I won't claim Warrior Scarlet is my favourite, but I think it deserves more love than it gets. It has, I think, the earliest setting of any of Sutcliff's novels, in the Bronze Age, in a small settlement on the South Downs. While it tackles her theme of outsiders, it's gentler than some of her novels, aimed at a younger readership, and with a much less bleak feel. And it's a really short novel, 232 pages in my edition.

The hero, Drem, has a withered arm, and the story tells of his struggles to gain acceptance among the men of his tribe as he grows from childhood to manhood. He has a mentor, Talore the Hunter, who lost his sword hand in a raid; a blood brother, Vortrix, son of the chieftain; a couple of very different elderly men who influence his life in different ways; and a half-wolf hound. There's a cunning new king, a hint of times changing with the coming of iron, conflict between races and bags of Bronze Age religion.

Drem's story is quite well explored, but I'd be really keen to see more on the adults, in particular the enigmatic Talore.