Hadrian's Wall : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Not Penman, but not bad
Review: Author Info:
William Dietrich
09/29/1951-

Two centuries after it was built by the Emperor Hadrian, a Roman couple has come to Britannia to take charge of the Wall, which keeps the barbarian Celts out of Roman Britain. Young Valeria is the daughter of a senator, as dowry she's brought this command to Marcus Flavius, who badly needs some military experience to advance his career. But plumping down the beautiful Valeria and the Marcus in the wilds of Rome's frontier provokes jealousy and passions that lead to war. In particular, the brutal and ambitious soldier Galba Brassidias and the Celtic chief Arden Caratacus are both drawn to Valeria and despise her husband.

If some of the characterizations seem kind of idiosyncratic and ahistorical--their actions, emotions, and openness are awfully modern--there's nonetheless ample enough action and romance to speed us past any tendency to overanalyze it as a work of history. There's also a fascinating tripartite culture clash, with the conflict between the somewhat rigid social conventions of Rome and the wilder, freer life of the Celts and then percolating beneath both the burgeoning influence of the new religion, Christianity, which will plow them both under eventually. It's all framed by the device of an investigation into events that have already transpired, which allows for some discursive passages on the background of the tale but does fracture the narrative at times. You may find yourself wondering why Mr. Dietrich doesn't just get back to the main story.

As historical romances go it's not up to the standards of a Sharon Kay Penman, but it's an ideal beach book, one that you can hand to the spouse when you're done with reasonable confidence they'll enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Greed, Passion and War
Review: Hadrian's wall is over two centuries old and remains a stronghold dividing Roman Britannia from seemingly uncivilized Celtic barbarians.

In its shadow, Valeria, the beautiful daughter of a senator, is the victim of an arranged marriage to Marcus. This cowardly man has been appointed as commander, replacing reluctant Galba, an experienced soldier. Galba becomes attracted to Marcus' young wife and decides to win her for himself.

On the other side of Hadrian's wall, a man named Arden will fall for adventure-challenged Valeria, who is kidnapped and torn between her affiliations on either side of the wall when she falls in love with Arden. Cultures collide.

This historical novel reads more like a complicated romance than the story the cover of the book implies. If this isn't a deterrent, this book makes for a good read involving greed, passion and war.

Rating:
Summary: Big Disappointment
Review: I picked up this book expecting historical fiction but what I got was a Harlequin Romance novel. I have read every book written by William Dietrich and was initially very excited by the fact he had a new book out combined with the promise of a bit of Roman/British history. Heck, the picture on the cover draws you in and the reputation of the author seals the deal. However, try reading it. Easily 3/4 of the book is about the adventures of a brainless, clueless and genuinely annoying daughter of a Roman senator who is sent out to Brittania to marry Marcus, the new commander of the garrison at one point on the wall. He's a weakling and she doesn't know what shes supposed to be doing as his new wife.

She gets captured, then rescued. Then she's captured again and live with the Celts and learns to appreciate them and falls in love with their chieftan, Arden. After living with the Celts throughout most of the book, learning their "strange ways", she still doesn't know whether to leave or stay. Her first attempt to escape goes awry because she gets lost. After many boring months, she finds out that Arden and her husband's rival, Galba are plotting to overthrow the wall garrisons so the Celts can successfully invade lower (south of Hadrain's Wall) Britain. So she escapes again, successfully this time, aand warns her idiot husband, who, not only disbelieves her, but arrests her as a traitor. Man, at this point you wish someone would off her because everything she does turns out worse.

There is finally a battle at the end, but a very small one and an unsatisfying outcome. For historical fiction, it doesn't need to be set in Roman times, nor at Hadrian's wall. It's simply a bad romance novel that promised so much more. The only thing I wonder is why I read it to the end. Ah, Mr. Dietrich, go back to writing books with likeable and interesting characters, like I know you can.

Rating:
Summary: If you like romance novels, this one is pretty good
Review: I was fooled by the cover and endorsements on the jacket. I was expecting Roman Legions battling it out with barbarians. There is one great battle at the end, but this is really a romance novel set in 375 AD Britain. Tribune Galba Brassidius expects to be the new commander of the Petriana cavalry at the Hadrian Wall fort Petrianais, but he is supplanted by an inexperienced Praefectus, Marcus Flavius, from Rome. Marcus has obtained the post through a financial arrangement with a Roman senator. In exchange for money, Marcus gets the new posting and the hand of the senator's daughter, Valeria. This arrangement gives him the prestige of a senatorial connection, and a field command to further his career. An irate Galba has his own agenda. He has been dealing on both sides of Hadrian's Wall, and he enlists the aide of a Celtic Chieftain, Arden Caratacus, to kidnap Valeria. Galba hopes to incite war between the Celts and Romans and get Marius killed, take his wife, and in the process, become a hero. A naive Valeria loathes Galba's crude advances, is puzzled by her husband's indifference, ignores the worship of young tribune Clodius, and struggles with her growing feelings for the young Celt, Arden. Valeria also ignores the advice of her wise slave Savia. Much of the story is related in the aftermath by Roman investigator Draco, who is trying to piece together the cause of the catastrophe.

Rating:
Summary: Dramatic and Engaging, Romantic and Full of Adventure
Review: In the days of the Roman Empire, the Emperor Hadrian built a wall across Britannia creating a border between the civilization of the Empire and that of the Northern Celtic tribes. This wall represented the far reaches of the Empire as well as a clash between cultures. Using the wall as a jumping off point, William Dietrich, in his latest novel HADRIAN'S WALL, imagines life at the edge of the Empire. The conflict between the Celts and the Romans are personified in Valeria, a senator's daughter from Rome, and Arden Caratacus, a Celtic chieftain trained in the Roman army.

Although Valeria's father is an influential senator, the family is broke. Valeria is given to the wealthy army officer Lucius Marcus Flavius in an arranged marriage. The marriage will bring money to Valeria's family and prestige to Marcus. Thus, Valeria is off with a small entourage, including her slave Savia, to Britannia to wed Marcus and begin life at Hadrian's Wall where he is newly stationed. Marcus's new appointment has angered the commander of the Petriana Calvary, Galba Brassidias, who does not want to be second in command to the inexperienced aristocrat Marcus. But how far is Galba willing to go to gain the power he feels he deserves?

Valeria views her trip and marriage as an adventure but from the moment she lands in Londinium, things begin to go dangerously wrong. Her party is not met by her husband or any representatives of Rome and are harassed and attacked by the locals. Just in time, however, they are saved by Galba. And repeatedly on their journey from the city northward to the wall, Valeria is put in harm's way only to be saved by Galba.

After the disappointing wedding ceremony and wedding night, things get even worse for Valeria and Savia. After just a short time living at the wall, they are kidnapped by Arden Caratacus and taken to live among his tribe. There, Valeria learns the language and ways of the natives and comes to appreciate their spirit and culture, even participating in one of their most sacred religious rites. Still, she is called by her duty as a Roman wife to escape and return to her husband and own culture. The only thing in her way is her comfort among her kidnappers and her growing affection for Arden. When she learns that Galba is playing a dangerous and violent game setting the Celts and the Romans against each other so that he may take command from Marcus, she acts to save lives, risking her own and her place in both cultures.

After a fierce battle between the two sides at the wall and Valeria's second disappearance, Inspector Draco is brought in from Rome to determine the role that Galba and Arden played and where Valeria has gone. Draco interviews those who met Valeria in Britannia before and after her kidnapping, including Savia, who is now in a Roman prison. Even as he struggles to put the pieces together, Draco finds himself pulled into the drama, as curious as Valeria about the freedoms of the Celts and as duty bound as the Roman officials and soldiers who are willing to die to defend Rome's borders.

Dietrich's novel is dramatic and engaging, if not quite historically accurate or wholly unique. Valeria and Arden are spirited and romantic protagonists and each is realistically conflicted over issues of duty, love and culture. Valeria is a frustrating character, often making bad or dangerous decisions, but then again she is a young woman, sheltered her whole life from the darker realities of the Roman Empire. Arden is interesting in that he, and not any other character, has lived in both worlds and has an understanding of both sides in this cultural conflict. In Galba, Dietrich has created a brutal villain, whose lust for power overtakes even the duty to Rome he thinks he is upholding. Each character, including the Christian slave Savia, the Druid priest and even Inspector Draco plays a bit of a stereotypical part, never quite acting in unexpected or surprising ways. Still, the novel is romantic and full of adventure, making it more of an entertaining read than an edifying one.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

Rating:
Summary: THE Best example of Roman-army-historic-fiction
Review: My favorite of all the historical Roman novels I've read so far, this novel centers around a cavalry unit based on the Wall in the 4th century A.D. It's a gripping story with all the blood, guts, love and intrigue that you would expect at such a time and place. I was very pleased to see the author cared as much about historical accuarcy as he did his story. He really did his military research, even conferring with a historical reenactor in England. Dietrich's depiction of Roman Britain is as facinating and as well detailed as you'll ever find.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Over two centuries old Hadrian's Wall was built to keep the feral Celtic tribes away from easy attacks on the Roman fortresses. However, the Roman Empire seems weaker than ever to the Celtics, especially Chieftain Arden Caratacus, who wants the invaders off the island. His enemy amoral brilliant tactician Senior Tribune Galba Brassidias understands the Wall and the people on both sides of it as he leads the deadly Petriana cavalry in keeping the Celts at bay.

Feeling he earned the position, Galba expects his success and his loyalty will have Rome name him in charge. Instead he learns that an island born Roman citizen is beneath those born in Rome for an aristocratic scholar Marcus Flavius arrives to take charge of the Petriana. Marcus is accompanied by the even more blue-blooded fiancée to Lady Valeria. Knowing that he is a victim of prejudice, an angry Galba pretends loyalty to his new Commander while encouraging Arden to attack. Marcus is a helpless warrior. Only Valeria, who has fallen in love with the dynamic Arden, might stop a bloody war.

The story is actually told in flashback form by a Roman investigation into what happened at the Wall in 368 AD. That technique not only adds to the sense of history that readers will feel, but sounds so eerily close to how western nations look back at scandal and traumatic events. The story line is action packed and the audience will feel they are trudging alongside Inspector Draco as he makes inquiries. The prime foursome seems genuine especially in their interactions; they and the support cast furbish readers with a powerful Ancient Rome tale that will elate historical novel readers.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Over two centuries old Hadrian's Wall was built to keep the feral Celtic tribes away from easy attacks on the Roman fortresses. However, the Roman Empire seems weaker than ever to the Celtics, especially Chieftain Arden Caratacus, who wants the invaders off the island. His enemy amoral brilliant tactician Senior Tribune Galba Brassidias understands the Wall and the people on both sides of it as he leads the deadly Petriana cavalry in keeping the Celts at bay.

Feeling he earned the position, Galba expects his success and his loyalty will have Rome name him in charge. Instead he learns that an island born Roman citizen is beneath those born in Rome for an aristocratic scholar Marcus Flavius arrives to take charge of the Petriana. Marcus is accompanied by the even more blue-blooded fiancée to Lady Valeria. Knowing that he is a victim of prejudice, an angry Galba pretends loyalty to his new Commander while encouraging Arden to attack. Marcus is a helpless warrior. Only Valeria, who has fallen in love with the dynamic Arden, might stop a bloody war.

The story is actually told in flashback form by a Roman investigation into what happened at the Wall in 368 AD. That technique not only adds to the sense of history that readers will feel, but sounds so eerily close to how western nations look back at scandal and traumatic events. The story line is action packed and the audience will feel they are trudging alongside Inspector Draco as he makes inquiries. The prime foursome seems genuine especially in their interactions; they and the support cast furbish readers with a powerful Ancient Rome tale that will elate historical novel readers.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Lovers of Historical Fiction Will Savor This Novel!
Review: Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, historian, and author, William Dietrich, recent poignant novel is set in Northern England in 367 A.D, where Hadrian's Wall, which incidentally is the title of the book, once stood. Today, it is a world heritage site in recognition of this magnificent Roman civil engineering project. Built of stone, it was wide enough to permit centurions to march three abreast along most of its length of 55 miles.
During this era, Rome had much difficulty in defending their northern British frontier against the barbarians.

Dietrich crafts an action packed novel making for some heady reading.
A Roman senator, who is deeply in debt and wishing to maintain his career and social status among his peers, pawns off his beautiful young daughter, Valeria, to Lucius Marcus Flavius.
It is a marriage of convenience, for Marcus gains the position of Praefectus and commander of the Petriana Cavalry at Hadrian's Wall, due to his future father-in-law's influence. I guess the adage, who you know and not how much you know, was as important during Roman times as it is today.

Brushed aside for this honorable position was Galba Brassidias, who had waited patiently for years to take over the command of Hadrian's Wall.
Galba cannot hide his rage, when he is told that a new alliance of families had taken place and a position had to be found for a new officer. Apparently, Marcus specifically requested the post of commander of the Petriana cavalry.

And so the drama unfolds as Valeria rides to meet her future husband, who is stationed at the wall, unaware of the brutal events that are about to be unleashed.
To add a little more spice to the plot, Dietrich introduces another character, Arden Caratacus, the barbarian chieftain, who once served Rome, however now disdains all that is associated with this mighty empire, and is determined to smash its power and win Valeria for his own.

This is a powerful story-driven novel, and Dietrich never loses sight of his characters' fundamental flaws, all of which are intertwined with tantalizing themes of love, lust, seduction, treason, revenge, cowardice, conspiracy, expediency, opportunism, and bravery. It is also the story of the passions of women and the yearnings of men.

Moreover, Dietrich must be commended for successfully blending into the saga philosophical discourses pertaining to cultural and sociological differences between Romans and the barbarians.
As the author states in the Epilogue: "one of the challenges of this novel was to convey the prejudices Romans had toward the world outside their empire while suggesting that Celtic tribes were not quite the troglodytes that Roman commentators would have us believe."
Which leaves us to the observation made by the Roman investigator, who was sent to find out what actually happened at the wall, and who asserted, "I could write it in four words: She fell in love. But in love with what? A man? Or a place outside the suffocation of my own empire."

Norm Goldman Editor of Bookpleasures.com