Insurrection (Insurrection Trilogy) [Kindle Edition]

This is a novel about politics, successions within the nobility and the bid for Royal thrones. These central themes are woven into the period of time broadly labelled as the `Wars of Scottish Independence' and involve famous historical people including William Wallace, Robert Bruce and Edward Longshanks.

You may be wondering at this point one of two things; one, `well that sounds like all the ingredients for an interesting non-fiction historical study' or two, `I hope this is not a cheap rendition of "Braveheart" in the form of a book'. In response to the first point, I can definitely say that this is first and foremost a fictional novel set within the historical fiction genre. Robyn Young's writing style is compelling and fully dimensional. For example, she gently leads you into the story before unleashing the required history and knowledge of the local alliances and enmities necessary for a complete understanding of the background to the novel. In this way, you are fully immersed within the story and hardly notice the gradual inclusion of history which would probably put off a new reader if listed in its entirety at the beginning. In answer to the second point, this is certainly not a rehashed rendition of the famously historically inaccurate "Braveheart". Wallace, Bruce and Edward are completely different people within `Insurrection'. To me they appeared to be more balanced, grounded and possess a full range of human emotions in comparison to their relatively one sided cinematic counterparts. In addition to this statement, you will get the sense from reading the novel and then seeing the select bibliography at the end of the book that `Insurrection' is thoroughly well researched.

One of Robyn Young's main attractions to the historical fiction fan is her ability to create a cast of unique, engaging characters combined with the way she draws the reader into the tale. Certain events and passages within this book can be related to personal experiences within the reader's own life which makes the book appear relevant and creates a desire to continue reading in order to discover what happened to their adopted character. This is a difficult skill to hone and you will see many other authors within this field who have tried and failed to capture this essence of relevance and reader/character comparison, leaving books which are emotionless and sterile.

I can certainly state that the historical fiction fan will devour this book at a rapid rate of knots within a couple of sittings, it's that good. Robyn Young to me is an exciting relatively new author who is a breath of fresh air in a crowded genre. Her writing is simplistic and therefore engrossing, but well researched and consequently highly interesting. This is a fabulous new novel and I cannot recommend it highly enough to those of you who like me, love a dam good historical adventure.

Whether you are English, Scottish or Welsh, `Insurrection' is a book which can be read and enjoyed by all and which I believe portrays the interests of each country at this period of time in a balanced manner (as far as the history and known facts will allow!).

I had enjoyed Robyn Young's trilogy on the Knights Templar (although, if I am honest, the third book was a bit disappointing compared with the others) so I was eager to see what she made of the Scottish Wars of Independence. I was pleased to see that she was focusing on Robert Bruce, rather than William Wallace, as the Bruce, as well as actually becoming king (although not in this first book) is a more interesting character than Wallace.

Robert Bruce is particularly interesting because he equivocated so much over his support for rebellion against the English occupation of Scotland, notwithstanding his own claim to the throne. It is especially hard to understand quite why he kept changing his loyalties, despite the obvious reasons of pragmatism and self-interest. Robyn Young tries to get to the bottom of this ambiguity in his character, and does it rather well - while it might not answer the question historically, it is a shrewd attempt to get to the bottom of the Bruce's motivations.

Young manages the complex politics of the period well, and keeps the reader interested. The Bruce clan's feud with their well-known enemies, the Comyns, is believable and sustained, as is Robert Bruce's difficult relationship with his father, who retired to his Essex estates rather than take part in the insurrection against Edward I.

One has to feel sorry for Edward I, though. He was vainglorious, greedy, mercurial, mendacious and opportunistic, true enough; but Robyn Young does seem to have it in for him - in the Templar trilogy he was very much a villain, and in this book she attributes a murder to him for which there is no evidence (although it works well for the plotting of the story) - he had enough blood on his hands without some twenty-first century author laying more bodies at his feet!

But that isn't really a criticism. The book is well-paced, historically accurate where it needs to be, with enough fictitious elements to supplement the real story without damaging it. The battle scenes are visceral and believable, and the characters are well enough rounded to make it thoroughly believable.

At the risk of sounding condescending: well done! I look forward to the next in the series, which I assume will take us at least up to Bruce's assumption of the throne, if not beyond.

"It was the voice of God. And God was furious."

Insurrection is the first in a new trilogy, centering on the adventures of Robert the Bruce, and it follows on from the same author's outstanding Templar series The Brethren trilogy. And on the evidence of this first book in the new series, it might even be going to outdo Brethren. It's that good.

The story is massive, with a large cast of characters, both Scottish and English (and French and Norwegian, come to think of it) - one of the strengths of this novel is that it tells the story from both sides, so we read almost as much of Edward I and his court, as we do of the Scots. The times were brutal for Scotland, especially for any who didn't fancy being subjects for the English. What Bruce offered his people was a sense of unity, purpose and pride. William Wallace appears, but it's Robert who is the true leader and the genius of the Scottish rebel cause.

The story is handled with immense skill, the battlescenes breathtakingly vivid (Stirling Bridge, to name but one, and Falkirk) and I thought the characters all rich and involving. Robert is at this stage in his life still quite young - he's only 23 at the end of Insurrection, and we'll no doubt see him growing more mature and experienced in the next two books, much as Will did in the Brethren trilogy. Edward I is a rich, nuanced 'villain' if villain is quite the right word. There are various intriguing subplots including an Arthurian prophecy, and more than a dash of romance - personally I prefer the more adventurous side of the story, and I can't stress it enough: this novel delivers in spades. There are also some nice touches of humour. I particularly enjoyed a rather blackly comic incident involving some solders attacked by wasps. You'll have to read it yourself to see what I mean!

All in all: five stars. I only wish I hadn't read it so fast, and now I am going to have to wait ages for the next novel in the series. Maybe I'll go back and read the Brethren books all over again in the meantime!