Originally published in 1959, The Darkness and the Dawn has daring escapes, battles, romance, horse races, revenge, and a court scene. This book also has an emperor, a princess, and a royal family. Oh, and then there is Attila the Hun. What a ride!
The story centers around Nicolan, a man sold captured and sold as a slave to the Romans. He manages to escape, and with the help of Attila the Hun, seeks to avenge himself on the Romans. Attila has his own plans as well.
There is also a love story involving Nicolan and a girl from his homeland and a sub-plot or two of interest.
Reviews with the most likes.
Thomas Costain tells a good story, but his writing frequently made me cringe:
“It was hard to believe that anything resembling the unmannerly sound generally described as a snort could issue from a nose as delicately made as Ildico's. But her response to his remark fell most certainly into some such category.”
Ugh. So hardly Robert Graves, then. But I enjoyed it enough to negotiate my way through the clunkers and persist to the end, and I did learn quite a bit about Attila and his career.
