Many thanks to Lina Mueller
Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Land of Kings" by Virginia Weldon. 📷4 out of 4 stars
Land of Kings (The Britannia Chronicles Book 2) by Virginia Weldon is a historical fiction book that takes place at the time of the Roman Empire. And what a remarkable book. Few authors have the knack for creating an epic storyline that blends action, romance, psychological immersion, revenge, and religion into one single book.
Regan is the son of a leader of a "barbarian" tribe of the British Isles, who becomes a slave after a military defeat. As a slave, he is forced to go to Rome, where he becomes a legendary gladiator. Not unlucky enough to face a rogue emperor like Commodus, he ends up meeting a Roman friend named Valerius and earns his freedom.
The problem is that he spent more than a decade in the Eternal City. That's why he has to look for his wife Cara and an unknown son. Most fascinating of all is that countless things are happening at once: tribal wars, riots against Rome, fleeing slaves, and even love triangles.
There is no romantic or stereotypical description of how the native peoples of Britannia were good and innocent and how the Romans were evil imperialists. Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, goes crazy and organizes an army that annihilates older adults and children of British cities just because they had made a peace deal with the Romans. Valerius, by contrast, is a Roman who has been converted to Christianity and, in many cases, puts himself at risk to help his friend Regan. That was what I liked the most about the book.
The author seems to know a lot about human psychology. It was brilliant how she approached the internal conflict between Regan's artistic self with the warrior and assassin he had to become because he was the only son of a military leader and had to become a gladiator after being enslaved by the Romans. The character Cara is also psychologically complex. Unlike a stereotypical maiden who would die dreaming of her distant knight, she almost marries Urtec after experiencing terrible situations.
After finishing this epic work of story fiction, it became clear that I could not give it less than 4 out of 4 stars. It is a masterpiece that mixes fiction with real historical facts. There is a lot of action, conflict, betrayal, and romance. The book is so good that it is difficult to point out a single flaw. The way the author described the main character's psychological conflicts was brilliant. I found seven grammatical errors (mainly comma misuse), but nothing serious considering that the book is over 300 pages long. I recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction. This book is a hidden masterpiece that could quickly become a Hollywood movie.
See the review on Online Book Club's website https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=127128
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