1. The land of the Gods is a historical book set in Roman times.

The story is about a Celtic boy called Lucan who was taken by Romans to be a slave. Lucan is brave and has clever ideas. Lucan is very lucky and is freed and is sent to live with a Roman family and ends up becoming a Roman himself.

 The book talked about the different Gods that the Celts and Romans believed in and tells you about Roman life. Lucan meets a slave who is called Aphrodisius and he is a coward who is not very clever and I don’t like his character. Lucan also meets Claudia who he lived with and Clementinus, their next door neighbour who is very rude and always peeks over the fence.

One of my favourite parts is the first sentence when it says “A buzzard screamed. I leapt a foot in the air and woke up”. I could really imagine the noise and the boy waking up with a jump.

I liked the book, but I would have liked it to be more funny.

I would recommend the book for children 7 and up especially if they like Roman history.

By Rafi

2. This book is about what happens when Lucan the Celt falls asleep in someone else’s wagon after hiding from the Romans and surprise surprise the person who owned it was a Roman slave master! Lucan becomes a slave for a very small time because another soldier whisks Lucan away to a low house shaped like 3 sides of a square to become a Roman. In the house, there is a mean little girl, but she turns out to be nice in the end. His new life as a Roman is quite good, but when he sees his old defenceless friend about to get beaten up by a Gladiator, he and the girl do everything they can to help. In the end, all that happens is that Lucan gets totally unconscious by getting thrown into a crowd and getting trampled on.

The character I liked most was Aphrodisius because he had a great sense of humour and was such a big coward. My favourite part of the book was when Aphrodisius has to become a Gladiator and starts running around screaming, “aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” because it made me laugh and I could picture it in real life which made the story really realistic.

I wish the author wrote more about Lucan and Aphrodisius’ life before the story took place. Also, I thought the bit where the author described about there being a stupid boy and his dad called Gratus wasn’t really realistic and it didn’t really fit in with the story, plus Lucan and the girl hated him so it didn’t really make sense to save him from the bull and the Gladiator.

Over all I think this book is great and it made me want to read more books by the same author. Hopefully the next book will be a bit longer because this book was quite short and the story was really realistic and I want to find out more about the history.

I would definitely recommend this book and I think it’s good for ages 6-10 because under 6 might find it too scary and over 10 would probably find it too babyish and boring. It made me pick up the book at every spare moment because it’s a real page turner and I really wanted to know what happened next because it was really exciting. 

By Mossy

3. I enjoyed the book because it was very interesting.

My favourite character was Balbus.

It was realistic because it had horrible stuff like dead people, people hanging on wooden planks and stabs by people.

I would like to read more books by Saul Pree because of the imagination in my mind.

The book was fantastic and I would really like to have more books to read because I imagine the image every page.

At the start there was a roman army so a person hid behind a bush and looked like a rock also he ran miles and miles when the romans went by.

At the end the person went back to England and lived his own life.

The person had a friend while he was in the Roman Empire.

I really like this book although it was a bit like horrible histories because half of the book was horrible and half was about the romans.

By Saul

4. Do you like funny stories? Do you like history? Land of the Gods is the book to choose. I thought it was an amazing history story; my favourite character a Celt, is also the main character: Lucan.

After falling asleep, Lucan is surprised as he finds the Romans dragging him around to different places. The Romans try to dress him up like one of them and eventually succeed. I like Lucan, he’s funny and is surprisingly dirty, no wonder he needed a bath!

I think it was a realistic story. I learnt that the Romans weren’t pleasant to the people they conquered. I think this book will make you want to find out more about that and about Roman lives. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to find about the Romans and the Celts in a funny way.

By Adam

5. I enjoyed reading this book, even though it was a bit tricky. I had to keep checking things but that’s good because I learnt lots of things. I’m glad I kept going to the end because the end’s really exciting!

I learnt about the Celts and the Romans. At the beginning, Lucan the Celt seemed frightened of the Romans but he seems to feel better about them at the end, as he’s moved out of his stone hut and has lots to eat. Like Lucan, I found out lots about Roman life. I feel as though I know a lot now, the Bonus Bits at the end helped me.

Now, I would like to find out more about the Celts, especially about their families and how they lived before the Romans came.

I really liked this book because it took me back in time and made me want to find out more.

By Grace

5. The land of the gods is about a slave and he wants to become a warrior so he goes on a trail to do all these challenges. The challenges were he had to find all the armed and find a sword. I enjoyed this book because it has adventures and lots of history about Roman times and I love how he turns into a warrior. My favourite part was at the start when the author wrote a diary entry to engage the reader. I would recommend this book to KS2 because he they history and may want to find out more about it wants to find out more. I like this book because it talks how a slave can be a hero.

By Ty-la

6. In my opinion I didn’t like Land of the gods at all. Out of the young quills it’s the worst book I’ve read so far.

Land of the gods is a book about a Celt that falls asleep on a roman cart. A journey of a lifetime happens…… After being caught by the owner of the cart, he gets taken to Britannia. There he becomes a Roman citizen and is a free man after the owner of the cart gives him away. He learns how to fit in and do what Romans do over the course of days.                                                                                                                                                                                                         

What makes this book terrible is that I thought it was hard to follow. The reason I say this is because all of the names were complicated, making it extremely confusing and hard to follow. Also I didn’t a lot of the things Sally Prue put in this book, such as why characters felt certain emotions at certain times. Also, why characters did idiotic actions for no reason.

This book had an extremely boring plot with hardly any action or bits that had me on the edge of my seat. The characters were especially boring and did normal stuff with no surprises or comedic bits. While reading my book I felt like I was wasting my time.

Land of the gods had no illustrations, which I expected as this book was quite short. I quite enjoy books with sad bits and happy, however, this book never made its characters show either of them. There was 2 bits of violence in it, which I was especially not keen on. Starting the book in the middle of action surprised me, but the rest of the book went terribly.

In conclusion you should read the book for yourself because I think some of my opinions are easily disagreeable. In my opinion this book is for ages 9-11 so read it for yourself and make up your own mind!                                                                                                                                      

By Anna

7. Land of the Gods is a book which is set in the roman times. It has slaves and a big-headed boy called Lucan who is a Celt. The story is written in first person and you really get to see what his thoughts are throughout the events in the story.

Lucan sees a group of roman soldiers near his village, so he decides to hide, but falling asleep in some stranger’s wagon probably wasn’t the best idea he had ever had. The wagon turns out to be owned by a roman who takes him captive as a slave and to Rome. Trapped as a slave and in the hands of a horrible roman, will he ever escape? Does he even want to?

My favourite part is when he has an argument with Claudia because they each had some funny comebacks and ways to get back at each other. Neither of them back down so they are arguing for a good couple of pages.

I’d rate this book a four out of five as I think the description was a little bit poor but the story line was good. If you like romans and you’re into history then I would recommend Land of the Gods to you.  

By Lauren

8. The book was ok but I found it hard to understand. Other than that I liked it. I never read a history book so it was very good. It was not the best book I have ever read but it was very good. I won’t tell you what happens because you might read it and I’m pretty sure you will enjoy it. It was about the Romans and I have studied them in school so I started to understand parts of the story.

 By Shannon

9. The blurb of this book made me really curious to read it. When I did read it, I ended up really enjoying the book because it gave me information on the Romans.

I found the history in the book to be accurate because I know that Romans love garlic, wear togas and were legionary soldiers because I’ve learnt about it in school.

I did find out more about the Romans from reading the book but most of it was from the Bonus Bits, which told me everything I needed to know. The rest of the book didn’t tell me that much.

It did make me want to read more books from the author because the blurb made me very curious so I think I would also be interested in any of her other books.

By Baldip

10. The blurb of this book made me really curious to read it. When I did read it, I ended up really enjoying the book because it gave me information on the Romans.

I found the history in the book to be accurate because I know that Romans love garlic, wear togas and were legionary soldiers because I’ve learnt about it in school.

I did find out more about the Romans from reading the book but most of it was from the Bonus Bits, which told me everything I needed to know. The rest of the book didn’t tell me that much.

It did make me want to read more books from the author because the blurb made me very curious so I think I would also be interested in any of her other books.

By Giselle

11. This book is really good; it tells the story of a young boy as a Celt in a time when the Roman’s ruled Britain. He gets captures and trapped as a Roman slave. Even though it sounds harsh, the story is told with a sense of humour, so the characters are quite funny.

Times were tough and the main character gets captures and dragged around quite a lot. There’s also quite a lot of ‘whacking’ as different characters are introduced – someone gets a beating!

The story, through its humour and mild violence, does tell you how Romans and Celts lived. How dependent they all were on their gods to decide everything for them and how different the two groups were.

The Celts were violent, ruthless and dirty. The Romans were clever, ruthless (as well, in their own way) and clean. The Romans were a more civilised society and the boy starts to realise this on his journey to Rome to be sold! He starts to think life as a Roman slave might be better than life as a free Celt.

By Rufus

12. The land of the gods is a great book, about life when the Romans invaded Britain. Sally Prue portrays the characters well. I liked how cunning, as well as silly Lupus was. Examples of silliness was when he fell asleep in a strangers barrel and cunningness was when he said he’d pray to a goddess to make the roman soldier better, but instead prays to make sure he goes back to Britain.

The only critic I would have is that everyone made friends with everyone, and had a happily ever after ending.

By Anoushka

13. Land of the Gods is a fiction book on the romans and hey they live their lives. The boy gets caught as a slave and is taken to a roman city. He is lucky though and finds the easy way out by his owner selling stuff he shouldn’t. The book I find could explain more about the romans as I nearly knew everything and more than the book told me and I have not really learnt about them. On the hole the book could be slightly longer if for my age [11] otherwise I would recommend it for 6-8 year olds.

By Tom

14. I enjoyed this book and thought that Lucas was going to return back to his Celt home but he stayed in the Roman Empire. There were some very silly events in the book (silly funny that is) for sitting in someone’s wheel barrow. I think Lucas made the right decision not to as he loved the amphitheatre and he had a really strong bond with his new family. I think the history is realistic because it shows the slaves were scared of fighting the bull in the ring.

By Mohib

15. I really enjoyed the book Lucas was a Celtic boy full of knowledge. He made friends with another slave who he helped to escape by telling him the answers to the clues. I think the history in the book is realistic – it had the names of Roman gods and told you what they ate and other aspects of Roman life.

By Tanjila

16. Lucan, a Celtic boy, hides when he sees the amazing, if frightening sight of a legion of Roman soldiers. Unfortunately, he makes the decision to fall asleep in a strangers wagon. From being a free Celt, he finds himself captured and sold as a Roman slave. Lucans initial ambitions to escape and return home are thwarted but, as he learns more about his Roman masters, his view of them changes, as does his destiny.

Lucan is quick witted and a natural survivor. He has understand self-confidence, which is shown through the accessible way we see things from his point of view. This makes the story absorbing as he works his way through each trial the gods place in his path. These gods are Celtic as well as Roman; both cultures believing in fate and destiny.

Many aspects of Roman life are mentioned such food, baths and a surprising insight into Roman tax evasion. The scale of their buildings is cleverly conveyed by the impact they have on lucan when he sees them for the first time.

Roman life can be peaceful and organised if everyone accepts their role as dictated by the gods. Freedom is a right but not one shared by all…but freedom without the means to survive is somewhat meaningless. However, the fate of a slave can be changed by a single act of bravery. There is a glossary at the end of the book, along with the ingenious invitation to research the terms, facts or ask further questions on the internet at a deeper level. I would highly recommend it for readers of 8+ with no upper limit.

By Ghania

17. In the book the Land of the Gods: like it because it had lots of drama there was funny moment like when the king sat on a catand the cat destroyed his armour and I saw his bottom. There special character are Lucan who is very smart and very brave celt is a young and small kid and there the main character. My favourite place in this book is the kings castle it has everything – it was very realistic. I hope there was more history and I want to read more falls Prue books. I want to say something I wish there was no violence am a bit worried. I didn’t like this book because it is a bit boring and I like this book because it was a bit funny.

By Adeeb

18. I really enjoyed this book because it has some historical facts which I agree is true. My favourite place is Basilica because that is where the fight between the Britons tribe. The history on the book I thought was realistic and very persuasive. It says real-life people and dates of when, what happened. This book made me want to know more about the history then and why it all happened. The reason why I think the historical facts are realistic is because in the back there is a time-line on when it happened and all of it I have learnt in school. I like this because it really persuades me about the history of the Roman and during the Roman era.

By Abid

19. I enjoyed my book very much because I liked learning about having a Roman life. It is also because I enjoy History more than any subject. My super special is the character called Lucan, the main character, my favourite part is when the bull came out-of-no-where and horribly attacked the gate that Lucan and Claudia were on. Lucan saved Claudia and everybody else on it. The main reason that I like Lucan is because his emotions are similar to mine by being friendly, intelligent and stylish. The history felt based on a real thing, that was based on a real boy in Roman life. It also felt like a thing that happened in a Roman life. The book made me to think more about history because this is using words making me understand it. The author is amazing and I really hope I get to read more of this author’s wonderful books, I would absolutely rate this a giant 5 out of 5 stars because I have never read a kind of historic book before. Now, this one really makes me to read lots more. The book also experiences all the feelings of the characters now say if ‘rahh!’ said sabidus maximus. The explanation mark shows that the person is shouting or rather being loud in any specific way.

By Muntarz