The Camulod Chronicles
By Jack Whyte
Reviewed by Sharma Krauskopf and rated
Jack Whyte is a master story teller and his "Camulod Chronicles" tell the story of the founding of King Arthur's Britain. A big concern when I began these books was knowing the story of King Arthur would lessen my enjoyment of these novels. This did not happen in fact I did not want to quit reading at 2:00 am. The author is totally in control of his art. The characters are alive and the stories related depict the complete story of King Arthur which none of us have considered or heard before. Yes, they are works of fiction but since it was so long ago how do we know Jack Whyte is not correct. There are four volumes currently available. Volume One - The Skystone, Volume Two The Singing Sword, Volume Three - The Eagles Brood and Volume Four - The Saxon Shore. You will want to read all of them. They are all available from amazon.com and we have put in links so you can order them.
| 367 A.D. We all know the story--how Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, how Camelot came to be, and the power struggles that ultimately destroyed Arthur's dreams. But what of the time before Arthur? What were the forces that helped create him? And how did the legend really come to pass? Before the time of Arthur and Camelot, Britain has become a dark and deadly place, savaged by warring factions of Picts, Celts, and invading Saxons. The Roman citizens who had lived there for generations were suddenly faced with a deadly choice. Should they leave and take up residence in a Roman world that was corrupt and utterly foreign? Or stay and face the madness that would surely ensue when the Roman legions--Britain's last bastion of safety for the civilized--leave? For two Romans, Publius Varrus and his friend Caius Britannicus, there can be only one answer. The will stay, try to preserve what is best of Roman life, and create a new culture out of the wreckage. In doing so, they will plant the seeds of the legend.
For these two men are Arthur's great-grandfathers and their actions will shape a nation...and forge a sword known as Excalibur. ( Paperback 498 pages) |  |
 | Caius Merlyn Britannicus: Most know the new leader of the Colony as Merlyn; all call him Commander. He is responsible for the Colony's safety, and the people look to him for justice and salvation. It is a harsh life but a good one, and Merlyn is dedicated to spreading the influence of Roman culture beyond the Colony's borders. Uther Pendragon: The man who will father the legendary Arthur, King of the Britons. He is the cousin Merlyn has known and loved since their births. He is the tireless warrior--the red dragon to Merlyn's great silver bear--and between the two of them, the Colony knows few enemies. In a world torn apart by warfare and upheaval, each is the other's certainty and the guarantee of the survival of the Colony, until a vicious crime, one that strikes at the roots of Merlyn's own life, drives a wedge between them.
A wedge that threatens the fate of a nation. |
| Readers know the legend of King
Arthur, who brought justice to a land that had known only cruelty and force; his father, Uther, who had carved a kingdom out of the chaos of the fallen Roman Empire, the sword Excalibur, drawn form stone by England;s Greatest king.
But legends do not tell the whole tale. They don't know the story of the despairing Roman soldiers, abandoned by their Empire, faced with the choice of fleeing back to Rome or struggling to create a last stronghold against barbarian onslaughts from the North and the East. Whyte tells readers what legend has forgotten. Legends do not tell of Arthur's great-grandfather, Publius Varrus, the warrior who marked the boundaries of a reborn empire with his own shed blood; they do not tell of Publius Luceiia, British born and Roman-raised, whose fierce beauty burned pale next to her passion for law and honor. |
 | Merlyn Britannicus and Uther Pendragon--The Silver Bear and The Red Dragon--are the leaders of the Colony, lifeblood to the community from
which will come the fabled Camulod. But soon their tranquility is in ruins, Uther lies dead following treachery...and all that is left of the dream is the orphaned babe Arthur. Heir to the Colony of Camulod, born with Roman heritage, as well as the royal blood of the hibernians and the Celts, Arthur is the living incarnation of the sacred dream of his ancestors; independent survival in Britain amidst the ruins of the Roman Empire.
When Arthur is adopted by his cousin, Caius Merlyn Britannicus, an enormous responsibility is placed upon Merlyn's shoulders. Now he must prepare young Arthur to unify the clans of Britain and guard the mighty
sword Excalibur, created by his great uncle Publius Varrus. Above all, Merlyn must see that Arthur survives to achieve his ancestors' dreams--in spite of the deadly threats rumbling from the Saxon Shore. |
| Home | New | Table of Contents | Search | Archive |