Attila

by William Napier

Reviewed by Coral

He would be the Scourge of God who rose from the east to try and destroy the Roman Empire. But before that, he was a boy and a hostage of Rome who only longed to be home again on the plains of his people.

I kind of had the same problem with this book as I did with the last Attila book I read, I never felt that Attila was the book’s main character. I understand the need to explore the larger world around him, but I found that there were some superfluous characters. At one point we were following one character long passed when I felt he was important to the main story of Attila, only to have him reconnect with the larger plot in a kind of ridiculously farfetched way.

The story really didn’t go anywhere for me. I know that it was just one chapter in Attila’s life, but I guess I was hoping it would move faster. I kind of felt that more of his life should have been told in this book, which could also be connected to the extra time spent on useless characters.

I know I repeat this a lot, but the story also had some instances where the words/phrases/sayings used just felt out-of-place and too modern. I can ignore that in a good story, but this book just kind of bored me.

Grade: C