Lady of the Light

Auriane #2

by Donna Gillespie

Auriane, warrior maiden of the Chattian tribe, was sworn to remove the cursed Romans from the lands of the Rhine. Then fate intervened: she was captured, brought to Rome in chains, and trained to fight in the arenas as a gladiator - only to fall in love with a Roman aristocrat, Marcus Arrius Julianus, and become his wife.

Marcus and Auriane have lived in tranquility for years but, without his knowledge, Auriane is a traitor to Rome. Plundering her husband's coffers for nearly a decade, Auriane has provided her people with enough wealth to arm themselves. Now, Auriane's betrayal has been discovered, and if her duplicity reaches the Roman authorities, her life - and the lives of her family - will be forfeit.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Germany

440 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Donna Gillespie is the author of two historical novels set in first century Rome, The Light Bearer (Berkley/Putnam, 1994) and Lady of the Light (Berkley/Putnam, 2006). The Light Bearer has been translated into German, Dutch, Russian, Italian and Lithuanian. An international bestseller, it was optioned by Hallmark Entertainment for a miniseries. Her second novel, Lady of the Light, is the sequel to The Light Bearer, and is also available in German and Italian. Her love of historical novels began at age thirteen when she discovered Mary Renault's novel of ancient Greece, The King Must Die. She credits the novels of Robert Graves -- I Claudius and Claudius the God -- with her enduring interest in the culture and mores of ancient Rome. She has lived in San Francisco since 1971, where she presently is the copyeditor and occasional contributor to her neighborhood newspaper, The New Fillmore. She’s currently working on the third novel of the trilogy that began with The Light Bearer.

Reviews

[E.M. Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you know the "What's your Roman empire?" meme?

Mine is The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie, which I encountered somewhere in the late 90s and never forgot.

A widely popular historical romantasy long before the term existed in book genres and set during the reign of Emperor Domitian, it's the story of Auriane, a Chattian warrior and mystic who gets captured after her tribe fails to defeat the Roman Empire's legions.

Made a slave by her captors, Auriane is sent to the gladiator pits where she rises to glory, capturing the attention of Marcus Julianus, a philosophically-minded senator. Of course, they fall in love.

And it's the definition of enemies to lovers with crazy-high stakes.

What I didn't know until more recently is that Gillespie published a follow-up novel in 2006 to turn the story into the trilogy. And while the tone is different, the world-building, research and visceral details are exactly the same.

Lady of the Light picks up Auriane and Julianus' story some years later, and tells the story of their two daughters, Avenahar and Arria Julia, who also straddle the two divisive worlds of their parents.

Continuing a series after ten years is no small feat for any writer. As a reader, it had also been over thirty since I last read the first volume. I was on vacation when I picked it up and couldn't go back to the first novel to confirm small details.

I was impressed by how easily the nuances came back to me, and how absorbing I found Auriane's story. Gillespie has not published the third volume as yet.

I hope she will someday, and know I will passionately read it if she does.

[David Gizara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love shit like this. Can't wait for the third one. Gillespie has a real ability to suck you in on a personal level.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the lighter, more "popular" side of historical fiction, this book was a very entertaining read. Set on the Germanic frontier during Trajan's reign, it's the sequel to The Light Bearer, which I read several years ago. Gillespie continues the story of Auriane, a woman of a Germanic tribe who has come to live with a Roman patrician, Marcus. In Lady of the Light, Auriane's divided loyalties lead both her and Marcus down the path of destruction due to the increasing tensions between her people and the Roman Empire. It's not great literature, but it was very pleasing to read. Gillespie is quite good at keeping the plot moving and the reader interested in the story and characters.

[Joni Paranka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as The Light Bearer, but still a very entertaining & smoothly flowing read.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Book I and II almost 30 years apart. To Gillespie’s credit, it felt like no time had passed. I hope we get more in this series.

[Rochelle Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good follow up to the original. So many wonderful settings are explored, and I can't get enough.

[Alysa Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me forever to read this book....I wanted to savor it! But sadly it has come to an end, and it left room for a 3rd book....maybe?

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am giving this book 3 stars only because it reminds me of the book I read a long time ago and loved, and because it seems to be a promise of more to come. Other then that this book is a mess of stories in the middle of set ups and visions that contradict each other constantly. Auriane is meant to be a fighter and yet she is supposed to be a seeress who is not allowed to touch iron. Avenahar is a hot headed teenager one moment and a woman capable of learning the ways of war within a few months the next. Not to mention Marcus and Arria who seem to only possess half charactaristics in this book. I am not dissapointed too much though, since this was basically what I was expecting. I guess I was just hoping for more. If or when the next book comes out I'll see if I want to dirty my memory of that first book even more. Maybe I should just, read that one again...

[Pascalle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik keek erg uit naar dit boek, aangezien het eerste verhaal over auriane, stipt mijn lievelingsboek is. Dat is het helaas na dit boek ook gebleven. In boek 1 vind ik het namelijk zo goed dat ze het verhaal zo goed uitwerkt en dit ook op een boeiende manier doet. In het tweede boek merk je echt dat er nog een 3e aankomt, en ze meer daar mee bezig is. Dan de verhaallijnen nu uit te werken. Waardoor ik met vragen ben blijven zitten. Zoals de band tussen avenhar en decicus. Waarom draagd ze zijn geschenk opeens wel? Enzo nog een paar voorbeelden. Maar al met al is het toch een goed boek en ben ik benieuwd naar het 3e.

[Vail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I may have read this already 5-6 years ago but there is just so much information and story packed into these books that they are one of the best re-reads. There is a little liberty taken with the timelines to fit the storytelling but otherwise these are a remarkable historical fiction of the Roman timeperiod mixed with just enough fantasy to make it an appealing read rather than a dry story.

I just wish that the ending were more conclusive than how it ended.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have different ratings for different parts of this book. I felt the storyline became laborious at times, but at others I was completely engrossed in what was happening. I didn't realize this book was the second in a trilogy and I am definitely going to read the first book. Absolutely brings Ancient Rome and Teutonia/Germania into full color.

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long awaited sequel to The Light Bearer. Significantly shorter and not quite as good as the first, but still a good novel.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book of a trilogy, sequel of The Light Bearer, another magnificent book by Donna Gillespie. It will be hard to wait for the next book.

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having loved Gillespie's first book, I eagerly anticipated its sequel. I've started this book twice, and haven't been able to finish it. No fire to this one.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

sequel to The Light Bearer

[Merrilee]

I liked it. I wish I had realized it was part of a series. It is a little complicated and brainy but very interesting.

[Patrick Bättig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Auriane wird der Widerspruch zwischen ihren germanischen Wurzeln und der römischen Lebensweise zum Verhängnis. Sie wird zum Tode verurteilt, kann aber fliehen

[Susan]

This is the sequel to The Light Bearer.