The Eagle of the Ninth is a story that plods its way through a beautifully detailed setting.Rosemary Sutcliff found her inspiration for The Eagle of the Ninth in two real stories of Roman Britain – one, the legendary (and somewhat historically disputed) disappearance of the Ninth Legion after it was sent north of Hadrian’s Wall to battle the Picts in 117 AD; and two, the discovery of a wingless Roman Eagle at an archaelogical dig in Silchester. And so Marcus was created, the son of the leader of the lost Ninth legion – and yet his search for the Eagle doesn’t start until a hundred pages into this book. This story doesn’t revolve around the search for the Eagle, the search is just something that lands in Marcus’ lap and that he undertakes out of a sense of duty. Honestly, there is no clean line through this story, no overarching plot or theme – it wanders without a larger sense of purpose.Yet at the same time, this book imparts a wonderfully detailed sense of what life was like in Roman times, on both sides of Hadrian’s Wall. From hunts to coming of age rituals, from chariots to weapons, the heart of this book is the vivid way it recreates everyday Roman life on the edge of the Empire. Marcus’s journey into the heart of enemy territory also brings him into contact with Celtic culture, and seeing the Roman take on Celtic ways is fascinating. I can easily understand why this book is called a classic of historical fiction, because it is wonderful to explore this living past Sutcliff has created, and to watch Marcus slowly come to think of Britain as home.Unfortunately the beautiful detail isn’t enough to overcome the meandering nature of the plot. Aside from some nice action sequences at the beginning and end of this story, by and large this book is very slow. The first half is largely Marcus recuperating from an injury, and the second half is mostly Marcus and Esca wandering around Britain and chatting with the various Celts they encounter. But there is a nice chase sequence at the end.This story further suffers from a lack of character detail. Marcus is a perfectly fine hero, the honorable soldier who always does what he believes is right, the type of guy who willingly places himself in danger to save the men under his command, but he never really manages to get past the stereotype. There was no individuality to him, and frankly not much emotion at all – even when Marcus was going through major life events, like his career-ending injury, I never got to see the personal side of his trauma, the doubt, the helplessness, the despair. There was just something impersonal about the character.Similarly Esca, the slave Marcus rescues and who becomes like a brother to Marcus, is another character that never really comes into focus. Esca is a constant, loyal presence, but I never got a sense of his personality, of what he wanted from life, or why he didn’t want to go back to his home after he was freed. Likewise the friendship between Esca and Marcus was never really earned or tested, it’s just a shinning ideal of absolute trust and loyalty that springs into existence full formed, like Athena from Zeus’ head (and yes, I did just make a Greek reference in relation to a Roman story). I was hoping Esca might get more to do once they started wandering across northern Britain, Esca’s native land, but he was never more than a solid bulwark trailing in Marcus’ wake. Overall there was nothing wrong with these characters, as they both ascribed to an old fashioned manly ethos of loyalty and honor, they just weren’t fully realized.So while the story ends well enough, with a nice happy conclusion, I wish there had been some larger relevance to this story, that the Eagle quest had changed Marcus’ life or taught him something important about life, something to tie it all together. Without that, no matter how fantastic the historical detail, this just isn’t a particularly compelling story and I can understand why it has faded out of prominence over the years. Still, I’m actually far more likely to see the movie adaptation now that I’ve read the book, because as frustrated as I was with the execution of this story, I think there’s a great idea lurking within it that wasn’t fully realized, and I’m hopeful that the movie will do it justice – or at least try.Still, if you’re a fan of Roman history, this book is a delightfully vivid realization of Roman times – just don’t expect more than that.
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary SutcliffIn Rosemary Sutcliff's books the history of Britain comes alive through sensuous descriptions of luscious forests and ragged mountains, and characters so deeply imagined that linger in your mind after the book has ended, like childhood friends untouched by time and the drudgery of life.Her books are not popcorn historical fiction novels with anachronistic characters dressed in the costumes of the time but keeping the ideas and sensibilities of their XX/XXI century authors. The people Rosemary Sutcliff's creates are imbued with the beliefs of their own time. And so it is that Marcus, the young centurion protagonist of The Eagle of the Ninth, pay tribute to Luth, the sun god, while the pagan tribes of Northern Britain worship gods that take animal shape in the night of the horn moon and believe the golden eagle the Roman legions carry in their standard is the Roman god.At the beginning of The Eagle of the Ninth, Marcus, following in the steps of his father (supposed dead when his legion disappeared ten years past in northern Britain) has given his oath to Mithras and taken command of his first cohort in the southern part of the island.Marcus dreams of a legion of his own and of an early retirement to a farm in the Etruscan hills that once belonged to his family. But fate has it that, in his first battle, he’s seriously injured and forced to leave the army. During his long and painful recovery, Marcus hears rumors that the Roman eagle from his father lost legion is being worshipped by one of the pagan tribes up in the north.Eager to restore his father’s honor and steal the eagle that could be used as a rally symbol against the hated Roman invaders should a revolt ever break anew among the dark barbarians, Marcus and his British freed slave, Ecca, travel north. All through the summer, they crisscross the wild regions beyond the wall that keeps the untamed tribes from the Roman world in search of the eagle. Rosemary Sutcliff's takes her time in creating her characters and their world. As a result The Eagle of the Ninth is not the fast paced adventure you find in an action movie, but a well crafted and realistic tale that is, at the end, much more satisfying. In my mind, a masterpiece.Quotes from The Eagle of the NinthHe stood for a while in the bothy doorway, ears stretched for any sound to break the silence of the mountains, but heard only the wet whisper of falling water where the swift stream came tumbling into the loch and a long while later, the belling of a stag.Autumn had come to the mountains almost overnight, he thought. A few days ago, summer had still lingered, though the heather was past its flowering and flaming rowan berries long since gone. But now it was the Fall of the Leaf; one could smell the wind, and the trees of the glen grew bare and the brawling stream run gold with yellow birch branches.
What do You think about The Eagle Of The Ninth (2000)?
When I announced that I was picking this up again, my father reminded me that he had read it to me as a child. While I'm sure that this is true, I have to confess that most of the memories of this book were hazy, and most of the info I had on it, was either picked up in the ether, or from Dad speaking about it at a later point in my life.He did make one telling point about the book though, and this was what I found to be true: it's a boy's hero/action story.Now, my bookshelves comprise mainly of boys' hero/action stories, so it ought to be a perfect fit.Here's why it wasn't.The main reason: it was published in 1954. In the days where children could read. Where children read books, that today would be considered of a standard where an adult could read and enjoy them as it it was their own age category.Sentences meandered. Used to both writing and reading in clipped, sometimes rhythmic sentences, I was distracted from the story by stumbling over never-ending sentences. The opening paragraph, while not excessively long, is still long enough that I could have done without it being only one sentence. I appreciate that this is my fault, and not the writer's, but it meant that the story could never properly engage me.Having said that, I do approve of the story's premise. For a mighty Roman legion to travel north and vanish is a fantastic mystery, and I love that the author has mingled real facts with her fictional characters. I initially thought Marcus, the main character, to be a bit of a Mary-Sue, but I found myself liking him for his risk taking, his compassion, his bravery and funnily enough, the fear he felt when he knew he had to get an agonising wound reset. I'd also forgotton (or didn't know) that he would be injured so early on in the book, which humanised him very quickly. I loved Esca very much also, and the way the friendship developed was very sweet. It probably was too unrealistic to not be a children's novel, but I still didn't feel cheated by the way the slave and master bonded, and there was a refreshing sincerety to both of them in this regard. Cub was adorable. Uncle Aquila was both humourous, wise and kind, and Cottia was tolerable! She was actually a bit old for the events aluded to at the end of the book by my reckoning, but it probably wouldn't have done to have that in a children's book in those days.The other main drawback to the book, for those of us who are not up to scratch on their Ancient Rome factors, was that sometimes descriptions were written as if the reader already knew the places and lifestyle being discussed. While this makes the POV of the characters more realistic, it also serves to shut the reader out a little, because you have to stop and work out what's being discussed.I am glad to re-read this though. The premise was amazing, the adventure was decent, and the characters were warm and loveable. The story lacked depth, and sometimes the scope to include the reader, but I think that the children who first read this book must have been truly delighted with it. It's certainly a helpful example for the boy-hero-action authors of today!
—Lois
Reread 3-7 March 2005. Really enjoyed! Set in Roman Britian and told by a first class historical fiction writer. Why did I have to be an adult before I discovered her?! Reading her books is an EXCELLENT way for young people to learn history! As soon as I finished this I went on to read the rest in the series...well they roughly follow in a series--not many of the same characters, but they trace Roman British history roughly in order and include descendants wherever possible. Highly recommend for young boys--but my girls loved them too!
—booklady
I have read this book four or five times now, and I like it more and more every time, enough that by now I think I have to give it five stars. It's the story of a young man in Roman Britain, Marcus Flavius Aquila, and his quest for the lost Eagle standard of the Ninth Legion, his father's legion. (I have by now entirely stopped snickering at the fact that his name is Aquila, but I think this used to strike me as funny.)This is a children's book of the sort that I don't think anyone writes anymore -- it is a quest story, but an occasionally slow, very richly described one. Descriptions, especially landscape descriptions, are one of Sutcliff's strong points. I am not sure how it would appeal to the youth of today -- it contains some words I still don't know -- but I really love it. It's also the story of the friendship between Marcus and his slave (very soon former slave) Esca, who is a native Briton. Even though Esca is not from the tribe they're taking the Eagle back from, there are layers of complexity in their relationship, and in the descriptions of Britannia as a province in the midst of colonization.Now that a film has been made, comparisons with it are more or less inevitable, and I have to say that I like them both a lot. They are, however, entirely different stories -- even though they have basically the same premise, that's about it. I did like that in the film, Esca was angry about Rome and angry about his slavery. In the book, Esca never is, and it used to bug me. He pretty much adores Marcus unequivocally from the beginning ("it was in my heart that it might be you that we went to"), and the most negative he is about Rome is the shield-boss conversation, which is wistful ambivalence at most. Only Cottia gets to be angry about Rome. Of course, she's not in the movie at all.So essentially you have to accept that this is the kind of book where Esca (though at least he's not a slave for long) is going to be happy about slavery -- it problematizes Roman imperialism, but not slavery -- and move on. There are plenty of things it does right, though. I appreciate that Marcus, a disabled character, gets to be the hero and go on a quest.If there is a flaw, I think it's that Sutcliff doesn't really know what to do with her minor characters, especially her minor female characters. I like Cottia a lot, and the happy ending everyone gets (at least, the portion of the ending that is happy) is very nice, but Cottia really has very little to do and it seems like even the author forgot about her for the bulk of the story.Other than that, though, recommended highly, and I am now going to read all the rest of the Sutcliff I can find. If this is the sort of thing you will be into, you will be into this. It's a boys' own adventure story about Roman Britain, with epic quests and deep friendships! You can't go wrong with that!
—Sineala
