Way too long for the substance of this present day/Roman Britain time-slip novel, BUT a great way to spend an otherwise dull 12 hour long haul, daytime flight! ( )

In Barbara Erskine's novel Daughters of Fire, protaganist Viv Lloyd Rees is about to realize a dream with the publication of her scholarly work on Cartimandua, a little known British tribal queen remembered only for betraying Britain to Imperial Rome. Although her book includes information on Cartimandua never before known, it is generating much advanced buzz mainly for the severe criticism leveled against it by Viv's friend and Department Head, Dr. Hugh Graham. Hugh, also a Celtic expert, argues that much of the information contained in the book is nothing more than supposition, saying there is no historical evidence to back up many of Viv's claims. Unbeknownst to Hugh, Viv has formed a "connection" with the Iron Age queen, a connection that revealed much of the information in her book; and which Viv is also using to develop a radio dramatization on the life of Cartimandua. When Hugh and Viv's behaviours start to alter, followed soon after by that of Viv's dramatization partner, Pat, it becomes apparent that there is much more to Viv's 'connection' with Cartimandua than meets the eye, and that it relates, in some way, to an ancient Celtic broach believed to have once belonged to the Brigantine queen. Viv, Hugh and Pat soon find themselves completely entangled in events of the past. While this situation brings to light people, events and motivations that have been lost to history, they also place Viv, Hugh and Pat's very lives in grave danger.

Daughters of Fire is a richly atmospheric novel, one in which events of the past and present become so intertwined that it is difficult to separate them. Although a huge fan of time slip novels, I sometimes find that narrative transitions between past and present story lines can be rough and inconsistent. This is not an issue in Daughters of Fire, as the ongoing shifts between the modern day and historical story lines are well executed. I also found the continual narrative shifts, which are often suspenseful, helped to move the novel along quickly and kept the book, at over 550 pages, from feeling too long. While I enjoyed the novel overall, I did have one issue with it - I didn't connect with any of the principal characters. While it is unusual for me to enjoy a novel when ambivalent towards the main characters, my lack of connection to Viv, Hugh or Pat didn't in any way detract from my fascination with the story itself.

Daughters of Fire is recommended to fans of historical time slip novels. In fact, fans of time slip novels who haven't already done so are encouraged to check out novelist Barbara Erskine's works in general. ( )

This book was way too long. It just dragged on and on going back and forth with the characters going crazy and ugh, this took me forever to read (well, 3 months for me is forever). The cursed brooch pin and being spoken to or possessed by long-dead people just isn't my thing, sorry. Perhaps if you're into that sort of thing, you might enjoy this... I wish this would have been only about Cartimandua and not Vivienne, then it would have been a better story. ( )

Dear oh dear oh dear oh dear. OK, here's the jist of the plot: history professor Dr. Viv Lloyd-Rees publishes a book on the 1st century Celtic queen Cartimandua. While the book sells shedloads of copies, it is scorned by her colleagues - as it is informed not by acknowledged sources, but by Viv's strange and vivid dreams of the queen's life. Later, the source of the dreams is revealed - an ancient, cursed brooch which causes anyone who touches it to forge a psychic connection down the ages, with the spirit of the barbarian queen and her compatriots.

I'm all for suspension of disbelief, if it's well done - but this was ridiculous. Plus, the interactions between many of the characters were strange and implausible, veering from empathy to estrangement and back again. I listened to this on audiobook and it took me nearly a year to finish. I'm amazed I managed to struggle through all 16 hours of the recording.

As the ending approached I couldn't put the book down! Set in two worlds, Britannia at the time of the Roman invasion, and present day Scotland. Cartimandua a character from the past, who will soon become Queen of the Brigantes, and Viv Lloyd Rees a modern day Celtic historian based in Edinburgh. How the young Queen deals with her new role and emerging enemies, and how Viv and her friends are drawn into this story is full of the stuff of legend. Three characters from the past, three people from the present, an ancient brooch that carries a curse, all now linked between both worlds, and all having to deal with long held jealousy and a rivalry that could undo them all. ( )