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Queen of Darkness
This gripping story set during the life of Queen Boudica brings the Key Stage 2 history curriculum to life. Perfect for fans of historical adventure. Young Rhianna is relived when Queen Boudica takes in her and her sister when their parents die. But there's a darkness in Boudica that's waiting to be unleashed and the Romans will suffer for their crimes against her. Soon Rhianna witnesses much more than the kindness that Boudica has shown her and her sister. There's a battle coming... and a terrible aftermath. Flashbacks offer dramatic stories set in key moments in history, perfect for introducing children to historical topics.
128 pages, Paperback
Published November 14, 2019
About the author
Tony Bradman
665 books43 followersTONY BRADMAN graduated from Cambridge University and worked in journalism for many years as an editor and reviewer. Now a full-time author, he has produced several successful anthologies for young readers for Random House Children's Books, including three focusing exclusively on football: the FOOTBALL FEVER titles.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 25, 2022
Bradman attempts a retelling of Boudicca's revolt through the eyes of Rhianna, a young Iceni girl swept up in the events leading up to the famous rebellion.
Told for a middle-grade audience, this covers all the main historical events, skirting around much of the violence, from a young person's perspective. Relatively short, Bradman paints Boudicca as an aloof zealot that effectively leads her people to ruin, rather than the valiant rebel heroine taking on the might of foreign invaders. While not on the Roman's side either, this is an unsatisfactory story for historical fiction and a bit depressing. Rhianna's character has some progression but is undeveloped as she runs from one brutal experience to another. Nothing is learned particularly, and Rhianna's outlook is also somewhat 20th century, compared to someone of her time period. While the title perhaps hints at Bradman's opinion on the warrior queen this is a downer of a tale.
Told for a middle-grade audience, this covers all the main historical events, skirting around much of the violence, from a young person's perspective. Relatively short, Bradman paints Boudicca as an aloof zealot that effectively leads her people to ruin, rather than the valiant rebel heroine taking on the might of foreign invaders. While not on the Roman's side either, this is an unsatisfactory story for historical fiction and a bit depressing. Rhianna's character has some progression but is undeveloped as she runs from one brutal experience to another. Nothing is learned particularly, and Rhianna's outlook is also somewhat 20th century, compared to someone of her time period. While the title perhaps hints at Bradman's opinion on the warrior queen this is a downer of a tale.
May 20, 2023
My class have absolutely loved this book this half term during English lessons! Linked to our topic of the Romans beautifully and the story was gripping and engaging for 8-9 year olds! Couldn’t recommend it anymore! It was fabulous!
March 4, 2024
My class enjoyed this book but some of the punctuation was poor. My 7 & 8 year olds started pointing out all the missing commas after the fronted adverbials.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews