphere of the book. The characters are rounded and life-like and as a reader you feel great empathy for them and really care what happens to them.

Most people have heard of the Boudica legend and its basic events, and as the book reaches 60AD you could argue that the story would become predictable. You would be wrong with this book...the things that happen towards the end of this volume are well known, but the manner in which those events are allowed to happen are brilliantly written and thought out. There is nothing stale or "old hat" about it at all.

I am biased due to Boudica being my personal and local heroine, but these books are written with great care and passion for the subject. For those of you already familiar to the series I don't have to tell you how good this book is as you're probably reading it already after an impatient wait at the end of book 2. For those new to the series, get reading!!!
Finally, thank you Manda Scott for another fantastic book!

This takes the story on through the ravages of Roman-occupied Britain until a people sick of ill-treatment and oppression suffer one final act of persecution that drives them to war.

Manda Scott's prose is lyrical and forceful - her characters are real and compelling - and she tells the story in a way that has you living the book.

However it ends (and sadly, we can't change history) this volume is another tour de force from an extremely gifted writer. Now I'm waiting breathlessly for the final volume.

For me, it starts slowly and gets slower, only picking up pace towards the end. It says something that this book took me 3 weeks to read, whereas the first two took 3 or 4 days.

The characters get less plausible through this story, and their actions become slighlty ludicrous, with increasing signs of full blown schizophrenia.

Take Ban aka Valerius - starts off in the tribes, becomes roman cavalry decurion come traitor, murders hundreds of tribesfolk, deserts & betrays Rome & ends up back with tribes, gets captured by legions & let off, leads those whose families he murdered into battle, ends up at the mercy of the Romans again & is let off, & kills an official.

Valerius is the most extreme example, but most of Scott's characters undergo fairly fundamental changes of heart with regularity, generally to fit in with the plot. Lady Fate is also kept busy with increasingly implausible chance meetings & amazing right time & place coincidences.

The plot, by the way, is where Dragitoutitis comes into it. I'm all for rich character development and a carefully woven plot, but, and call me cynical if you like, it seems that once again readers have been enticed into what should have been a trilogy that ends up being spread out over 5 books - £18 hardback books of course. So the plot suffers as it has in this book, the pocket suffers, the publishers rub their hands like Roman Procurators over the natives gold.

I enjoy this sort of book, revel in our proud celtic/gaelic/britonic history, and have got enthusiastically stuck into this series. Dreaming the Hound isn't a total write-off & gets there in the end, but cynically takes advantage of those of us who want to follow the series.

A last comment - the ending of Dreaming the Hound was not 'mouthwatering' at all - it was truly sickening & horrific (justifiably given the plot). If you get there after the slow start I'm sure you'll agree.