Lady of the Light

Some books shoot you along at a rapid pace with their words, and their words are not worth dwelling on and you don't miss much by reading quickly and greedily to get to the next plot turn. Gillespie's book is different. Hurry yourself and you'll miss the richness of her prose. I linger over paragraphs, re-reading sentences remarkable for a quality of prose rarely found in stories of this nature. Same was true for The Light Bearer. Gillespie has a way of constructing a scene so that you feel like you are sitting in a movie theater watching a film--she's that good. History buffs will find themselves completely satisfied with Gillespie's rich and well-researched detail about both Roman and tribal life. I got so involved in the characters' lives I at one point wanted to call Gillespie and demand an answer as to why Auriane made a certain choice! You can't go wrong with this one. The book can stand on its own, but I highly recommend reading Gillespie's first book, The Light Bearer, as well, for an exceptional treat. If you like being fully immersed in worlds you can never go to in time and space, you'll love Gillespie's books.

Donna Gillespie's first book, The Light Bearer, literally changed my life back in 1994 when I first read it. It's the type of novel that speaks individually to each reader and opens paths to their inner self-knowledge; I was always astounded at how I'd struck by deeper and deeper insights at each reading. Personally, I thought Donna could never outdo herself with The Light Bearer. It has everything any human being could want - thrilling adventure, forbidden love, soul-devouring danger, stark honor, difficult sacrifice, etc. Keep in mind I read it prior to becoming a mother myself. Now, 12 years later, The Lady of the Light is released. Let me tell you, I have no idea how the author accomplished this but the impact of this book knocked me figuratively flat on my rear. I've been a mom myself now for over a decade, and never never never NEVER have I read a book that speaks to women and men as does this. You see, Lady of the Light transcends your typical book reading experience. The Light Bearer did too, of course...from a different viewpoint. TLB is a mansion of masterful rooms, each described robustly and fully and coming together beautifully in the end. Each component was described fully and in detail (horrific war, dangerous love, impossible training, hidden treachery, fanatic deceit, etc.) Lady of the Light, in comparison, had a much more targeted focus... it is the hidden sanctuary that all women, mothers and daughters have secret within their fragile-strong souls. It draws readers into matters of the mind and heart while allowing the tightly-packed action scenes to take the background... leaving instead the center stage to the more subdued yet far more draining struggles of women finding their true inner peace. Men too, for that matter, will find the material just as resonating; the main character, Marcus, was given not only a stalwart soul but also a woman's understanding as well. In closing, I have probably re-read Lady of the Light a dozen times by now, and The Light Bearer times past counting. Not because I forget the material, mind you....but each reading simply reveals more about myself to me. I still have no idea how Donna accomplished this. It's uncanny... I've never seen another author with this particular gift. I highly recommend the series.

"Lady of the Light" is the long-awaited sequel to "the Light Bearer". Around eight years have passed between the end of the last book and this book. We find Auriane living comfortably with her family in a villa on the Germanic frontier. All seems to be well, but Auriane is keeping a few secrets from both her "husband" Marcus Julianus and her daughter Avenahar. The secret she is keeping from Marcus could cost them both dearly, for she is secretly supporting her Chattian tribe with weapons so they could defend themselves from the Cheruscan invaders. The secret she is keeping from Avenahar is not as threatening, it seems, but Avenahar is a rowdy young woman, not quite unlike her mother was. Auriane is afraid to tell Avenahar who her real father is (Decius) because Avenahar hates all Romans (except Marcus of course). Meanwhile, Marcus Julianus is in some trouble of his own; the Emperor Trajan has been turned against him by his enemies. As for Auriane's daughter with Marcus, Arria Juliana, she is the unfortunate object of a pervert neighbour's desire. Eventually the secrets are revealed and Auriane's family is broken up. Auriane is once again thrown into her unwanted fate of becoming the next Veleda, but that is all I will reveal because everyone should discover for themselves this wonderful book. I waited it seemed forever for this book to come out and it was worth it. There is never a dull moment in the book and if I did not have so much school work to do I would have finished it in a couple of hours. I did not want the book to end because I was enjoying it so much. I was also seriously hoping that I would not have a serious freak accident (or die, or go blind) before this book came out. Yeah, that's weird, but that is how much I wanted to read the book. Now I cannot wait for the next book to come out. My only rants are that this book was too short and I did not get to find out what happened to a few characters from the first book, such as Sunia, Thorgild, and Coniaric. It was nice though, that some other old characters returned, such as Witgern, Ramis, and Decius. I also felt it was more about Auriane and Avenahar, which I had no problem with, but it would have been nice to see more of Marcus and Arria. I especially enjoyed the parts with Decius because he is one of my favorite characters in the series. I also feel like I can relate a bit to Avenahar because I myself am a "half-breed" and sometimes feel like a stranger in both of my worlds, just like Avenahar. To sum it up, the writing is smooth, the characters are so believable, and the plot is very interesting. I highly recommend this book and "The Light Bearer" to any historical fiction fan or Ancient Rome fan.

The Light Bearer is such a broad epic, I didn't think there was anything more this author could "do" with these characters, but she proved me wrong. Lady of the Light opens out into a whole new realm, showing us up-close the private lives of Auriane, Marcus and the Roman townspeople in a small first-century Roman province, while maintaining all the wildness, the color, the unpredictability, of Light Bearer. The gut-wrenching choices Auriane must make grabbed my sympathies. She's forced to choose between two absolutes - what she owes to her tribe, and what she owes to her family - and the way this is resolved at the end is totally unexpected. Marcus's dilemma is just as dire - he is being systematically hunted down by a madman desperate to kill him in revenge for the Emperor Domitian's assassination. Most compelling is the aurochs hunt where the assassin strikes - it's described in such lush detail, you will feel you were there. In some ways this book is more deeply psychological than Light Bearer - yet the author manages this without ever slowing the brisk pace. The two books, in my opinion, accomplish two entirely different things, and do both wonderfully. Lady of the Light takes you down roads traveled rarely or never, and it's chock full of delicious details of some very obscure places in history - and it all seems so real. I particularly enjoyed the way this book delves deeply into women's mysteries in this ancient era. The prophetess Ramis, who looms large here, is a striking character, and she reveals much more of herself than she did in Light Bearer. The chapters in which Avenahar is initiated by the forest seeresses drew me into a magic world that I didn't want to leave. The ending was tantalizing - it left me eager for the next volume.

I loved this book! It's even better than The Light Bearer, first of Donna Gillespie's still to be completed trilogy! It shows Aurriane growth beyond a woman warrior to become a leader torn between her family, half Germanic half Roman, and duty to her tribe. Hardly second to Auriane's voyage is her daughter, Avenahar's. Seeking to succeed her mother as a warrior and support her leadership, she reals from the blow of discovering, during her coming of age ceremony, that her own father is the enemy. Rebelling against this fate, she joins the Wolf Coats a band dedicated to driving the Romans and other tribes from her motherland. And the unpredictable ending thrusts the reader into the next stage of Aruiane and Avenahar's journeys.