Warriors of the Storm, Bernard Cornwell

 

Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell is the next book in the Last Kingdom Series.

Started: 8/20/2021
Completed: 8/23/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The series continues to hold up!  Enjoyed this one and despite it being a bloody book, it was much less than usual and that was, frankly, welcome.

The Empty Throne, Bernard Cornwell

 

The Empty Throne by Bernard Cornwell is the next in the Last Kingdom Series.

Started: 5/24/2021
Completed: 5/25/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

These books now have an easy rhythm to them and I know the characters well.  They are quick and easy and I do enjoy the twists and turns that I do not see coming.

The Pagan Lord, Bernard Cornwell

 

The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell is part of the Last Kingdom series.

Started: 3/6/2021
Completed: 3/8/2021
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Bernard Cornwell does not disappoint.  Uhtred is once more in the shield wall fighting Danes.  Really enjoyed it.

The Death of Kings, Bernard Cornwell

The Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell is the next book (sixth) in the Saxon Series.  I have enjoyed this series and picked this book up to hear during the commute.

Started: 5/16/2013

Completed: 5/21/2013

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By:  Next book in a series I have enjoyed

Review:

Uhtred saves England again.  I wasn't as happy with this book as I have been the previous.  It feels to me that the trap/retrap almost die/survive story lines are starting to be worn thin.  Whether the trap is sprung on a bridge or on a battlefield, the effect is pretty much the same.  This time Uhtred has to deal with prophecy on top of the usual battle in the shield wall.  A potential interesting diversion (a woman effectively leading an army) is handled in a few sentences instead of delved into in detail which does not bode well for this particular woman having a future.  Ragnar the Younger and his family are also relegated to the dust of several books ago and I miss the richness they brought to the tale.

Sword Song, Bernard Cornwell

Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell is the fourth book in the Saxon Stories.

Started: 6/20/2012

Completed: 7/27/2012

Recommendation: Oh, yeah, still enjoying this series!

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

The story of Uhtred continues with a foray into London.  During this book it is easy to see the skills of leadership being developed (through both success and failure).  Despite the title, it seems to me that in this book Uhtred starts to find that war is not all its cracked up to be and though he still participates with relish, it seems that the character is slowly growing tired of the mayhem.  He is, however, a fierce Lord who seems to relish in the argument that, "a man is hard to kill."

The Lords of the North, Bernard Cornwell

The Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell is the third novel in the Saxon Stories.  This story follows Uhtred's trip to the North as Uhtred, having served Alfred well, looks for an opportunity to return home.

Started: 5/20/2012

Completed: 6/16/2012

Recommendation:  Still hooked by this series

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

In this book, we get some of the "action tension" that a romantic comedy uses as "romantic tension."  There is action and it seems to be constant.  It is clear by this book that Uhtred is going to get in a scrape and come out victorious.  This is the first book, however, in which Uhtred really takes a hard loss from his action and it is a harbinger of things to come.  This book mostly seems to set the stage for some future work where the events of this book were critical to some future plot twist.  With little surprise, the plot in this book moves as expected with one surprising (though constantly foretold) event.  I don't want to give away the plot, but it did throw me.

I did not realize that there were several audio version of this book and leaving Jamie Glover (I think to listen to Richard Armitage) hurt the book in my ears.  The phrase "Uhtred of Bebbinburg" no longer had the ring of longing associated with it.  The names of characters and places were pronounced differently and it took a little bit of a recovery to once more suspend my disbelief.

The Pale Horseman, Bernard Cornwell

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell is the second in the Saxon Stories and picks up after the last kingdom.  I couldn't wait to hear more about Uhtred.

Started: 4/26/2012

Completed: 5/11/2012

Recommendation:  Loved it!

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

The story of Uhtred continues in this gripping saga of England under Danish control.  Uhtred becomes more human and parts of his character are fleshed out in this book.  To show that Uhtred is not a one shot wonder, he goes on to take a prominent role in helping Alfred restore the kingdom of Wessex from under Danish control and lays the foundation for the concept that Uhtred could actually be a leader himself one day.  The battles continue and this story will not disappoint anyone looking for action scenes.  While it seems that time spent in a swamp simply can't have much action beyond a lost boot, Bernard Cornwell handles it well. 

The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell is a book that I picked up to hear during my commute.  I was browsing the CDs in the library and saw his most recent in this series.  This book, the first, was not on the shelves so I ordered it and listened.

Started:  3/1/2012
Completed:  4/22/2012
Recommendation:  Loved it!  The audio version is awesome and the actor who does the reading takes me to a whole other level.
Recommended by:  Nobody
Review:


This first book in a substantial series follows the life of an English Lord from his earliest years as a prisoner of the Danes through his first major battle as an Englishman.  The cadence and pace of the story has a visceral quality that, when combined with the unflinching description of the times, brings the reader to a new place in an old time.  The stench of unwashed bodies follows each scene and the horror of hand-to-hand combat leaps from the page.  The romance that is present (it is rare) is not gushy, but has more of a hard edge to it and throughout the book in any circumstance, we don't live every moment as the first person narrative might.  There is a certain distance that is maintained with an occasional glimmer of the person inside the narrator in both predictable and unpredictable ways.

If you can get past all the death (and there is plenty of it) the book has a certain desperate liveliness to it.  There is a hunger for life that helps carry the imagination and the little details that the author has added from scraps of actual history help build a scaffolding for the story that makes it believable.  This is no sword-and-sorcery tale, more of a fleshing out of a nasty story that could possibly have been (but certainly wasn't).  The hard-edge story telling reminds me of Morgan Llewellyn.