The Skystone: Camulod Chronicles, Book 1

This book is really an Arthurian tale, but since it is part of a series we don’t even get close to Arthur or Merlin, but to their grandparents who dream of a place that is safe and free in Britain. Caius Britannicus was a great and wise general in the Roman army and Publius Varrus his Primus Pilus or Sergeant Major, his first assistant and second in command. They would have many adventures together before Caius invited Publius to share his villa where he would marry Cay’s sister Luceiia.The Skystone may sound like an odd name, but if you read the story you find that it is an important part of the Arthurian legend. This is a wonderful book, carefully researched for historical correctness. Of course, Arthur is a legend, but the times and history spoken of in these books are not. I enjoyed these so much that I am not only on my third reading, they inspired me to do my own research on the early centuries of the land called Britain. The first three books are stellar five star historical reads.

This is the fantastic first novel of what is rapidly becoming my favorite series of Arthurian legends, although due to a mistake in loading my to-be-read stack, I read the second in the series first. I give this series the highest possible recommendations to fans of stories of King Arthur and the Matter of Britain, as well as any fans of post-Roman and early Dark Ages historical adventure fiction.This first novel explains a lot of what was alluded to in The Singing Sword (book 2 in the Camulod series, which I mistakenly read before this one), so I was happy to read this book to fill in those gaps and be reminded in the future that it's always better to read book 1 before book 2. It is narrated in first person by Gaius Publius Varrus, beginning with how he got the injury which ended his career as a soldier and gave him a lifelong limp, following his general Caius Britannicus into a trap in a mountain pass in Britain in 369 AD, in which the general was also wounded. Their shared time as invalids bonded them as friends even more than their time as general and subordinate officer, first encountering each other without exchanging names years before in the eastern edge of the Roman Empire, when a younger Tribune Britannicus found standard-bearer Varrus, paralyzed but alive, on the battlefield left for dead by others. Then later, they met formally, four years before the British ambush, when centurion Varrus saved Britannicus from captivity and certain death in North Africa, at which time they discovered they were fated to meet, because Britannicus was to be Varrus's new commanding officer in Britain. Becoming friends and loyal allies, the two share many adventures, including Varrus's unwitting induction into the family feud between the house of Brittanicus and the house of Seneca, another noble Roman family, as well as Britannicus's desire to set up a Romano-British version of the egalitarian society of the Bagaudae he had witnessed in Gaul. Along the way, Varrus rediscovers his love for the weaponsmith craft of his grandfather, finding his grandfather's hidden treasure and the unusual instructions regarding a type of iron thought to fall from the air in southwest Britain, referred to only as the Skystone. He also discovers Britannicus's sister, Luceiia, who would change his life.This is such a great series. Set about 3 generations before King Arthur, it provides a fascinating study of late-Roman colonial civilization in the times just before the collapse of the Empire and the beginnings of the Dark Ages. It's full of action that is superbly detailed by Whyte's flowing, intelligent prose, and full of the inspirational ideals that one would expect from the best of the noble families of Rome and the progenitors of the heroes of the Matter of Britain. The characters are all believable - both the dignified and virtuous protagonists, and the greedy and corrupt antagonists - with all of them having character arcs showing the best and worst sides of humanity. There is special attention paid to highlighting the abilities and contributions of intelligent and courageous women, which was not always common in that time and place, but becomes a running theme throughout the series. Whyte is equally capable of providing sumptuous descriptions of land, architecture, and animals as he is of depicting hard-hitting battle action. This really is one of the most compelling series I've read in a long time, and I can't wait to finish the rest of the series (I'm just beginning the 5th book, with 4 more after that).The only grammarian mechanics problem I have with the writing is more a difference in accepted styles than an egregious breach of hardline rules: Whyte definitely ascribes to the British guidelines on spare use of commas, and I prefer a more liberal application (Oxford serial comma, change of subject comma, etc.). But aside from that difference from my preferred style, the writing and the edit are superb, and Whyte's vocabulary should send even the most erudite of readers to the dictionary once or twice during the book.I'm slightly less than halfway through this series by the time I'm getting around to writing this review, and I can say that so far the entire series is exceptional in every way. It definitely does not read as a fantasy retelling of the Arthur legend (at least not yet), but presents the same story as a history of the origins of British society. I love this series, and give it my most effusive recommendations to fans of historical fiction or Arthurian legend.

The beginning book is an eight series volume series that deals with Britain which Rome begins to withdraw the legions. The characters are well developed and their plans to develop their protected community progresses through all eight books. A Roman General and Romann Senator whose family has lived in Britain for three generations begins the process as he is far-sighted and sees the crumbling of Rome. Of course Arthur is plays a part in the plans. The generations long feud between the Britannicus family and the Senecas adds an element building tension and danger. All eight books of the series are worth reading. The first books begins with the making of the sword later called Excalibur. The disappointment is that the eighth and final book ends the saga when Arthur comes of ages. However, the basic story line is how some people of Britain develop a community they can defend once the Roman legions have been with drawn.

Combines history with great storytelling to lock you into finding out what will happen next. I can't wait to read the next one

This is the first in a long series about the transition in Britain from the Roman occupation to England (the conquest by the Angles and Saxons) during the supposed Arthurian romantic age. Called the “Camalod Chronicles” (pronounced Camelot), it very closely portrays life in that period based on close research. On the other hand, it is a history of why England became the romantic and chivalrous country it is now because of the legend of King Arthur and subsequent egalitarian concepts. In other words, it is a portrayal of why the U.K. might have led the way in modern political models from an imagined historical basis.Most of all, this is just a really good novel. The characters are both believable and compelling, even the villains. The conflict (not necessarily action) is constant and interesting. The writing is excellent in all aspects. There is certainly a tendency toward philosophy, which some may construe as too many heavy discussions on life, humanity, and religion, but I found this all very interesting and within the bounds of why the plot develops as it does.In short, this is a great beginning to what I think is a wonderful explanation on what happened in Britain after the Roman Empire fell, and what might have led to the age of Arthur and the romantic period of chivalry. No matter what, it’s a great series.

A well written historical fiction story. The author puts you in the time period with realistic detail to carry you through the story and lets you take part .

The Romans don't know it yet, but they are on the verge of abandoning Britain. Some of them realise the inevitability of it however and are making preparations to stay in this land they love, and where they were born. The two main characters are Roman soldiers whose lives are entertwined and whose loyalty to one another is absolute.One, Caius Britannicus, remains in the army and rises to great heights before retiring to his palatial villa in the West country of Britain, where he has established a colony of sorts, consisting of like minded people who could sustain life there on a level that would equate to civilised Roman life with the precepts and physical necessities that are an entegral part of that life.The other, Publius Varrus, is badly wounded in a disastrous battle with a rebelling British force and ends up with a bad limp, so decides to step back and claim the house and shop his blacksmith grandfather had left him many years before. He built on the tutoring his grandfather had given him in the arts of blacksmithing from when he was a child until he became a centurion, and found his niche in life was to become a master of working in iron.The book follows Publius Varrus's career in what is by now a disintegrating empire, where Rome has lost the trust and respect of its client states due to its corruption and arrogance, and the rise of pseudo emporers, including one in Britain itself, further adds to its growing fragmentation.This is the tense recounting of how these two men set about securing their futures in the beautiful and richly endowed land of Britain that has now become their home, and how they fare in their struggles against the Romans remaining in the land, and with the unknown nature of the indigenous peoples they will have to live with when the Romans finally go.I look forward eagerly to The Singing Sword, which continues their fight to survive according to the principles they choose to live by.

I read this series of books " A Dream Of Eagles," when they were released . I'm enjoying them even more this time, outstanding series !!

First of all let me start by saying that I am an avid reader of king Arthur novels and I had assembled through last decade a huge collection in my library shelves including E WHITE QUADRLOGY THE SWORD AND THE STONE. In this regard, Having read so far Bernard Cornwell's king Arthur trilogy, Stephen lawhead king Arthur's pentalogy books , the classic story king Arthur and the round table , I decided to start with the first book of Jack Whyte's the Camulod chronicles : the skystone .eventually, the story sets long time before the birth of king Arthur and although it was odd for me but definitely it wasn't disappointing at all as the events in the novel are synchronized with saga of what we know the roman empire in its decaying episode and here another angle was added to the classical king Arthur traditional stories' consortium . I enjoyed this book page by page and I couldn't put it down as the main character Varrus is caught in web of events and circumstances in which he will plays an integral if not an essential role in shaping Britain destiny and helps creating a supernatural legend in which this book provides only the skystone element of it but still a gripping one in a well page turner storytelling that makes the reader spell-pounded.

I first heard about this book on a forum in a discussion on books about the Arthurian legends. I'd just finished Bernard Cornwell's 'Warlord Chronicles' trilogy and wanted to know what other people thought of it. Several people said Jack Whyte's eight-book series 'A Dream of Eagles' (also known as 'The Camulod Chronicles') was even better than Cornwell's trilogy which, as you can guess, got me interested.Much like Cornwell, Whyte decided to tell the story as history, so what we have here is a Britain during the decline of the Roman Empire. I'm not a fast reader but the fact that I read this, a 600+ page book, in less than four days tells me how well written it is, and how much I enjoyed it. It starts at a phenomenal pace. Told in first person - from the viewpoint of Publius Varrus, the First Spear of a Roman legion - it throws you straight into the middle of a battle in the Pennines, then whisks you back a few years to North Africa and an action-packed rescue scene which felt as epic and exciting as something out of Lawrence of Arabia. Again like Cornwell, the narrator, Varrus, is looking back over his life and telling the story as an old man, so it zips around to different events and the pacing doesn't drop for a long time.What Whyte is basically doing is creating a sequence of events, using real history as a backdrop, to account for the legend of King Arthur. In The Skystone he has gone back to before Arthur's time, so it is basically one big set-up for what is to follow. I really don't want to spoil it anymore than that.It's a terrific read, but there are a couple of caveats. Along his journey Varrus understandably makes enemies. One of these enemies becomes the driving force behind much of what happens in the second half of the novel, but it is a rather over-used plot device in these kinds of books. Also, the sex scenes in the book are laughably bad, another thing that seems to be standard in these sorts of books. I really don't know why they bother with them if they can't actually write them well. I also got annoyed that women kept falling into Varrus's arms. It was like he was Captain Kirk or something.For the first two thirds of this book I was readying myself to give it full marks. In addition to those caveats, though, I did feel that it lost its way a little in the last hundred or so pages. It picks up again at the end, though, and reaches a suitably tantalising conclusion. For me, not as good as Cornwell quite yet, but I'm looking forward to reading the next book, The Singing Sword.