Consuela, I certainly pimp Sutcliff at every opportunity, and I've given The Lantern Bearers and Eagle of the Ninth to practically every teenager I know. Have you read her memoirs, Blue Remembered Hills?

I had no idea Rosemary Sutcliff had written memoirs. Must see if they're in the library.

I loved the Roman Britain books, and also the one written from the POV of a Pict (I think?). IIRC the title was Mark of the Horse Lord.

Ah, Amazon says I have the title right, but remembered the details wrong - it's about a Roman who impersonates the king of a Pictish tribe.

Have you read her memoirs, Blue Remembered Hills?

No! I didn't now it existed. Must find.

I loved Mark of the Horse Lord, loved the utterly unexpected ending (unexpected for a YA novel, anyway), and still can picture the image of the golden plover. She was so marvelous.

Ginger & Dani, you know about the various tributes to Sutcliff?

One of the great things about Sutcliff is that her endings are frequently not what you expect. The image I always remember is Aquila's lighting Rutupiae light after the legions leave. No, I don't know anything about the tributes, Consuela.

I should look for Sword at Sunset. I like my Arthur stories Romano-Celtic and grounded in the Dark Ages. I just can't get into the faux-medieval high chivalry versions for some reason.

Susan, Sutcliff has a series of books about a Roman family and its decendants in Britain, which is loosely linked to Sword at Sunset. They are The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers. The first three are, quite erroneously, I think, labeled juveniles. I tend to avoid superlatives, but they're the best historical fiction I've ever read. They all have the theme that civilization is a light that must be nurtured and fought for by individuals. They're not so tied together that you have to read them in order; they just have "aha" moments when you realize that a character in one book is a descendant of a character in a previous book.

No, I don't know anything about the tributes, Consuela.

Ah. Well, the dedication of one of Lindsey Davis' Falco books (I forget which one) is "to Rosemary Sutcliff, for all the children who know how far it is from Venta to the mountains." ::sniffle::

And if you haven't, you should read Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief, in which Aquila's flawed emerald ring makes an appearance.

The image I always remember is Aquila's lighting Rutupiae light after the legions leave.

Oh, yes, brilliant image. I love the concept of people murmuring about that for years later, that someone lit that bonfire, and the power it had for them.

like my Arthur stories Romano-Celtic and grounded in the Dark Ages.

Susan, you would love Sutcliff. She did her homework, and she started with a series of YA novels set in Roman Britain before she tackled the Arthurian stuff in The Lantern Bearers and Sword at Sunset. It's gritty and sad and powerful and very well done, and not glossied up at all.

Sutcliff is the primary reason why I cannot read Mysts of Avalon. That's my Arthur, there. Nobody else comes close.

Random thought: has anyone else read Patricia Finney? And are her Ulster Cycle novels back in print yet? Please?

I did see the Lindsey Davis one. I'll have to look up The Thief.

I love the Falco books, by the by, though I think the last few have gone downhill a bit.

What about "The Darkness Rising" series... I found it as enjoyable as an adult as when I was in elementary school, I can't remember the author.. Susan something... and they have a bit of the arthurian quality. Secret identities, mythic beings called the "old ones"... hmm, I think I need to reread them, now that I have the time. The one part that bothered me was the ending when they all forget what happened and about the existence and identities of the "old ones" although that was more bothersome when I was a kid and had more definite ideas about how stories should end.