I liked this style of historical fiction, though the writing does feel dated (in a decades old way, not centuries old). Epic battles and heroes mix with more everyday stories. Its a war story really so it is somewhat gruesome but not overly so. I had a hard time remembering who the heck everyone was but I got the main plot points ok. ( )

Overall this was a rather interesting story. The story was told as a memory of Prosper's past. It is a fantasy historical fiction coming of age story that is full of tragedy. This book was a rather sad tale, but I did enjoy reading it. There were times where I did have to reread sentences a few times as, for some reason, my dyslexia really had troubles with the story and picking up what was on the page (I'm not sure if this was because of the font or not) but this is why I had to bump it down a star. It was a little difficult to get through even if the story was well written. ( )

The poem on which this book was based is apparently (I haven't read the Gododdin) much like the battle scenes of the Iliad, recounting the final heroic end of one young hero after another. This is actually not of gripping interest unless you are a small enough child to take delight in the pattern and chant "He FELL! THUNDEROUSLY! And his armour CLATTERED UPON HIM!" So, kudos to Sutcliff for fleshing out the story and creating a plot to support the few known facts.

Unfortunately, repeated references in the first half of the story to Thermopylae, King Leonidas, and the 300 Spartans who fell, are so frequent and so heavy-handed that no plot could support the weight of that much foreshadowing. They already know they're doomed. In fact, one starts to wonder why the commander-in-chief didn't send a different number of young sacrificial victims just to improve their morale. Since they know and we know that they're going to die bravely to a man, what's the point in reading the rest of the book? I did not finish it. ( )

I read Y Gododdin a few years ago and mostly just took away that it's elegies for a band of warriors who feasted for a long time and then promptly got themselves slaughtered. Sutcliff's retelling of the story really fleshes out character and the logic behind the forming of the company, as well as showing off her masterful ability to evoke historical periods. ( )

One of my favourite Sutcliff's. Though not part of the Dolphin cycle, this redacton of "the Poem of Goddoddyn" remains a good tight story with fleshy characters. Someday I mean to gety to Catterick just to pace it all out. One of her last books, I think. ( )