Flippin' 'Eck, Reader reviewed Dark Earth by Rebecca Stott
Historical fiction from an unusual perspective
4 stars
The Dark Ages in England are called that because there is almost no contemporary written evidence about that era. Between the time the Roman legions left this island to attend to matters closer to home, and the rise of Saxon power a few centuries later, almost everything we know has been gleaned from archeological evidence or much later writing.
So you'd think this would be an ideal period for speculative fiction writers to write about, as you could build a vivid and plausibe world based upon the few known facts. But actually very little fiction is set in that period.
Rebecca Stott's novel is one of those that is. Inspired by the hard real-world archeological evidence of a Saxon brooch found in the depths of unoccupied post-Roman Londinium, she conjures up a tale of what life might have been like for people who lived on the banks of the Thames …
The Dark Ages in England are called that because there is almost no contemporary written evidence about that era. Between the time the Roman legions left this island to attend to matters closer to home, and the rise of Saxon power a few centuries later, almost everything we know has been gleaned from archeological evidence or much later writing.
So you'd think this would be an ideal period for speculative fiction writers to write about, as you could build a vivid and plausibe world based upon the few known facts. But actually very little fiction is set in that period.
Rebecca Stott's novel is one of those that is. Inspired by the hard real-world archeological evidence of a Saxon brooch found in the depths of unoccupied post-Roman Londinium, she conjures up a tale of what life might have been like for people who lived on the banks of the Thames a couple of generations after the Roman legions had left.
Particularly unusually for historical fiction, it features a main cast consisting entirely of women, with most of the men consigned to supporting roles. This allows the author to move away from the more usual warlords-and-their-battles emphasis of this sort of story, and towards a more character-driven plot. The writing is enjoyable and the story zips along at a reasonable rate, so it doesn't take too long to get through the 300-ish pages of the book.
The world that's conjured up feels believable, and the harsh realities of living in the sixth century are not shied away from, although it never gets too gory. There is enough suspense and unpredictability in the plot to keep things interesting. I came across a couple of sections where I felt 21st-century values and beliefs were being expressed a little bit too freely by the 6th-century characters, but on the whole it's an enjoyable and worthwhile read.