Set in present-day Northern Wales in A.D. 77, this story is a fictitious depiction of a true event.
Four Dogs from an enemy tribe have been welcomed into the Clan of the Crows of the Ordo-Wiki tribe, and Cadwal knows he must kill them even at the cost of his own life. His failure to do so allows the Dogs to overrun the settlement and carry the people off into slavery. Cadwal is parted from his two young sons, as he is destined for work in the mines, but swears to the gods that he will find and rescue them. Surviving male members of the tribe are chained in a carriage, but Cadwal is dragged behind causing serious injury to his feet. This means he is no use in the mines and so he is sent to the arena.
In a second plot line, Bleddyn, King of the Ordo-Wiki, is dying and his sons are vying for his throne. One has been poisoned and Helig has survived and the youngest, Derog, is willing to deal with the Romans if they will allow him to become king of the Holy Island of Mona. The Dogs have also joined the Romans against the Ordo-Wiki.
After enduring much hardship and escaping from seemingly impossible situations, Cadwal joins forces with Brei, a healer, Helig, and an unpleasant druid named Tegan to thwart the plan. I have never read of druids being agents of terror, but when confronted by Tegan, our hero turns into a wimp – so much so that he is forced to forego his promise to find his sons and agrees to walk into the lion’s den after coming within an inch of losing his life while escaping from that situation. The motivation was a bit weak there.
Once the author had established the characters and background (the latter without any lengthy and intrusive visits to the past) in the early pages, the action was non-stop and the danger of Roman occupation always hovered in the future. Despite what I saw as a weak main character in Cadwal, I enjoyed the book.
In the end notes, the author writes that the book has been edited twice. I suggest a further edit or proofreading as there are many mistakes, principally missing words.
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About Robb Pritchard
For the day job, I have the unbelievable privilege of travelling the world to test drive classic Porsches and Ferraris and the occasional crazy off-roader.
The passion though, has long been writing novels. It’s taken a few long years to get here but Brethren is about to malt its fluffy fledgling feathers and be released into the wild. Hopefully, I wrote it well enough that it can fend for itself.
DIGGING INTO THE PAST 