2020/124: Island of Ghosts -- Gillian Bradshaw

We mutinied when we reached the ocean. [opening line]

Ariantes is a Sarmatian warrior, one of three prince-commanders who, defeated in battle, have sworn service to the Roman Emperor. Together with fifteen hundred heavy cavalry -- most of the surviving young Sarmatian noblemen of this generation -- they are en route to Britain. Their Roman minder, Marcus Flavius Facilis, is embittered by the loss of his son in battle, and (rightly) mistrusts the Sarmatians: they're not 'nice safe conquered barbarians', he insists, citing Arshak, the preeminent of the prince-commanders, who decorates himself and his horse with Roman scalps. (“Those tassels on the bridles?” said the procurator. “Those are scalps? I thought…”) 

 Ariantes, who has as much reason as any to hate the Romans, is nevertheless a man of honour: and he has nothing to return to, for his wife and son are dead. He is the diplomat, the smoother of ruffled pride and troubled waters, and it is largely due to his efforts that the three auxiliary cohorts reach their postings in the North of England. There, separated, Ariantes, Arshak and Gatalas become embroiled in a simmering revolt. The British -- well, some of them -- would like to be rid of their continental overlords. There are Druids, tribal alliances, a network of illegal Christians, a descendant of Boudicca, and a personable young widow who knows about horses and thus endears herself immensely to Ariantes. 

 This is a novel about compromise, assimilation and Romanisation. Ariantes -- who serves his Roman allies wine in gold cups that he looted in his raiding days ('perhaps they thought I’d bought them'); who, speaking with an arrogant young tribune, imagines the man's scalp on his own bridle -- has to learn about money, and what things cost, and sleeping between stone walls, and eating bread. Arshak is unimpressed with this Romanisation: but they have sworn an oath, and they cannot go home ... 

 Ariantes is a truly likeable narrator, balancing his personal grief with loyalty to his troop and to the Christian slave who becomes his secretary. He also has a quietly wicked sense of humour, and is not above playing up his reputation as a savage barbarian in order to disarm those he meets. And yes, actually, he is a savage barbarian at heart, and a killer. I liked him very much. 

  Island of Ghosts gives impressive insight into Sarmatian culture and society as well as everyday life in Roman Britain. I was reminded of Rosemary Sutcliff's work, especially The Mark of the Horse Lord, though the first-person narrative (and some of the more brutal scenes, mostly in flashback) give it a slightly different flavour. Still, I want to read more of Bradshaw's fiction: why is so little of it available in ebook format? 

 There is some evidence that the Kindle edition has been scanned from a printed copy: typos (Ariantes is frequently 'Aliantes', even to his countrymen) and right at the end there's an image of one of those forms for mail-ordering paperbacks: that felt like history! Also, the Amazon description of Britain as 'an Island of Ghosts, filled with pale faces, stone walls, and an uneasy past' is misleading, at least the bit about pale faces: Ariantes describes the British as 'a bit darker -- not so many blonds and redheads'.