Hostage Lands

by Douglas Bond
Available from Amazon
*****

Fifteen-year-old Neil Perkins lived a reasonably good life. He lived on Hostage Heath, a farm near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England, and his parents let him go where he please on his four-wheeler, as long as he accomplished his chores. Yes, he had a good life, except for his Latin classes with the ridiculous Miss Klitsa. Perhaps she would have been better off teaching a drama class.

After wrecking his four-wheeler near the Wall, Neil finds a spearhead and packet of tablets in the hole he made in landing. The tablets were all written upon, and in Latin, no less! He took them to Miss Klitsa and asked what they said, but she was too much of a teacher to tell him.

All of this merely serves as the introduction to the tale which Neil laboriously translated. The epic tale of Celts and Romans scheming, spying, fighting and dying around Hadrian’s Wall is reminiscent of the tales spun by Rosemary Sutcliff. We follow the centurion Rusticus, who must decide where his loyalties lay. The story is well told, and readers will hold their breath, instead of easily guessing the way everything will resolve itself. To make this drama even better than Sutcliff’s, one of these characters, Calum, is a Christian, although he does not proclaim it to everyone he meets. When the Celts sit around the fire at night, and call on him for a story, he tells them, “My tale is of a great King,” and gives the whole gospel. Calum’s service to the Prince of Peace does not however, make him any less valiant a soldier.

The book concludes with Rusticas telling a story of “a great King.” Neil wonders if the whole story is true, and asks questions. Will Neil, will the reader believe the story? What about the tale of “a great King”?

I have always loved Sutcliff’s books, but Hostage Lands ranks even higher on my list. I wish I could give it more stars, and highly recommend it to those 13 and up. Travel back to the misty, dangerous Britain of the Celts, when Romans built their wall, and flaunted their standards. You will learn to think like a Celt, and step quietly behind a tree when you hear footsteps. And maybe you finish this book, and read it again, and give it a place with your favorite Celtic books.