Dcery ohně

by Barbara Erskine, Eva Křístková (Translator)

Nový román britské autorky vychází z osvědčeného střídání dvou časových rovin, současné a historické - tentokrát z dob první římské invaze do keltské Británie v 1. století n. l. Tři moderní vzdělané ženy (historička, scenáristka a režisérka) připravují pořad o dramatickém životě keltské královny a postupně naváží tak silný kontakt s minulostí, že dávné city a vášně vstoupí i do jejich osudů. Ve víru děje ožívají zlí a vznešení duchové historických postav a o napětí je v zalidněném příběhu opět postaráno až do poslední řádky.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Romance, Paranormal, Mystery

478 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2006

About the author

An historian by training, Barbara Erskine is the author of six bestselling novels that demonstrate her interest in both history and the supernatural, plus two collections of short stories. Her books have appeared in at least twenty different languages. She lives with her family in an ancient manor house near Colchester, and in a cottage near Hay-on-Wye.

Reviews

[Leila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed Barbara Erskine's time slip novels on the whole. What with the ones I have bought over the years and birthday/Christmas gifts I have all of them on my shelves. Over the festive season I read quite a few books that I have already enjoyed more than once over the past years. "Daughters of Fire" was the first one I chose which was written by Barbara Erskine and which covers the life of feisty Cartimandua, the brave young woman eventually destined to rule over the Brigantes Tribe. This is perhaps my least favourite of all her novels.

The story begins in modern times with two historians in conflict as they each research the period with a view to writing a book. The story switches back and forth in a paranormal way as the present merges with the past, involving the two historians from modern times to Cartimandua's life as a child. She grows up at her Father the King's Court among characters such as Druids who teach her. She lives amid secrets, revenge, violence, hatred and intrigue Cartimandua has enemies. Reaching adulthood she becomes queen during the Roman occupation of Britannia. As her enemies move closer she faces and clashes with the Roman invaders. As a woman Cartimandua is skilled at politics brave and resourceful.

As the modern day Historian Viv researches into the past for her book,, she finds herself moving back and forth from modern day to the life and times of Cartimandua. There is violence, brutality, cruelty and tragedy.

There is very much more to this detailed story and the book is between 500 to 600 pages in length.. I have really only discussed the early part of the book.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

DAUGHTERS OF FIRE is another engaging, atmospheric and utterly spooky story from Barbara Erskine, who has cornered the market in supernatural time-slip fiction. It's a bit of a companion piece to THE WARRIOR'S PRINCESS, once again with modern-day characters investigating a Celtic past.

The book follows a set formula with half the story playing out in history and another part playing out in our contemporary world. As usual for this author, the historical part of the story is truly engaging and often times un-putdownable. The contemporary scenes, on the other hand, are slightly tedious and repetitive, and it's fair to say that nothing really happens in the contemporary story. I was often rushing through those paragraphs in order to get back to finding out about Cartimandua and her kin.

In the end, though, the quality of both writing and storytelling negate any flaws that Erskine may have when it comes to her contemporary narrative. The story brims with atmosphere and suspense and the ghost scenes are well handled and subtle, containing a realistic slant that's miles away from the traditional clanking chains or demonic possession type stories. The author's research is, as ever, exemplary, and overall this is nothing less than a good read.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're looking for a Diane Gabaldon or Frank Delaney Fix, this book isn't it.

The characters are exasperating. I kept feeling like I was watching an overly anxious person trying to decide if he should step off a precipice - turning back, wringing hands, muttering to himself for HOURS about the big decision. Then I notice that the "precipice" is just inches from the bottom. Tedious!


Some of the Celtic lore is interesting but the author makes the reader work for it. She hides interesting story lines behind tons of junk mail

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 1 out of 5]

Τελευταία διάβασα πολλά πράγματα για τη βασίλισσα Cartimandua έτσι έμαθα για την ύπαρξη αυτού του βιβλίου. Διαβάζοντας την περιγραφή, βέβαια, κατάλαβα ότι δεν πρόκειται ακριβώς για ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα αλλά η κεντρική ιδέα που είναι η μεταφυσική σύνδεση της ιστορίας της με μία ιστορία που διαδραματίζεται στο σήμερα μου κίνησε αρκετά την περιέργεια ώστε να το διαβάσω. Τελικά όμως αυτός ο συνδυασμός υπερβολικού μεταφυσικού μυστηρίου και αφελούς χρήσης της ιστορίας δεν μπόρεσε να με κερδίσει σε κανένα σημείο και μοιραία δεν άντεξα να φτάσω στο τέλος.

[Ksenia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I took this book with me to Texas last month since it was a big book that I knew would keep me company on the flights and in the airport. I have no idea how I came across this author but this was one of two books by her that I really wanted to read. Her books are not available here in the States, but I managed to get my copy via PBS last year.

I loved the story of Cartimandua. I never heard of her, probably because all of the focus has always been on Boudica, who was her contemporary. But here is the difference: Boudica was never officially a queen, but Cartimandua was a queen. A queen who was loyal to the Romans…

So this book let’s us see a possible reason why Cartimandua was loyal to the Romans: she just wanted peace for her people. Ultimately, she was loyal to her people, even if some didn’t see it that way, like her own husband. For me, she sort of reminded me of a northern Cleopatra.

The only thing that bugged me about her character was when she divorced Venutios and married his arms-bearer. She acted so selfishly around this new husband. It wasn’t the same type of love that she had with her first husband, not with Venutios. Still, I enjoyed learning about this woman and all these new historical figures. And I wish this book was only that…

The modern-day parts really kept frustrating me, because they kept getting in the way of the story! I didn’t skim those parts because I was afraid of losing some bit of information. Granted, it made you feel like you were learning all this history along with the modern-day characters, which can be good, if employed properly. Sadly, I just wanted Viv, and Pat, and Hugh and all of them to disappear. It actually got a bit confusing, reading the parts of the modern-day characters, because the historical characters would actually take over in order to tell their stories.

I had originally wanted to read another book by this author but it seems as though her books follow this same sort of modern-day and past formula, so I don’t think I’ll be looking out for it.

[Rachael Hewison · Rating 1 out of 5]

My mother and I have slightly different tastes in genres. She prefers the historical fiction/sagas whilst I prefer a bit more variety. She’s currently going through a Roman Britain/Celt phase and has been reading a lot about Boudicca. She came across this book and really liked that it covered a different Celt Queen who dealt with the Roman invasion in a very different way to Boudicca. She lent it to me under the guise of it being ‘interesting’. I decided to trust my mum on this one and give it ago. Two weeks (some very slow reading for me) later and I wish she hadn’t recommended it.

Had the book just solely concentrated on Carta and what was going on with her and Venutios and the Romans I could’ve liked it. It was interesting and I really like Carta as a strong-willed, passionate character. However most of the book is made up of an agonisingly bad modern storyline. These characters are each linked to one of the Celt characters and hear their stories and then it all just gets ridiculously bizarre. I think had I even vaguely liked any of the modern day characters I would have maybe been more interested but I just found all of their interactions with each other so stiff and unrealistic and felt like a lot of the scenes were just repeats of each other.

The fact that I just couldn’t enjoy a whole half of the book means it gets a very poor star rating from me.

[Toast · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear what a plodder! And all that fuss about a brooch! OK there's a bit more to it than that but 558 pages worth is an awful lot of padding even if is the Antiques Roadshow. I'm afraid my 'love', awe, joy for BE has really worn off and I found this a real mud-caked scatter-gun effort. Shame.
A not impressed Toast

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another great read from Erskine, could not put this book down towards the end!Its also interesting as it ties in with her other book 'The Warrior's Princess', looking forward to the next book of hers I have waiting to be read!

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written just not what I was expecting.

[The Cats’ Mother · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daughters of Fire is an immersive dual timeline historical ghost story about a university historian researching Cartimandua, the legendary Iron Age Queen - who I confess I had never heard of. I was given it by a friend, and was interested to learn more about that time period, and found the supernatural elements gave it an unusual twist compared to most historical fiction.

Viv Lloyd-Rees is an academic at Edinburgh University’s Department of Celtic Studies, who has just completed a book about Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes, a large tribe in Northern England during the first century AD/CE, infamous for allying herself with the Romans during their invasion of Britannia. This has infuriated her boss and former friend, Professor Hugh Graham, who disapproves of Viv’s unconventional research methods and apparent fictionalisation of her subject - Carta has been appearing in her dreams, and Viv is telling her story without any proof to confirm the events. The more she learns about Carta’s life, loves and enemies, the more real it becomes, but when other more malign ghosts start to appear, in search of power and vengeance, telling the story could prove fatal.

This was first published in 2006 but the story holds up pretty well. I enjoyed the Edinburgh setting, and mentions of real-life places like Traprain (near modern Haddington) - Google Maps was helpful in both locating them and providing visuals. I feel like I learned a bit about Roman Britain - referring frequently to Wikipedia to clarify who and which were real people and places. The past scenery, dwellings, clothing, ceremonies and feasts are vividly described, but I didn’t like the overly frequent perspective changes in both timelines.

This is not a book for people who need to like the main characters - Viv, Pat and Hugh are selfish and wilfully idiotic in the pursuit of their goals, and even Carta, sympathetic and admirable as a young woman, eventually lost my sympathy as she’s increasingly led by her ovaries not her brain. While there are love triangles of sorts, this is not what I would call a historical romance, and I’m not sure I liked the ending, but I did enjoy it, and would read more from this author. It’s fairly long at 560 pages, and the manufactured drama between the modern day characters got very repetitive, but by the time I got halfway I was gripped enough to finish it in one sitting.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to get through this book. It’s disappointing and I’m gutted because it had good bones and could have been outstanding. I’m not sure if it was because my personal life was a bit crazy while reading it or if it was actually the book but think I would have enjoyed it much more if there wasn’t the modern day aspect and drama of it… this seemed unnecessary and I felt on multiple occasions I was unable to enjoy and understand the past and present.

I would have preferred to enjoy the story of Carta by itself and instead switch the perspectives between the characters in the past. That way you’d be able to understand their side, feelings etc.

Also why the heck are they going around telling everyone they are suspect about everything?? It was so similar to yelling in exasperation at a person in a horror movie who picks up the phone or goes outside into the dark to investigate!?

The ending was also a bit sudden, at the end of it all I was expecting something a bit bigger between the main characters and their past ‘lives’…

[Bronwyn Mcloughlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this book is a bit like the story it tells - based on imagination and loosely connected to the historical truth. The formula is the same as all of Erskine's (that I've read) and likely to be the last I read. There is a lot of dithering, and the historical figures get into the head of the modern day avatars and the more they try to separate themselves from the evil of the past, the more it must work its way through to resolution. This time the male and female protagonists end up defeating the evil of the past, and it is a female character that is corrupted, so I guess that is a variation on the theme. It does take a long time to get anywhere, and while some of the historical information is mildly interesting, there is a lot of contrived atmospheric effect and running around the countryside to no net result or purpose.

[Beeeeee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't as good as the last one I read and I thought this one was quite boring. I didn't like any of the characters adn didn't like the fact there was no hint of romance either. Several characters echoed through as being similar to the ones in the last. Steve's mum and the card reader? I don't know but the similarities were a bit odd. Not one of her best.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part historical fiction, part ghost story. I really enjoyed both parts. The history is really well written, as is the ghost story.... The one issue I did have with the book, is that towards the end the switching between the two became a little laboured.... It felt as though the story was being dragged out somewhat, which is a shame. Overall though a very enjoyable and tense read.

[Melisende · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought it on the basis that it was - sort of - about Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes. And on the strength of three other Erskine books that I had.

[Val Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In true Barbera Erskine style this book is just brilliant !!!

[Lyndsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much potential but so messy. Like real real messy.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this last year and I honestly screamed, cried, screamed, laughed and then cried again:)))

[Monika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ciekawa książka, trochę dostajemy tu powieści historycznej, trochę nowoczesnych czasów i do tego dodatek fantastyki. Łatwość w czytaniu na pewno ułatwia fakt, że całość jest napisana bardzo ładnym językiem.
Początek jest bardzo śmieszny i według mnie najlepszy. To jak jedna z bohaterek jest przekonana, że właśnie zobaczyła boginię, a druga chce się do wariatkowa od razu zapisać jest komiczne i genialne.
Całość jednak dla mnie trochę za długa, nie wszystkie elementy były na tyle dobre, by tak je rozpisywać.

[Nicole Louwerse · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the beginning I found it somewhat boring at times, and at some point I thought I knew how the story would unfold. Like a cheap romantic book. But I was wrong. The plot develops and gets more and more interesting. Description of events, scenery, people, habits, etc is very vivid, as if looking at a movie. Lots of details (which, to be honest, I found a little too much now and again). I loved to get some insight in the way old Celts lived (hoping that there is some truth in it). All in all I enjoyed reading it and might pick up another novel by the same author.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a dual timeline story about a college professor writing about Cartimandua, a queen who lived in Britain around the time of the second Roman invasion and things don't always go as planned.

[The Book Bunch (Sam) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was absolutely loving this dual timeline historical fantasy but it ultimately became a dnf due to content. For me it just wasn't clean enough to continue. Great storyline though, even if it is a bit creepy

[Lisbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book in one of my 'Connected Reading' threads. The first book was A Brief History of the Celts by Peter Berresford Ellis (review here). The book mentioned two of the very few Celtic queens; Cartimandua and Boudica. This book is about Cartimandua. As Peter Berresford Ellis mentions, we don't know so much about these queens, or the early Celtic tribes since there are no written sources to be found. Archeological finds, and mostly, references from the Romans are the base of what we know today.

As usual in Barbara Erskine's books we travel through time. It is not, like in the Outlander series, that you stay on in the past, Here you are going back and forth during small intervalls. That is why it becomes so thrilling, because you just get a small piece of the story at a time. However, the story of the present time is also interwoven with the past. I remember reading Lady of Hay many, many years ago and absolutely loved it. This book reminds me how much I love her tales, and I wonder why I have not read more of them.

The reason for the time travelling in her books are related to a place, a token, an artefact or similar things. In this one a pin found while excavating a Celtic sight is the trigger. It affects everyone who touches it. In this story there are three of them. Viv, a historian, who has written a book about Cartimandua, Hugh, her professor and boss and Peggy, an actress who is making Viv's book into a radio play. They are all 'haunted' by different persons; Viv by Cartimandua, Hugh by Venturios (Cartimandua's husband and king) and Peggy by Mebd, a young second wife to a king, who is revengeful and her whole life's mission is to hurt Cartimandua.

Cartimandua became the queen of the Brigantes, a tribe in northern England, and ruled ca 43-69 AD. This was at a time when the Romans tried to conquer England. Instead of fighting Cartimandua made a deal with the Romans, she received wealth and protection from the Romans. However, this also made her vulnerable towards other tribes who did not give in to the Romans, but fought them, and became more or less slaves under the Roman yoke.

From the few things we know of Cartimandua, Barbara Erskine has woven a fantastic tale of love, betrayal, revenge and loyalty. It makes perfect sense, although we can not know how she was, how she felt and what she did. We follow her from a young age, how she marries and matures, how she becomes queen and the problems that come with this post. We also get glimpses of her thoughts, her loves and her sorrows. It is all very touching, wonderfully written and above all exciting and thrilling. We can only imagine how it was to live in those days when every day was a fight for survival.

An extract from 'Postscript Two' of the book, which is an address given by Meryn Jones, who in the book, is a person who believes there is something more in the world, something between life and death, something not everyone can see.

Like Hamlet, I believe there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophies. LIke many religions of the world, I believe the soul goes on many journeys through many lifetimes, in many forms. It is given choices and it makes them. And it never dies The ideal destination of the Celtic soul is of course Tir n'an Og, the land of the Ever Young. The Isle of the Blessed. But, like the Celt, I also believe in a form of reincarnation. Some believe, and I agree with them, that the soul, on occasions splits into three parts on death, one part to reincarnate, one to go to the Blessed Isle and one part to enter another life form - perhaps a bird or a shooting star. Others believe, and I agree with them, that sometimes the entire soul returns to this Earth in a new body. Others again believe, and I agree with them also, that the soul can choose to return to this Earth as a sprit. As a ghost. Indeed sometimes this occurs inadvertently and the soul fins itself trapped on this Earth.

This makes me think of Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger which read recently (review here). It has the same theme. Is there something more between life and death? A very big question.

I must admit that this is one of the books where I have problems coming back to my own time. The time of the Celts lingers in the back of my head when I go about my daily life.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a time slip novel that combines both modern times with the Roman conquest of Britain. It is based on a true celtic queen.

I thought the book was ok but it is very long. It is in a similar vein to Lady of Hay book (which I liked) but I did not enjoy it as much.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Barbara Erskine's novel Daughters of Fire, protaganist Viv Lloyd Rees is about to realize a dream with the publication of her scholarly work on Cartimandua, a little known British tribal queen remembered only for betraying Britain to Imperial Rome. Although her book includes information on Cartimandua never before known, it is generating much advanced buzz mainly for the severe criticism leveled against it by Viv's friend and Department Head, Dr. Hugh Graham. Hugh, also a Celtic expert, argues that much of the information contained in the book is nothing more than supposition, saying there is no historical evidence to back up many of Viv's claims. Unbeknownst to Hugh, Viv has formed a "connection" with the Iron Age queen, a connection that revealed much of the information in her book; and which Viv is also using to develop a radio dramatization on the life of Cartimandua. When Hugh and Viv's behaviours start to alter, followed soon after by that of Viv's dramatization partner, Pat, it becomes apparent that there is much more to Viv's 'connection' with Cartimandua than meets the eye, and that it relates, in some way, to an ancient Celtic broach believed to have once belonged to the Brigantine queen. Viv, Hugh and Pat soon find themselves completely entangled in events of the past. While this situation brings to light people, events and motivations that have been lost to history, they also place Viv, Hugh and Pat's very lives in grave danger.

Daughters of Fire is a richly atmospheric novel, one in which events of the past and present become so intertwined that it is difficult to separate them. Although a huge fan of time slip novels, I sometimes find that narrative transitions between past and present story lines can be rough and inconsistent. This is not an issue in Daughters of Fire, as the ongoing shifts between the modern day and historical story lines are well executed. I also found the continual narrative shifts, which are often suspenseful, helped to move the novel along quickly and kept the book, at over 550 pages, from feeling too long. While I enjoyed the novel overall, I did have one issue with it - I didn't connect with any of the principal characters. While it is unusual for me to enjoy a novel when ambivalent towards the main characters, my lack of connection to Viv, Hugh or Pat didn't in any way detract from my fascination with the story itself.

Daughters of Fire is recommended to fans of historical time slip novels. In fact, fans of time slip novels who haven't already done so are encouraged to check out novelist Barbara Erskine's works in general.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this book when it was first published in 2006 and I had forgotten most of the story. I think I enjoyed it more this time round. It is a long, many layered, atmospheric novel which really holds your attention from the first page to the last. If you like time slip novels you will love this. Viv Lloyd Rees has written a book about Cartimundua who ruled the powerful Brigantes tribe at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain. She was a powerful woman and Viv gets totally immersed in her research to the extent that Carta is speaking to her personally.

Unfortunately her boss - Professor Hugh Graham - is very much against her book - which he regards as guesswork rather than research. But why has he turned against Viv when he is clearly attracted to her? Why has he chosen to rubbish her book in public? But there is no bad publicity and the critical review helps to make Viv's book popular.

But Cartimundua is dominating Viv's life and taking her over to the extent that she can't control her trips back into the past and they have got worse since she 'borrowed' a brooch from Hugh which dates back to that era. I loved the way the author merges past and present and gradually builds up the tension to the dramatic finale. I found it totally absorbed me even though for most of my reading I was travelling on noisy, crowded trains. I was transported back to Celtic Britain and Carta's world.

[Lucie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usually with Barbara Erskine's books - the first half was good, but sometimes a little slow paced for me, and the other half was absolutely breath-taking. Nothing quite reach the level of On the Edge of Darkness (I don't think I'm ever gonna be able to get over Brida, deal with it) but Erskine's books are just the right mix of adventure, excitement and descriptions. As much as I don't like too many descriptions in books I could read the Erskine's all day. I don't know if she's a real expert on celtic way of life (probably not) or if she just makes all those things up... but I absolutely love it. But more to the Daughters of Fire. The good features I've already mentioned - fast paced story in the second half of book, great descriptions, I could totally imagine the life in Scotland in 1st century. The worse thing is that I really didn't like the characters very much. I mean, they were okay, but there was not one person I would love and identify with. The depth was missing for me this time. But no matter what, the book still spoke to me a lot and I'm gonna read something more on Celts and Cartimandua herself. Did really exist that Mon, the sacre druid's island? If so... that's such a great material for a story! Even if only in my head! Erskine is such a great story-teller and can pull the person in the story. Oh my, how I wanna live in those times!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about the great power that is obsession in love, hatred and longing. How such a power has transcended the ages from Iron Age Celts to present day and the troubled souls who want their true story to be heard against the Roman account of their invasion pick two unsuspecting expert historians who slowly become pawns to the echoing memories of the past.
The book is a fantastic read! Hooks you from the start and keeps you turning page after page, always wanting to know what was going to happen next, both in the past and present setting. The characters are all strong before the reader, each unique and special in their own way and each endearing. It's hard to pick a favourite as their is a broad cast of characters but throughout you learn love, hate, like and fear each one in their own turn.
The plot itself is complex and does go on for a lot longer than you think but there is no point where Barbara gets you confused although she does suprise you with each characters individual motive - the bad guy at the start won't always be the bad guy when you reach the end.
It is a brilliant read for any fans of Labyrinth by Kate Mosse as it is in the genre style but I dare say it is even that bit better. A great read for anyone who likes historical fiction too.

[Yvette · Rating 3 out of 5]

When mrs Erskine hits the mark, she hits the mark. Her 'Kingdom of Shadows' I absolutely loved, 'Child of the Phoenix' is one of my favourites.
DoF however, though not bad, is not really up there with the other books. Neither Viv nor Carta come alive in my opinion.
Carta's reasons to have her story told until the end are not convincing.
I understand that treading in the footmarks of a 1st century queen is a lot more difficult than empathizing with 14th century Isobel of Fife (KoS) as we know a lot less of the daily life and beliefs of the Brigantes. However, I felt no connection to Carta, nor did I understand her, except for the fact (which is repeated again and again) that her motive in supporting the Romans is to keep her people save.
As for the other characters: they are all one-dimensional (except when haunted/ possessed by 'their' celts. Viv seems weak and indecisive. Hugh is stubborn, Pat equally so, etc.
As always, her characters from the past are more vivid than the present ones, even here in this book.
3-stars, maybe 3,5 but certainly not a 4

[Alys Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can you say, other than great book. Good narrative and well thought out characters and plot.

Loved the story of Cartimandua and the narrative.