Ruthless. Fierce. Vicious. Barbaric. These are all words that may come to mind upon hearing the name "Attila the Hun". One of the instrumental players in bringing down the Roman Empire, Attila and his mounted army united warring Hunnic tribes and left a swath of destruction int their wake. But there was much more to Attila than that. In the first installment of a dramatic and sweeping trilogy, William Napier tells the story of a young Attila and how his enduring hatred for the Romans fueled his zealous dive towards conquest.
I am by no means an expert on this period, but certain aspects of Napier's storytelling do strike me as inaccurate; such as the weaponry used by the Roman legions, as well as the premise of Attila's early captivity in Rome (the basis of much of the first half of the novel). Nonetheless, the story is well-told, and the characters very well-developed.
Framed through the retrospect of a late 5th century Christian monk, the story tells of how young Attila was given as a hostage to Rome as part of an alliance with the Hun people. Despising the city and its people from the get-go, Attila eventually escapes and crosses the Alps, wide swaths of country and finally the Danube river to rejoin his people. When, however, he acts against the authority of the king, he is branded a traitor and sentenced to wander the steppes for no less than thirty years.
Richly varied in its plot structure and character development, Attila will bring to life one of the most infamous names in history and cast new light on this unflinchingly brave and passionate soul.
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