“A meticulously detailed book with a fascinating plot”
THE GOOD BOOK GUIDE
FOCUS MAGAZINE
“Scott’s trademark lyricism and sensitivity to character collide head on with dangerous plot twists that seem to work effortlessly. The climax is one of the most powerfully written set pieces to appear in historical fiction in the last ten years.”
CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL
“Manda Scott writes with rich imagination and brilliantly reconstructs history before your eyes.”
NORFOLK JOURNAL
“This mesmerising story creates a living past of battle feats, betrayals, heartbreaking loyalties and cruelties”
BOLTON EVENING NEWS
“Full of both psychological and political meat and written in lyrical and sensitive prose…this is her most powerful and compelling book of the series ”
Boudica: Dreaming the Hound
On the sacred isle of Mona, the Boudica or Bringer of Victory as Breaca has long been hailed, now knows for certain that her lover, Caradoc – betrayed, captured and kept hostage in Rome – will never return to her. She decides to leave Mona where she and her warriors have been waging a guerilla war, and to take the fight to the Eceni heartland where it is needed most. With her are her children, Cunomar and Grainne, and her best friend from childhood, ex-lover and dreamer, Airmid.
But the once proud Eceni are a downtrodden and defeated people who are forbidden on pain of death to worship their old gods, and now scrape a living from the once fertile land.Across the sea in Hibernia, Breaca’s half-brother Ban, is struggling to make peace with his fractured past. Soon, provoked by Roman aggression, he will sail to Britain to protect Mona, and from there he will go to Camulodinum, and, united with his sister, he and Breaca will face down the might of Rome in the bloodiest revolt the western world has ever known.
A tale of passion and redemption, of hope and despair, of truth and commitment and the nature of gods, Dreaming the Hound takes us to the darkest hour before battle, and the courage it takes to face it.
Download the First Chapter Free
DRUIDS, DRUGS & THE REAL BRITANNIA
We've been watching (and enjoying) Britannia. Here's my take on the druids: who were they, what did they do, and whether they were they anything like the much-scarred head druid Veren and Divis, the outcast with the demon problem...
THE CELTS, WOMEN & SEX
"We consort openly with the best of men. You allow yourselves to be debauched in secret by the vilest." - so said the consort of the Gaulish king to Julia Augustus, wife of the Emperor to the Roman Empress who cast aspersions on her morals. Celtic women were far more empowered than their Roman counterparts - and we've barely got back to what our ancestors took as their right.
LUCID DREAMING: ANCIENT SKILL OR MODERN FAD?
Everyone dreams: not everyone dreams lucidly, but it's there for those who want to step into a world (many worlds) where anything is possible. Here is the gateway to all possible futures, and the answers, if we persist, to all possible questions.
THE OLD GODS & THE NEW
In Britannia, Aulus Plautius (David Morrissey) knows that to defeat the tribes of Britannia, you need to kill their gods. But who were the old gods of our tribal past? Are they still here? And if so, how best can we re-connect with them, to rediscover our heritage and our sense of connectedness to the earth.
SHAMANIC DREAMING IN ANCIENT BRITAIN: AN INTERVIEW WITH MANDA SCOTT
Thanks to Robert Moss, one of the world's great dreamers and teachers-of-dreaming, for allowing me to post this interview about shamanic dreaming and the Boudica series. It was first published on his blog.
BOUDICA, BOUDICCA, BOADICEA – WHAT’S IN A NAME?
If you’re generation X or older, you’ll have been taught – if you were taught anything at all about our ancient past – that Queen Boadicea of the Iceni gained the throne of her tribe when her husband died, and led her armies in a fatally flawed rebellion against the might – and greater good – of Rome...
CONTACT MANDA
Writing is an incredibly solitary occupation. It's always good to connect with people who share the same realities. So go on, get in touch...