Wolf Blood

N. M Browne (author) 

Bloomsbury, UK: Australian release September 2011; 282pp

ISBN: 9781408812556

Genres: adventure, historical fiction

Issues: community, friendship, identity, loyalty

Trista, warrior maiden and seeress, has been enslaved by a rival tribe but manages to escape – right into the path of two Roman soldiers. Trista recognises one of the soldiers as half-Celtic and her gift shows her his secret. Does he have any understanding of his own remarkable gift? More importantly, will he help Trista?

It is a time when the Romans are taking over the Celtic lands and the tribes are being forced to put aside old enmities to fight together to defend their homes and culture. The Romans have enormous numbers of disciplined soldiers who fight in organised patterns of attack; the Celts have small tribes of beserker warriors. The Romans have little respect for any female; the Celts have a Queen and recognise the skills of warrior women. Can Trista, with her powerful but confused visions find a path for the Celtic people, one that gives them a chance of survival against the remorseless power of Rome? And if her Roman-Celtic friend learns to control his beast-within, what might their combined powers achieve?

In the style of Rosemary Sutcliff, N.M. Browne breathes life, personality and passion into a historical period that was a turning point for entire peoples and cultures. Only very thorough research enables a writer to embed so much detail with such conviction that the reader barely notices, simply accepts the world, its characters, costumes, social structures and conflicts as totally real. Trista's and Morcant's gifts are not a fantasy touch to engage readers but a recognition and understanding of the belief systems of the early Celtic tribes, where seeresses, druids and shape-changers were highly respected individuals.

Browne also uses her writing to connect readers to the people of the past – not just the great leaders whose names have been passed down and end up in the history books, but the population itself: to remind us that history is simply something that happened to people like us but thousands of years ago. People with loves, hopes, dreams, families and needs of their own that were overtaken by events. People who were forced to make pragmatic choices, people who saw opportunities for individual gain or people who fought for a greater ideal than power or wealth. Browne makes history a living, breathing, action-packed narrative driven by complicated characters with very human strengths and weaknesses.

Gifted readers will be turning from this book to non-fiction to find out more about Caratacus, the great leader Trista seeks to help; to learn more about druids; to look into the backstory of Wolf Blood – a backstory which is the story of the United Kingdom itself.

A very readable, absorbing historical adventure, Wolf Blood is a polished novel by a writer with a passion for the past and an understanding that all human history is a great story if it's told the right way.

Highly recommended.