Naomi Mitchison Books

The focus of this novel is a Christian church in Rome during the time of Nero. Most of the members are slaves, the others are poor, though free. Part one gives us the background of some of the church members: where they came from, how they got to Rome (if not born there), and how they became a Christian. The second part deals with the fire and the beginning of the persecution of the Christians, who were blamed with starting it. The last part details how individuals responded to the persecution. Among the Christians, there is heroism and cowardice - mostly the former. Among the non-Christians, there are those who become Christians because of the witness of those killed for an IDEA.

Although Paul, Luke, Nero, Claudia Acte and other well-known historical people appear in this book, the main characters have humbler backgrounds. With one exception - Beric, son of a British king and adopted by Roman Senator Flavius Crispus. However, he was subject to humiliation like the others which opened the door to his salvation. Manasses, Lalage, Euphemia, Phaon, Persis, Niger, Eunice and the others showed the roots of the Church: the poor, the outcasts, the uneducated. This novel allows us to see underneath: they were individuals with different strengths and weaknesses, personalities and talents.

It was refreshing to read a novel set in ancient Rome that focused on the lower classes. Life was hard, perhaps unbearable, but these people had the Kingdom to look forward to. Far from being victims, or seeing themselves as victims, they were victorious in Christ. Forgiving those who hated and/or persecuted them was not always easy, but gave them a freedom and a joy that others could not know or understand.

Naomi Mitchison¹s masterful recreation of ancient Scythia must surely stand as one of the most enduring historical novels of the century. In clear, pristine prose (which reminds me of Ursula LeGuin), Mitchison describes the mystical, sometimes horrible, world of her protagonist Erif Der (Red fire backwards). I first stumbled across this long novel in 1988 while at university. Rereading it last year was a sheer pleasure. The old-fashioned, very British, tone of the writing is not in the slightest bit off-putting. Here is a remarkable writer at the height of her powers. Like Ursula LeGuin, again, Mitchison has the uncanny ability to transport her readers to alien cutures and to make these foreign worlds, and the people who live there, as relevant as they are mesmerising. If you haven¹t experienced Naomi Mitchison before, then I can¹t think of a better place to start than with The Corn King and the Spring Queen.

I first read The Land The Ravens Found in 1955, when I was 10 years old. I enjoyed it then and I have reread it ever since. It functions on several levels: on one level it tells the coming-of-age stories of three boys living in northern Scotland in the ninth century: Anlaf, the son of a viking chief, Yrp, his Irish foster brother, and Vivill, a Scottish slave. On another level it's the story of a powerful woman, the real heroine of the story, Aud the Deep Minded, Anlaf's grandmother. Although already an old woman when the story begins, she is the person who really propels the action. When her son dies fighting the Scots she decides to look for a more peaceful way of life. She builds a ship and sets sail for Iceland with her household, not only her family but also their followers and freed slaves. Once in Iceland the promise of a better life is fulfilled for everybody and she dies peacefully the night after Anlaf's wedding.

This is definitely told from the women's point of view. Fighting is only reported, all the action takes place in the world of house and farm, following the rhythm of the seasons. One of the revelations in this book is that a viking woman's skills as a housewife literally meant the difference between life and death during the long northern winters.

The most amazing thing is that all the characters are REAL PEOPLE who were among the first Icelandic settlers. For anybody who thinks women of the past were meek and submissive, Aud will be a revelation. As a viking woman she had a great deal of freedom along with her responsibilities, and she was able to make important decisions that radically changed the life of those around her. The three boys are each interesting in their own way as they grow into men with the strength and judgment to run their own lives. It's good to know that, as the author tells us in her afterword, their descendants are living and thriving in modern-day Iceland.

The new Queen took one loathing look at her dead predecessor's daughter and informed her spouse the King that the infant must go. The monarch not interested in female offspring or reminders of his late wife agrees so before she can crawl Princess Halla is tossed out of the castle to die. Her shapeshifting nurse turns into a bear to save her charge and takes Halla into the woods to live with her and her bear kin.

However, no one is available to tend to the child during hibernation until an aging dragon arrives changing the youngster from Halla Bearsbairn to Halla Heroesbane. She soars with her dragon who takes the human child to the dragon lair where they teach her their ways including abducting maidens. As the years pass, Halla looks forward to her wings, but they never arrive so she knows she must move on though she loves her mentors especially after her beloved Uggi dies. As a new religion based on the teachings of the Christ begins to move across the continent, Halla's adventures continue. these enabling her to become human and more than human.

Fans of Potter will enjoy this excellent reprint of a 1950s young adult fantasy starring a wonderful heroine and a terrific support cast who makes shapeshifters and dragons seem real. The story line is more a coming of age series of vignettes in the life of Halla with her fifteen adventures fun to follow especially soaring with dragons. Fans will appreciate this fine tale of a heroic child and the "heroes" who adopt her.

Harriet Klausner

This book is a magical gem that transports the reader to the mythopoetic era, when angelic beings interact freely with ordinary mortals.

If you want to gain vision into paradise, lost or found, read this little beauty. Your mind will expand as you stretch your wings in the pages of this world. This parable teaches lessons that may take a person a lifetime to appreciate.

This slender book, first published in 1952, should be of interest both to the curious reader and to Naomi Mitchison fans. This is a story about magic, transformation and quest. In some respects it resembles Mitchison's much earlier novel, The Corn King and the Spring Queen, though more through thematic similarities than the style of writing. Both books have an engaging central heroine and both involve travel between various lands, actual and invented by the author herself, and both deal with religion and mystical forces. Travel Light, however, is suitable for young adults as well as grown-up readers. It is written in clear, precise English (which, admittedly, does come across as somewhat old-fashioned now). The tone of the writing is tinged with a certain sadness. But Travel Light it is not an even vaguely depressing book - the story is full of magic and mystery! The references to bears and dragons made me think of the sagas of Norse mythology (there are many fairy tale elements too) and, as ever with Naomi Mitchison's historical novels, the reader finds him or herself fully immersed in a captivating alien word. Travel Light a charming book which offers an easy read full of many pleasures.

with the small twist of having a society of homosexuals, the story was interesting, alittle slow in the beginning, and it gives you a sense that your getting a very brief lesson on population genetics, But IT IS still a Great "what If" book,and one which i enjoyed.