The Skystone

This book did not have a beginning – middle – end like most books. It was more like a series of stories that fit together because they were all part of a man’s life. One might think that this would make for a boring book, but I really enjoyed it. The stories were interesting and original, and

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they kept my attention really well. The setting of the Roman Empire, and the conception of Arthurian England, was really fascinating as well. The characters were less-than deep, but I really invested in them and enjoyed their quirks.

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The work of Arthurian literature that captured my imagination as a teen was Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave about Merlin--it was even assigned to me in high school. My knowledge up to then of King Arthur was that he was pure fantasy. Although there are fantasy elements in Stewart's tale, what

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fascinated me is that she did root him in the history of the Dark Ages after Rome's fall, much as Mary Renault had done for the Bronze Age Theseus in The King Must Die. Later I'd fall in love with T.H. White's Once and Future King, which bases itself on legend rather than history, with overt fantasy and anachronistic medieval touches. And I loved that book greatly as well. Both works are by first-rate authors, and feature absolutely skillfully woven narrative and beautiful prose.

That's not the case with Whyte's Camulod Chronicles. The style is decent enough, and the first person voice of Publius Varrus is engaging enough to propel me through, but there's no doubt in my mind he's not a writer in the same league as Stewart and White. But what I did find so fascinating in this book was that this is at the opposite end of the spectrum from T.H. White. Jack Whyte scrubs away all the fantastical elements of the legend, writing us a story of Camelot that might have been from all we know of history. And seeing the familiar elements of the legend from that perspective is fascinating. The skystone of the title, for instance, is a meteor that makes the raw material for what becomes Excalibur.

There's no mention of an Arthur or Merlin or Guinevere here yet--not even of Arthur's parents Uther or Ygraine. The back of the book tells us Publius Varrus and his former commander Caius Britannicus are two great-grandfathers of Arthur. This book covers from 369AD, when there was a major incursion of Scots and Picts over the Hadrian Wall to 388AD, when Maximus, a commander in Britain, tried to become Emperor. So this book ends over a hundred years before the time King Arthur (if he existed) flourished.

I also loved the picture of the era, how rich Whyte made his world. So much is brought in to evoke the fading Roman world. Part One works well as a work of military fiction dealing with Publius' and Caius' time as officers in the Roman legions. But the rest of the book deals with Publius' work as a smith and the growing idea of "the Colony" in Western Britain set up as a haven where the best of Roman civilization can survive the coming invasions that Caius foresees. The book takes in economic and political forces, metallurgy, sciences, engineering. Some complain it's infodumpy and takes in a centuries later perspective it wasn't possible for those in the crumbling empire to foresee, but I found it fascinating for how it all tied into Arthurian legend from dragons to the Lady of the Lake into a strictly realistic tale.

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For those who like their King Arthur stories with hearty dollops of gratuitous sex & violence. Interesting history and conjecture on the roots of Arthurian legends. Dreadful as literature.

"Early on in our association, Britannicus and I [the two protagonists - 'I' being the Roman soldier and iron

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worker, Publius Varrus] had discovered that we had both been born in Colchester, the oldest Roman settlement in Britain.... Traditionalist that he was, however, he always insisted on calling it by its original name of Camulodunum. Colchester, he maintained, was a bastard name, Celtic and Roman mixed, which stood only for 'the camp on the hill.'" [Camulodunum will later become Camulodun, what today is called Camelot.] (pg. 70)

"His falseness lay in that he called himself a Roman and he liked to think of himself as embodying all of the virtues of Rome in the days of its true greatness. To tell the truth, he did embody those virtues, but Caius [later to be called Cay - get it? ancestor of Sir Kay] Britannicus was also a Briton, both by birth and by conviction. He was born in Britain as the culmination of a chain of events that began with the first of his ancestors to be named Britannicus, and he was the firstborn of the third generation of his family to be born and bred here." (pg. 235)

As the Roman Empire is tottering, Britannicus builds a self-sufficient community in the west of Britain. He tells them: "'We will survive [the fall of Rome.] And we will prosper. And we will preserve an island of real Roman virtues, Roman values, Roman worth and Roman standards of freedom and dignity here in the island of Britain.'" (pg. 268)

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Due to a number of positive reviews from the other inhabitants here on libraything.com and elsewhere, I recently picked up a copy of “The Skystone” by Jack Whyte. I was not impressed. Frankly Mr. Whyte takes a very sordid and chaotic circumstance in history and makes it, unlike his skystone

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from the novel, rather lackluster. The subject is ripe for exploration, romance and adventure but Mr. Whyte just doesn’t capture the nuances of the time. Maybe it was his writing style, maybe it was the too modern feel of his characters? In any case, unless someone in high standing argues that the next books are one-hundred eighty degree reversals, I don’t see a future for me and Mr. Whyte.

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I loved this book, which is the first in a series about the Arthurian legend. This first book takes you back to before Arthur, to the time when Romans were in control of Britain. It is written in the first person by Publius Varrus a Roman soldier who is a very early ancestor of Arthurs, and is a

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fantastic introduction to the rest of the series. Full of descriptons of Roman military life as well as the ordinary working man which Publius became when injured and had to leave the army. He had a gift for working with Iron and you can see the lead in to excaliber coming into being.
It also gives a good account to normal Roman life, the villas, servants and lifestyle, of the time. I can't wait for the 2nd book, as this series, I think is going to be a fantastic journey through early British history.

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A wonderful retelling of Arthurian mythology from a more realistic and less mythological standpoint. Great read!

I was in the appartment on evening complaining that with 5 book cases in the house I had nothing to read when my husband pulled this one off the shelf (on of his). What I loved about this book is that who knows, maybe it really did happen. It tells the tale of Excaliber's maker and gives you the

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feeling that this is more than fiction...its what really happened.

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This was an enjoyable story although I didn't think it had a very developed plot. It seemed like the purpose of this book was to set up the story that will follow in the rest of the series. Whyte did a good job setting up the mood of the historical setting and introducing a wide range of characters

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and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

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I chose this book because it was outside my comfort zone of what I usually read and it didn't work out too well. There was too much fighting, battling and military strategy in it for me - most of it went over my head. I think that someone who likes that sort of thing would probably like this book

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though.

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Billed as historical fiction, in some ways The Skystone is almost fantasy. If I had read the book without reading anything about it beforehand, I would never know it was about Camelot and King Arthur at all. Taking place decades before Arthur's birth, The Skystone follows the adventures of Arthur's

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ancestor, a Roman officer serving as the Empire dies.

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Skystone by Jack Whyte, is the first in a series set late 4th to early 5th century in Britain. It is a much grittier and violent version of the Arthur Legends.

Caius Britannicus, a Roman Patriarch born in Britain, held the long view that Rome was rotting at the core and would soon be forced to

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withdraw her troops from outlying posts to defend Rome. Even before retiring from the Legions, he began planning and preparing his lands for the vacuum in power which would follow withdrawal of the Legions from Britain.

What I love most about this series is the underlying theme of nation building, laying the very foundations and rules of law upon which Britain would be born. To this was added the wedding of the Celtic royal line with the Roman to create a new people.

What I have struggled the most with is the overwhelming thrust of a much harsher and violent time. Whyte makes no excuses for the archaic belief systems and behavior of his characters, good guys and bad guys alike.

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The first book in an amazing series. I had never read that much on the Arthur Legend or been that interested in it. My dad gave these to me in high school and I blew through them. They are written as historical fiction taking away some of the "magic" of the lore and turning it into a story and the

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history of a family that may have actually occurred.This novel starts a few generations before Merlin. My only complaint is that they have ruined me for other Arthur books because they so thoroughly convince you that Whytes version of the tale is what actually occured

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A fantastic book that takes the reader back to the Roman Legions and Britain. Amazing description of a smith work and the Roman army. Can't wait to read the next on the Camulod Series!

I can't beleave that I enjoyed a military book, it had just the right amount of people & their life to keep me reading. The resurch that went into such a book had to be huge. What it took to change lives and history , things we take for granted is astounding , what we learn today with out

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experanceing and take for truth is mind blowing. The fact of writing & reording teaches us & future people , most with out understanding the why & how of everyday life things is so accepted, we are lost without these teachings.

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I'm a fan of Arthurian stories, so tried to like this book but by page 510, I just couldn't bear it any longer. The dialogue was wooden and juvenile. Hardened Roman soldiers don't simper and giggle. The obsession with physically positioning each character in each scene was tiresome, and the

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anachronistic monologues on self sufficiency were a poor substitute for story telling. And don't get me started on the romance, pages and pages of Victorian purple prose and excruciating male emotive gushing that's completely out of place in a 4th century fighting man. In summary, this book is a badly written Historical Romance.

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Overall, this is adequate entertainment, but the outlook for the series to me, will be problematic. i don't see the depth of late Roman research that would qualify it as such fine-grained an effort as Cornwell and Sharon K. Penman put into their historical novels. But, I do see that there are at

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least another six books coming, and the possibility of improvement does exist. The serious jarring note is the ability of a fairly successful Roman soldier having the forethought to plan for the end of a state that in the mid to late Three hundreds CE, was still capable of rewarding his class and occupation adequately. Our present society has a great deal of difficulty alerting the relatively propertied classes to take climate change seriously, and I don't think Romans were any smarter than we are. However, Mr. Whyte is laying groundwork for his vision, and does afford an insight into some aspects of conspiracy theory.

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I believe I first got tipped off about this series by reading a rave on Orson Scott Card's blog. I'm glad I followed up on it.

The Skystone is the first volume of many in a retelling of the legend of King Arthur and Camelot (according to the reviews and the cover blurb). You wouldn't know it from

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reading the story (until you start getting clues in the latter half of the book). This story is set years before Arthur, when Britain was still under the rule of Rome and the Roman legions. It follows Plublius Varrus, one of those Roman soldiers, through well-staged bloody battles, intriguing political feuds and troubling personal demons. This is quite an adventure.

I found the writing and plotting to be first-rate overall. I read the book straight through in a week (it helped to be sitting in airports and on planes). A few things keep me from giving it a full four stars: (1) Secondary characters seem to be either fully trustworthy and noble or not. It's way too easy to identify allies and enemies. Where are the turncoats? (2) Life in ancient Britain comes across as a bit too idyllic. Although some difficulties are described, the author glosses over many of the harsh realities of everyday life in this period. (3) Typical of most secular books, the Christian themes are very muted and easily confused with simple morality.

I will definitely find and read the rest of the books in this series.

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Epic. I loved this book so much that I'm sad it's finished. Luckily, there are 8 more!