Customer Reviews
Great story, shame someone else didn't write it! - By: P. J. Coughlin, 08 Sep 2008 
After reading the first book to this series I was looking forward to the release of the next two but have been gravely disappointed. Napier has managed to take a great historical story & out of it create a series of books which are a struggle to muster the enthusiasm to read.
The books lack the detail that make other similar novels such a good read. This extends to alll parts of the story including the description of the battles, which fail to be the dramatic events they should be, as well as developing the characters. The book plods along at a sedate pace & you even feel that Napier himself must have been bored of it by the end.
If you're looking something to read before you go to bed this is ideal as it will almost guarantee a good night's sleep. However, if you want to read a well told novel about Attila then this book will just leave you wishing that Bernard Cornwell or Conn Iggulden had taken up the challlenge!
Absolutely Stunning - By: Mr. T. A. Fenton, 10 Aug 2008 
I must say that this is so far the best book I have ever read, & believe me I've read alot of historical fiction. The first two books in the sequel I found at times to be trying & I felt I had to find patience before I found the magic that Napier is capable of which came in waves & trickles. Yet for the third in the sequel, it was as if his style had finallly perfected & he became frenzied with the knack of balancing intrigue, character development, intensity, profundity, melancholy historicallly factual truths & the whole ideology around the 'spirit of the times' but on top of alll of this, I felt as if I was reading the script of a future epic, bigger even than Lord of the Rings, I was that encapsulated (from start to finish).
It has now awakened a deep interest for me in the whole time around Attila the Hun, Scourge of God & Flavious Aetius, last bastion of the Roman Empire & I found the interplay of emotions between two sworn enemies who were once friends brilliant, & the dwindling fortunes of the Roman Empire well documented. The battles were heart stopping, the mood downcast yet not beaten & there was a touch of hilarity between characters & their actions mixed with the appallling reality of the lengths Attila took to instill horror into the Roman enemy. An absolute legendary book which deserves to be the basis of a film
Come on Mr. Napier, Did they really speak like that in those days? - By: Mr. Paul W. P. Phillips, 20 Jun 2008 I am so disappointed. I was expecting a realistic account of Atilla`s exploits, set with historical accuracy, but this book has so much "filler" that I am debating whether to read what I`ve got left or just give it up as a bad job! It seems to me that Mr Napier thought to himself that he could stretch the story into 3 or 4 volumes by writing about Atilla`s teenage years in Rome, & using very modern language, including swear-words that just don`t fit with me. He did this & bored me! Perhaps you should start with the 2nd volume & give volume 1 a miss! If you want some serious historical fiction, I can thoroughly recommend the "Young Bloods" series about Wellington & Napoleon by Simon Scarrow & the "Crusade" series by Robyn Young. I can`t wait for the next volumes in these series to be published, but as for "Atilla"!!!!
Attila the first - By: Mr. Andy Cameron, 01 Feb 2008 
First book I've read from William Napier. Overalll I enjoyed it very much. Had periods when it bored me then annoyed me then gripped me with the story & characters. Did everything for me. look forward to reading the second one
Top of the Class - By: Todd Cutler, 05 Jan 2008 This is a quite beautifully written & characterized historical blockbuster - very unusual combination! there are some great set piece battle scenes & confronations, a real drive & energy in the emerging iron will of this terrifying warlord Attila, bewitching & very charismatic & yet also hugely destructive but there are also lovely descriptive passages which totallly transport you back to the Dark Ages, & the wilds of the East, even as far as Mongolia (I think!) which is where most of this book takes place, as Attila forges his people into a war machine & gathers other tribes to him, ready for the Final Conflict with Rome, can't wait for the Book Three, needless to say, but this is wonderful middle part, full of epic journeys & dangers & astonishing, almost mythical landscapes & savage adventures. This author is in a class of his own, as far as I'm concerned, in this genre.
