Clash of Iron

By: Angus Watson

Narrated by: Sean Barrett

Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

The second book in Angus Watson's epic Iron Age fantasy trilogy.

Leaders Are Forged in the Fires of War

Iron Age warriors Dug and Lowa captured Maidun castle and freed its slaves. But now they must defend it.

A Roman invasion is coming from Gaul, but rather than uniting to defend their home, the British tribes go to battle with each other - and see Maidun as an easy target.

Meanwhile Lowa's spies infiltrate Gaul, discovering the Romans have recruited British druids. And Maidunite Ragnall finds his loyalties torn when he meets Rome's charismatic general, Julius Caesar.

War is coming. Who will pay its price?

©2015 Angus Watson (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Best Narration ever

The narrator is incredibly talented and both thru accents and tone, manages to completely invoke multiple characters.
Only one thing, he does make Julias Caesar sound like Noel Coward which made me smile ever time the character spoke.

I can't stop crying

I'm just want to say I don't even know if I want to read 3 without Dug. He was really the messianic warrior hero they out. Wether or not any of his peers noticed or not. It seems only magot, Lora & spring truly knew what a blessing his presence was in they're world. I've listened to the end 4 times now & I know it was a genius plan on the Druids part & nessasary but it still has broken my heart

For all Abercrombie and grrm fans

Watson is definetly on the shortlist now, will read anything he writes, and hopefully there will be a lot more. Most of the time you are lucky to find one strength in a book: well written, great world building/research, great characters and development, and last but not least great story, Watson has done all of these here and more. Well done.

Great story telling, great narrator!

Fun listen! Looking forward to next in the series! Wish there was not a 15 word minimum for the reviews.

Brilliant Fiction-Shiny Characters

Unique characters who develop and grow or change in a story is a must. That's what I like about GoT and they're present in abundance in this book. Also a unique perspective on the Britons' time period and a clever plot. I'm ready for the next one!

Part 2 continues to be strong storytelling

I really liked the first part, which was unusual in that the story was told from several perspectives. This doesn't happen so much in part 2 (or part 3). If you like gritty fantasy, this is really well done. The reader is perfect for the story.

Good historical fiction

I really enjoy this series. The magic stuff is a bit much. great characters and performance.

Filling in the gaps in History

I LOVE how Angus Watson takes a time and place in history where there are LARGE Gaps in the actual historical record, then he weaves a story into the gaps to fit them, and fill them.

Where records exist, his stories stick to them, and then he smoothly continues weaving his fantasy through the gaps until he comes to another point where a bit of actual historical record exists. His stories always lead you to HIS version of "Why" the next fragment of historical record is what it is, even though no one really knows why a bit of record exists in the middle of large gaps (The actual fragment of record, on it's own, usually makes NO sense, as no one knows what really happened during that time period to get historical figures from one known event in history to the next).

The way Mr. Watson tells his tale, You can't prove that his tale IS how history took place, but you can't prove it's NOT how history took place either! His "Fantasy Stories" are as viable as any "Archeological Theory" out there about the same Time-Period/Place.

Brilliant!

Gotta toss in some Kudos to Sean Barrett for his excellent Narration also... Being a student of history, I know how horribly dry it CAN be if told by the wrong person, and how exciting it can be when told by the right person! In college I was lucky enough to have one of those professors that could "make History come alive, so you FELT it's ebb and flow"... I took every history course that Professor taught, even though 90% of them were not even remotely within the requirements for my degrees (Electrical Engineering, Computer Systems, Mathematics, Psychology, etc)! Mr. Barrett has that same gift of being able to "Make History Come Alive", Even if it's Fantasy History...

...Let me clarify that I mean NO disrespect when I say: "Even if it's Fantasy History"... Because much of what we are taught as "Historical Fact" is really "Historical Fantasy". For Example, Thomas Edison didn't invent the Light Bulb, he bought the Patent for one type of light bulb from the Widow of the man who invented it, and then Edison improved it and made light bulbs commercially viable. Experiments with light bulbs go as far back as 1801, and there were 20-25 other patents for light bulbs even before Edison got involved in the field in 1878. However, "Edison Invented The Light Bulb" is a "Historical Fantasy Fact" that is STILL taught in schools today. "Henry Ford" didn't invent the automobile, he made "Assembly Lines" practical, which allowed automobiles to be produced very quickly, and cheaply... But, "Ford Invented The Automobile" is yet another "Historical Fantasy Fact" STILL taught in Schools!

Angus Watson's historical fantasy tales at least contain some ACTUAL Historical Facts, and Sean Barrett makes them come to life... They're one of those rare teams that end up being much more than the sum of their parts!

Story with humor, complexity and with good ending

Clash of Iron is sequel to Age of Iron and lives up to the expectations. This is a solid, entertaining book with some interesting historical background from Roman culture. Angus mentioned that Roman part in the book is accurate with few exceptions.

Book has much larger scope compare to the first one where Roman plans to invade Britain, and things are much more complicated due to politics/power grab within Britain's local tribes. There are more down to earth elements as well such as romance between Dug/Lowa and parent/daughter relationship between Dug/Lowa and Spring. Angus does a great job of mixing these themes seamlessly while adding humor that is not only unexpected but also very genuine. Sean is prefect for this book that his rough voice works well in delivering all elements of this book. Sean did well to the point that I laughed at humor and felt uncomfortable with some of the brutality and violence such as crucifixion. Book has a pretty good and satisfying bitter-sweet ending, so waiting for third book will not be too bad.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I highly recommend it as I wait for the next book in trilogy

Good story- racism apparent

“Poop colored skin” and other unnecessary micro-aggressions to POC in the author’s writing. Not uncommon in this genre, but notable. The story is good otherwise.