Product Description

In AD 60, Boudica, war leader of the Eceni, led her people in a final bloody revolt against the occupying armies of Rome - the culmination of nearly twenty years of resistance against an occupying force that sought to crush the vibrant native civilisation of our island home...DREAMING THE BULL continues the story of Breaca - now hailed Boudica, the Bringer of Victory, and her half-brother, Ban, now an officer in the Roman auxiliary cavalry. Each stands on the opposing side in a brutal war of attrition between the occupying army and the defeated tribes, each is determined to see the other dead. Caught between them are two children, son and daughter to two of the greatest warriors their world has ever seen. While in distant Rome, the Emperor Claudius holds the balance of lives in their hands. This is a heart-stopping story of war and of peace; of love, passion and betrayal; of druids and gods in a world where each life is sacred but each death even more so...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26041 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 429 pages

From the Publisher
The second book in Manda Scott's epic retelling of the story of Britain's great warrior queen.

From the Back Cover
THE SECOND NOVEL IN THE ACCLAIMED BOUDICA SERIES

Hailed by her people as Boudica, the Bringer of Victory, Breaca now leads the resistance against the occupying legions of Rome. Opposing her is Julius Valerius, an auxiliary cavalry officer whose increasing brutality in the service of his god and emperor cannot shield him from the ghosts of his past. Caught in the middle are two children, pawns in a game of unthinkable savagery.

Continuing her acclaimed retelling of this great tale, Manda Scott has written a novel of uncompromising mastery that captivates the heart and challenges the mind as Boudica and this man who calls himself Julius Valerius confront each other – and their own inescapable destinies…

About the Author
Manda Scott is a veterinary surgeon, writer and climber. Born and educated in Scotland, she now lives in Suffolk with two lurchers and too many cats. She began her literary career as a crime writer - her debut, Hen's Teeth, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and she was called 'one of Britain's most important crime writers' by The Times. DREAMING THE EAGLE, the first book in the Boudica series, is also available in Bantam paperback

Customer Reviews

Honouring our Ancient Ancestors
What an incredible book, Manda has proven once more that she can lead a masterclass in the historical novel. It is a rip roaring, thunderous cavalry charge and the pages just seemed to turn faster and faster. I can't wait to complete the set and then re-read them all at a more sedate pace.
Reading other reviews I cannot help but feel as if at least one reader was reading a different book to myself.
The author weaves`an intricate web mixing love and hate, war and tenuous peace, human relationships as well as the love and devotion between warrior and hounds and warriors and their horses.
The juxtaposition between warrior and dreamers is examined with care and we are shown the importance of animism in the nations psyche as the mix of spirit and energy and the worship of the prime Gods is brought to the fore.
As well as being an thoroughly entertaining read I found that I was vastly stimulated and able to escape from now as the pages absorbed me and took me back to the time of my ancestors.
To write like this Manda has surely been touched by the Gods and maybe there is an element of past lives seeping in to her in order to create the reality of what was.
This skilled storyteller comes across more like a modern foreign correspondent/journalist who saw and experienced what she has written of as opposed to a writer of historical fiction.
Manda...bless you for allowing me to enter albeit ever so briefly, the time and lands of my ancestors.

Well Thought Out and Well Written
I enjoyed this book tremendously, even better than the first one. Although Manda Scott does not stick to the conventional historical facts of Boudica the book loses nothing in the telling.

The storyline flows beautiful without any lulls which is a credit to the authors story telling ability. Although the books is quite large (almost 600 pages), I read it in quite a short space of time. This is a good indication of how the story grips you.

I would not wish to spoil the plot in any way for the reader. Suffice to say that Breaca (the Boudica) is continuing her fight against the might of the Roman Legions in Britain, ably assisted by her husband Caradoc, a British war chieftain.

One particular Roman officer, Julius Valerius is a thorn in their side. He is becoming increasingly renowned for his fighting prowess and his brutality against the British. However he is not all he seems to be. He holds a terrible secret that will affect the lives of all of them.

To tell any more would spoil the book for all potential readers.

Bringer of Victory

This is the third book in what started out to be a trilogy, but happily for the reader the author has obviously had more material than she anticipated and has added another book after this one.. All the books are extremely well written and on a subject that is dear to my heart, the occupation of Britain by the Roman Legions.

The book is the continuing story of Breaca, the Boudica or Bringer of Victory. Set in AD 57, much of Britannia is under the yoke of the Roman legions for almost a decade and in the South the vassal states are paying costly tithes to the Emperor for the pleasure of living in their own lands.

Boudica has left the island of Mona to make her way back to the lands of the Eceni, where she and her warriors are needed the most. Unfortunately since she left them the Eceni, a once proud people have become a downtrodden race, no longer allowed to worship the old gods.

In Hibernia, Ban, Breaca's half brother is struggling to make peace with his past life. Provoked by the Romans he vows to sail to Britain to come face to face with the Roman forces . . .