The Scourge of God

Generally speaking I have a policy about epic books and that is they have to be long. After all if you're telling a tale of an epic battle, or generations in a family life, or about two civilizations clashing together (or crumbling) shouldn't it be long? Shouldn't there be hundreds and hundreds of pages to mull over, to fit every detail into it and every perspective? Most of the time, it suits an epic to be long. But occasionally there comes around an author who manages to cram an epic into about 300 pages-and does it brilliantly with nothing lacking from the novel. "The Scourge of God" by William Dietrich is one such novel. It is the story of the time leading up to and including the huge clash that was the battle of nations- the great battle where the Western Roman empire briefly united with the Visigoth's, Franks and many others in order to beat back Attila and his allies and keep them from conquering the West. Even though it's only 338 pages long it is an amazing novel of war, love and the beginning of the end from the Roman Empire. I loved it! It's also an amazing education into the massive effect that Attila and his Huns had on the world. Considering that the same time they were ravaging the Eastern Roman Empire (which was functioning completely on its own) and the West was crumbling (Rome was essentially abandoned as the capital in favor of Venice) and all kinds of Barbarians were preparing to swoop down and end the empire for good-well people must have thought that Attila hailed the end of the world! In fact they did. I believe that's how he got the title the scourge of god. Unlike Dietrich's previous historical novel,Hadrian's Wall: A Novel "The Scourge of God" is told in first person by Jonas, a young man from the eastern Roman Empire whose life is forever changed when he becomes part of a failed embassy to the Hun encampment, with some scenes Jonas isn't involved in written in third person (but still, the whole story is being told by an older Jonas, so it's all first.) I liked Jonas quite a lot as a narrator-he's engaging, funny, and smart and doesn't mess around with his motives for doing things, but the fact that the novel was told exclusively in first person kind of led onto the fact that certain people must have survived in order to tell Jonas their part of the story, which cut down the suspense a little. Still this was an amazing novel, about twice as good as "Hadrian's Wall" (which I still recommend) I loved and recommend it to everyone (though I should warn you-there is a lot of violence in this book) and I fully plan on reading Dietrich's other historical books. And anything else on Attila the Hun I can find. But because of the little suspense downing problem mentioned above I have to dock a few points. Four point five stars.

As with his other books, William Dietrich gives his readers an excellent blend of historical fact and adventure, this time centering on the invasion and last great battles of Attila the Hun, attacking a crumbling Roman empire. Set in the years around 450AD, the historical characters of Attila, the Roman General Aetius and a host of others are intertwined with believable fictional protaganists: - Jonas Alabanda, a young Roman from Constantinople, enlisted in the ill fated diplomatic mission to Attila that harbors a plot to assasinate the Hun leader; - Ilana, a Roman woman whose city is ravaged by the Huns, her father and fiance killed, and she taken as a slave; - Skilla, a Hun fighter and future warlord, fighting for Attila and against Jonas for Ilana's favor. Jonas journey leads him from the comforts of Constantinople (the Roman capital in the east) into Attila's camp, a different world where battle and survival rule. While appearing simply barbaric at first, Jonas comes to realize that the Hun way of life could replace the Roman civilization if Attila's march is unchecked. Forced into slavery after the uncovering of the assination plot, Jonas is forced to fight Skilla for Ilana. He later escapes, losing Ilana in the process, but finds himself thrust headlong into the ultimate Battle of Nations, as Jonas helps the Roman General Aetius diplomatically assemble the armies of Roman and the western barbarians to meet Attila's barbarian horde, with Ilana in tow. They meet in the Battle of Nations, to decide the fate of Western Civilization. As with Mr. Dietrich's other novels, the blend of historical fact with adventure and fictional characters makes for a well-paced read. The descriptions of the battles, the contrast of life in Constantinople vs. life with the Huns and other barbarians, and the imagined descriptions of great and minor historical characters are all well written. Sometimes a backward looking historical perspective intrudes on the main character, but the information provided helps put the fictional story into factual context. Highly recommended, as are Bill's other novels I have read (Napolean's Pyramids and Getting Back).

There is some similarity to the set-up of the author's excellent previous novel, "Hadrian's Wall." But "Scourge of God" has a broader sweep, convincingly contrasting life in Constantinople with Attila and the Huns before the main character goes on to the Western Roman Empire. The dilemmas faced by the Romans of the mid fifth century, both east and west, are very well brought out. But this book is far more than just an interesting, and well-researched, history lesson as it skillfully threads a gripping storyline around a series of pivotal historical events. I found it very hard to put down and, if anything I would rate it slightly above "Hadrian's Wall." I certainly hope the author will give us more from this era.

This is a well written book on Attila and Aetius and Rome. The writer creates the story from the perspective of an individual named Jonas who is sent to Attila as an ambassador and his experiences living with the Huns, and afterwards including the battle of Maurican plain. The writing style is quick, short sentences with numerous changes in plot resulting in continual excitement wondering what will happen next to Jonas. The images painted about the different protoganists are also very realistic: - images of Attila, a brutal, violent individual who was somewhat neurotic; - images of the Huns, who murdered and treated others with cruelty, - images of the Romans, with the decadence of a declining, rotting empire with graft and corruption from officials and a military in significant decline; - images of the Visigoths who reminded me of the Rohan knights from Lord of the Rings (in fact some believe that the Lord of the Rings was written from the apocayptic story of 451AD); - images of Aetius, a Roman with integrity and honor trying to keep a dying empire together; and other images providing a very realistic perspective on what happened in 451AD. The realism of the story was shown in other ways also. The author painted a realistic picture of the look of a Roman soldier, the Visigoth knight, the Frankish soldier, the Hun and all the protoganists of that period. The author did not get into the numbers game on how many soldiers were involved in the battle (although he discusses his believes in an ending section), just saying that there seemed to be "hundreds of thousands", and the Visigoth army was made of 10,000 men. The story is so well written that it really doesn't have to harp about the numbers of men involved. Even the idea of storekeepers in the Roman army and runaway slaves in the Hun army swelling the numbers made sense. Although the ending did not make much sense, but that time, I was drawn into the book and accepted it. This is a well-written and well researched book and well worth the purchase.