Casca #09: Sentinel

This story was well written, albeit with a little confusion at the start. The plot takes in the confrontation between the Brotherhood and Casca and his fight to keep them off his family. Set against this is a war he has to fight in Africa in post-Roman times and you have the right mixture of adventure, action and exotic locations this series needs as its lifeblood. The suspense builds to its inevitable climax and the chase sequence at the end rivals any modern day car chase. Good stuff. Pity many later ones lacked this vitality.

My particular interest in medieval history is Byzantium and this novel, set in 6th century Constantinople, certainly had me eagerly turning the pages. I wasn't disappointed either, as this story, essentially one of tragedy and revenge, ranks amongst my personal top ten Casca stories. The start was a little shaky however, with the number of years that passed from the end of the preceding story (Casca 7 The Damned) and when this was supposed to be set being awry, and one small error by the writer in naming the wrong Roman general (Stilicho instead of Aetius). Those aside, once the story settled down it was a page turner, always a good sign. The first part was set in the Alps with Casca saving a village from bandits and then wandering off and getting entombed in a cave of ice overlooking the village's valley (therefore becoming the Sentinel). When the village is attacked again about 35-45 years later, a young girl secretly in love with the Sentinel revives him and Casca once again saves them all. The girl, Ireina, has been raped by the bandits and eventually gives birth to a son, Demos. Casca assumes fatherhood and together the three travel to Constantinople. Here the story develops into a typical Casca story with him enlisting in the army and going off to fight for the Empire in North Africa. But here a sub-plot develops with the Brotherhood of the Lamb, entrenched in the city, finding Ireina and Demos and taking them captive. Casca fights his usual battle and wins but then is compelled to return to the city when he gets informed of the kidnapping. By this time Constantinople is plague-ridden and against this backdrop of pestilence Casca enters the fray. The last part of this novel concerns the death of Ireina and Demos and Casca's enraged course of vengeance against the Elder of the sect, Gregory. The chase across Asia is one of the all-time chase sequences and the final scene tragic and at the same time satisfying. But we are left at the end with Casca weary, lonely, bitter and saddened. Its not really a happy ending in that respect, and this is where so far the continuous life story of Casca from the time of the crucifixion comes to an end and we have to jump a number of centuries to the next tale. I'd like to see more Casca novels set in this period.

This book covers the late 5th/early 6th centuries in Byzantine Constantinople. Casca begins by saving an Alpine village from raiders then falls asleep for decades in a cave of ice ("The Sentinel"). After saving the village yet again Casca is claimed by a young girl Ireina who is pregnant after being raped. They travel to constantinople and Casca joins the army. Meanwhile the girl and her son are captured by the Brotherhood and things go pear-shaped for everyone. I won't spoil the ending but its bloody, as you'd expect any Sadler story to be. One of his last good books, this is a story of revenge.

Barry Sadler's Casca series tended to be very inconsistent. The earliest novels were generally (but not always) the better of the bunch, and "The Sentinel" was definitely his peak. Several Casca novels were indifferently plotted, and very badly edited. Sadler was not a meticulous writer on his own, and needed a good editor to clean up his often clumsy prose and bad grammar. "Casca: The Sentinel" combined one of Sadler's best Casca plots with good editing. The prose is snappy, the action is nearly non-stop, and the story is genuinely tragic. The anguish of Casca's curse of eternal life is bluntly illustrated. There is no happy ending for Casca in this story - just heartache tempered only by a bloody revenge against the murderer of his family and friends. I often wish that Sadler could have gotten around to writing another Casca novel immediately after the events of "Sentinel" - it would have been interesting to read how Casca recovered from his grief and depression - but unfortunately Sadler's death prevented that. This is the best of the Casca series, and definitely recommened.

This is a story of a man's love for his adopted family and of revenge woven into the usual warrior-style book Barry Sadler penned. For that reason its one of the superior Casca novels and shouldn't be missed in favour of one of the turkeys he later wrote. There is also a fairly accurate historical account of the fall of the Vandal kingdom in north Africa, too.