Britain, early 1st century AD. A time of tribes, of warriors and Dreamers – those who talk most often to the gods. Also a time when the influence of Rome is starting to spread – as ally, or as invader.

I really enjoyed this book; it’s of the type that just totally sweeps you up into the atmosphere. I knew it had me hooked when I got entirely uptight at the scene where someone is tricked into gambling an important thing – I skipped to the end of the chapter to reassure myself he wouldn’t lose!

This is a more background piece that you might be expecting from a novel called ‘Boudica’ (the name doesn’t even crop up until the end), but stronger for that. We are introduced to the Eceni tribe, and a lifestyle that doesn’t sound so bad: women are equal to men, Dreamers are accorded as much respect as warriors, and the elderly are venerated. There’s sort of a hippy-ish feel to everything, with almost-coy references to free love of whatever kind takes their hearts. And the spiritual references – of the gods sending ‘dreamings’ in the shape of animal totems, or people averting disasters through dreams of foresight – surprisingly it works, rather than having me going “Yeah, right”.

The narrative splits between two characters, Breaca, who wants to be a dreamer but dreams of war; and her half-brother Bàn, who wants to be a warrior but dreams the future. It works reasonably well, allowing different aspects of society to be explored, and breaking up the story somewhat helps maintain interest.

Only minor criticism is that tone is quite dark and heavy going at times. It’s not really a complaint – a moment of frivolity would have completely ruined the atmosphere, but between that and long (20+ page) chapters, it could sometimes feel a little draining to read. I’m very much looking forward to the next installment – the book ends, but with myriad loose ends – but I felt the need for something a bit more light hearted first.

If you are going to read this, I’d suggest flicking to the appendices at the end and reading the pronunciations first: saves that moment of realising you’ve been saying ‘Breeka’ in you head, and suddenly have to realign that to ‘Bree-ah-ka’! Although even with the guide, I don’t have a clue how you say ‘Bàn’!

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn’t put it down. It’s exciting, well-written, with good characters. The author’s tactic of alternating between the two main characters keeps you hooked. I’ve heard it criticised for not being historically accurate – all I can say to that is that I don’t know, and it was so enjoyable that I didn’t really care!