Queen of the Silver Arrow

Caroline Lawrence is an established author of chidren’s historical tales. In fact, there  are probably few to match her. She is perhaps even the 21st century’s Rosemary Sutcliffe. There are books that I consider to be children’s books, and there is another section, not quite this whole Young Adult thing, but clearly above the true children’s band. It is an interesting world, where the writing must still be aimed at young readers, but the content and themes can be more adult. Lawrence is the mistress of this style, for me.

I read QOTSA to my kids over a number of nights, and we all enjoyed it. They are a little young in truth for the book, but both mature enought to handle everything within. Callie enjoyed it for the tales of the heroic princesses. Marcus enjoyed it for the battles. I enjoyed it for the history.

QOTSA is a fascinating book. Firstly, though, a word about content. As with most great tales of the classical era, it is filled with a number of darker moments. Death in battle, the killing of animals, parental abandonment and so on. If your son or daughter is old enough to understand these things and not be adversely affected, then this book is pure gold. As I said, mine are still quite young, but we have finished the book without them being troubled by anything. In fact, I laud Caroline for tackling the more adult themes in a sympathetic and readable manner.

But what is Queen of the Silver Arrow, you say? Well, it is one of Lawrence’s current series of reworked classics. Like her other book in the series – The Night Raid – this is a retelling of a tale from Virgil’s Aeneid. This is the tale of the Trojans arriving in Italy and the native peoples rising to meet them, especially the young huntress Camilla, beloved of the Goddess Diana, who with her few companions will attempt to turn the tide against the invader only to learn harsh and unexpected truths in the end.

The final chapter, something of an epilogue, was really quite impressively emotional.

All in all, a great tale, challenging, yet interesting for kids, fascinating and strong for adults too.