Manda Scott originally set out to write a trilogy, as I’ve heard it, and I rather understand why she didn’t want to add this finale: we rather know how history turned out, after all.

Book three (Dreaming the Hound) ended where the Boudica myth usually starts – no, I’m not going to spoil it all for those not in the know! However, it does all mean that the final installment is a bit darker, bleaker.

I’ve enjoyed the series. It’s never light-hearted, and yet somehow didn’t drag me down. It’s fiction, but with enough basis in reality to make everything seem reasonable enough (ish – the gods and magic might be a little harder to take). I also think the ancient tale resonates today: the free peoples of Brittania ground under Rome’s heel, and the need to fight against that.

Final word: I loathed Scott’s afterword. Let other people draw parallels between your story and the modern day; for Briga’s sake don’t shove them down our throats at the end!