Áedán of the Gaels: King of Scots by Keith John Coleman

Áedán of the Gaels: King of Scots Reviews

• 
  Caroline

  This was a puzzling book - it seems rather half-baked and chaotic. Chronology was not in any way attended to, so the story kind of jumped around and I never knew quite where I was. I can think of lots of ways to improve the structure of the book, but the fact that it is in NetGalley tells me that ship has sailed... Perhaps people who are already informed in the field of early medieval Scottish history would be able to follow it but I was frustrated almost the entire time.
  
  I would have appreciated some indication at the outset of how we even know such a person as Aedan existed, before diving into legends about his birth and ancestry. I was left with the impression that we know he existed because biographies of Colum Cille mentioned him, and much of the rest is a stew of myth, legend, and ambiguous annals. Because chronology was not the organizing principle, there was a lot of repetition of stuff from chapter to chapter, and a lot of times I was not sure whether 'Dal Riata' referred to the kingdom of the Irish in Scotland, or the section of Antrim from whence they had come.
  
  One factoid from the beginning of Chapter 6 will stick with me: "we now know" (we do?) that the Picts spoke a P-Celtic language. This kind of blew my mind, Everything I've read up to this time leaves the Picts as shadowy strange barbarians who have left no trace in the people of later times. But this suggests that they were kin to the Britons and Welsh, at least in language. I want to know more about this. Sadly, after reading this book, I don't know much more about Aedan than that he appears to have existed.
• 
  Melisende

  Much of the earlier history of both Ireland and Pictland is shrouded in a mist that hovers between reality and legend and mythology, and this earlier period is often view through a much later lens.
  
  Coleman does his best to utilise the historic sources, archaeological evidence, and myths and legends, to shed some light onto this period and its ruler. He uses comparative examples to "fill out" a proposed timeline and biography. The early histories were mainly oral except when documented by clerics usually in the form of a Vitae of their patron, and always from a distance and with an agenda or moral in mind. Much of what is covered is - as mentioned - open to interpretation and this itself is explored and placed in context.
  
  Having said that, I enjoyed reconnecting with one of the larger than life, mysterious, yet real characters of history. And like today, the lines of reality are sometimes blurred with those of myth.
• 
  Adam Windsor

  NB: free ARC received for honest review
  
  I found this an interesting read. As with any work that attempts to tackle a poorly and inconsistently documented period, there is a fair bit of complexity to contend with. The author can't simply recount what happened because we don't really know, and must instead provide a number of different possible scenarios and consider the likelihood of each. In many cases this means telling us that a battle where we don't know why it happened, where it happened, when it happened or who actually won it.
  
  If you're looking for a simple chronological account of the period, you're not going to get it here, but I think anyone offering such an account would be taking a lot of liberties to do so.
• 
  Dawn

  "Áedán of the Gaels" is a pretty astonishing historical figure, and it's a pretty astonishing book! I enjoyed reading this book so much, that I'm now hoping there's a series of novels either in existence or in the pipeline. Keith Coleman takes you through Áedán's life with great skill, giving a taste of that time in history and leaving you longing for more.
  
  My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
  
• 
  Carol Keogh (Goodfellow)

  A very insightful, well researched book. I would suggest more suited to an academic audience as it contains a great deal of detail regarding the ancient world of Ireland and Scotland. Having said that it is extremely interesting to connect these two countries and how much one was influenced by the other. A great read. My grateful thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and the hardworking author for the chance to read this book.
• 
  Annarella

  There isn't a lot of documentation about this historical character so part of what is told in this book is supposition or story of that time.
  I liked what I read and discovered a fascinating and mysterious historical character.
  Recommended.
  Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
• 
  Graeme

  Keith Coleman has performed a useful task in gathering together so much material relating to Áedán mac Gabráin in a single volume. However the text is carelessly drafted and difficult to follow in places and would have benefited from more rigorous editing.
• 
  Kalle

  Aedan of the Gaels is a history of a... mythical-ish Scottish/Irish king in the late 500s? I think? It follows his life as a king and his contemporaries during the early Middle Ages.
  
  To be honest, I had a hard time with this book. This was my first time reading about Scotland and Ireland during this time period and I had an extremely hard time with the people and place names. Most of the time I felt like I was at the beginning of a fantasy novel where you kind of get thrown in without context and are trying to get a grip on where you are and who the characters are. I don't think I even got there by the end of the book. I know who Aedan was (kind of), but I can't name another historical figure from the book. I'm not really sure why Aedan in particular was important and what his lasting impact was on the area.
  
  As with most figures from the early Middle Ages, it seems like we don't have a lot of definitive information about Aedan. The author spent time going through possible historical events and explained why they most likely did or did not happen in the way described by contemporaries. While I liked this lens for a semi-mythical king, I feel like now I don't know anything about who Aedan was as a person or why he was worth having a book written about him. I would have appreciated a stronger outline of Aedan's impact to make his life clearer.
  
  There are some spin-off myths in this book that I really liked reading, but once it got back to Aedan I forgot why I read the other myths in the first place as they didn't seem to include or affect him. They ended up making me feel more confused. I'm not sure if this is a me problem since I'm unfamiliar with the time and location, but I really struggled to understand what was going on for all of the book.
  
  Overall, if you are familiar with the time period and location of this book, I would give it a read. 2.2 stars rounded down to 2. Thank you to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book!