The Amber Treasure Paperback – April 1, 2011

I recently got into wanting to know more about the history about Anglo-Saxon England. I realized that to date I had pretty extensive knowledge about the main events and characters and details about Norman England starting from 1066 onward to the Renaissance period as well as a fair bit about Roman history and occupation of Britain, and comparatively little about what happened and what it was like before 1066 and especially after the Romans left, chiefly because Roman history puts things in a different light.Generally, I read a combination of both historical fiction and non-fiction about a particular period and region as I am interested in getting factual information from the latter and getting into an imaginative journey into that period by indulging in the former. The hallmark of good historical fiction is how true it stays to depicting the social structures, internalizing the cultural norms and mores of the period into the central characters and utilizing superior narration to incorporate the complex motivations and political machinations of the actual personages who existed at that time. Really good historical fiction is difficult enough when actual and factual historical sources are plentifully available. The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain though is not one of those. To make history come alive through the medium of fiction and to do it well is an art many struggle with. Richard Denning gets it mostly right in this book though.This book, which is the first in the series was quite a page-turner. It takes you into a world that was so radically different from the later Norman English world. Completely alien (due to the time distance through which I am seeing it) and fascinating at once! Yet, it has some underlying similarities to Norman England in terms of feudal structure. Because of the paucity of written sources, there is a lot of guesswork involved even in non-fictional descriptions of the Anglo-Saxon period. The event I found most gripping was the Battle of Catraeth and the implications this had for the Angles' domination of northern England and the breaking of native Britonnic power - the rise of Northumbria and the slow pushing of the Britons/Welsh westward. Prior to this book, I read the non-fiction Anglo-Saxons from the Captivating History series, but really only started to understand and grasp this world and this period and the events that shaped and defined the landscape of England through The Amber Treasure.The book is a relatively clean read told through the narrative medium of a teenage boy who is forced by circumstances to grow up real fast and take on a leadership role. I commend the author for creating a gripping tale without resorting to graphic sex and violence descriptions, which given the violent times this book is set in, it was not an uncommon occurrence, to say the least. There are a couple of places where credulity is stretched, as when a teenage boy is giving counsel to older, wiser and much higher placed men such as earls and princes without repercussions. But for all of that, it is a well-told story and I am definitely getting to the rest of the books in the series.

It is almost two hundred years since the Romans have left Britain. The Angles and the Welsh are battling for control of a corner of the land that would one day be united into the Kingdom of England.Our main character, Cerdic, is the son of a local Angle lord. As the story begins, Cerdic is a youth. He dreams of a day when he is a warrior. He listens to the stories of great warriors and epic battles. He hopes that, one day, there would be songs about him.Then when the men of the village are at a boar hunt, the Welsh attack. They take prisoners and hostages. They also steal an extremely valuable set of amber jewelry. When the men return, they decide to follow the Welsh to regain the kidnapped villagers, and the amber treasure.Soon, Cerdic and the rest of the Angle warriors are embroiled in a great battle to stop the Welsh invasion.Will Cerdic discover the glory that he dreamed of as a youth?This book was a good start to a historical fiction series. We are introduced to the main characters, and to the main character's nemesis. Although, I felt that the plot moved a little slowly, I did enjoy the battle scenes.For me, this was an enjoyable read.

While moping about waiting for the next Bernard Cornwell novel in the Saxon Tales series I came across Richard Denning's "The Amber Treasure." This was a fun, rousing adventure story taking place in the Dark Ages in the aftermath of Roman Britania. The character development was good;Mr. Denning demonstrates multiple,instances of youngsters forced by circumstances to mature. There was a "boo, hiss" villain in one -eyed Welshman Samlan; Cerdic the narrator wears a pretty white "helmet," but the author bestows faults on him too so he's well formed. Had to laugh when the story line veered to young Cerdic stating his battle logic---of course princes and lords will take the advice of a 17 yr old, let alone allow him entry to the war councils, right, ha ha! But all was in good fun. I enjoy historical fiction especially novels set in "England" during Viking days. One could substitute "Welsh" for "Viking" who are harrying the Saxons this time and the tale is just as enjoyable. I'm quite at a loss to understand why I seek out this genre when I'm a committed pacifist (and frankly, it's rather embarrassing!) but Mr. Denning didn't disappoint. And for you faint of heart, the battle scenes aren't too horribly gory. BTW, if you can get them to read, young adults would enjoy this novel, too. Therss

A good historical fiction that cast some light on the Dark Ages.

This book is well written in an easy to read style and well researched, in so far as that is possible for such an obscure period. The characters are well drawn and convincing. However, for me, as a 'mature' woman, I did find myself skimming over the long and detailed descriptions of the skirmishes and battles, of which there are a lot, not because I'm squeamish about the gory details but just because the details of the tactics and strategy of warfare are not really of interest to me; if you are interested in this, you will enjoy this book. The plot is brought to a satisfying conclusion, but could easily lead the reader on to wanting to read more in the sequels. For myself, I probably won't get any of the other books just yet, but only because it is not one of my primary areas of interest, I have no complaint about the novel itself.

Why can't I find my library?Not a bad story hoping that completing this review let's me get out of the loop I am apparently in.

This is the first I have read of a period of the history of England. I was born and raised in the area depicted in this book but never knew that at one point in our history the two side of the Pennines were occupied by different races of people. Being from Lancashire I often consider Yorkshire a different country. I never knew that at one point it was true.

Richard Denning is a new author to me and I was very impressed with his writing style, in both this book and my first read "A robot named Clunk' I will not hesitate to reccomend him to everyone.

Quite good but more for the younger reader

Great readI was so on the moment, I sometimes forget to slow down.