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Loading... Death of Kings (2011)by Bernard Cornwell
None. Another excellent book in a great series. Cornwell's ability to take a brief skein of history and to turn into a compelling story keeps him at the very forefront of the current author's of historical fiction. (  ) jamespurcell | Jan 18, 2013 |  The year is 899, and Alfred the Great is on his deathbed. His favorite Danish-raised pit bull, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, is summoned to appear before the dying king. A broke lord who is the continued target of assassination attempts, Uhtred knows he will be asked to swear fealty to Alfred's son Edward, and help keep the kingdom of Wessex together in what promises to be a round of internal strife and opportunistic attacks by the Danes. While Uhtred still dreams of reclaiming his birthright of Bebbanburg castle (Bamburg), he has resigned himself to the fact he'll never have the men to do so until Alfred's vision of a united England is realized. Alfred grants Uhtred a wealthy estate, and in return, he pledges himself to Edward, Uhtred expected the Danes to attack immediately. Alfred's brother's son laid a claim to kingship, but was run into exile. The King of East Anglia (a Danish stronghold), is allied with other strong Danish Jarls and they amass a large army, the largest single army yet. However, the army suffers from too many leaders, and while they wreak local havoc, they accomplish little when they finally invade 3 years later. Edward is faring no better...trusting in the advice of priests over that of his warriors. When an opportunity to trap the invading army falls by the wayside as Uhtred is summoned to Edward's court in London, the plan becomes to wait them out then pursue. Edward cites waiting for reinforcements from Kent as the reason for this delay. As the climatic battle approaches, Uhtred struggles to make sense of everything that has been happening. Nothing seems quite right. Finally, he has an ah-ha moment where he sees everything in perfect clarity. He could still be wrong and if so, will be condemned. Uhtred is now 45 years old. We know Edward rules for 25 years, and his son, Aethelstan, was the first to become king of all of England. War injuries are building up...Uhtred can't be top warrior for much longer. But I'm sure Cornwell will continue giving us entertaining tails...I wonder if Bebbanburg will ever be his? (  )1  JeffV | Feb 26, 2012 | The sixth entry in Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Chronicles series, “Death of Kings” marks a transition: in it, one main, focal character, King Alfred the Great, dies, and his son Edward succeeds him. Alfred has struggled all his life to unite the Anglo Saxons of the British Island under him, but although he approached it, he did not quite achieve it in his lifetime. The Saxon Chronicles is a favorite of mine, illuminating in a series of novels a remote moment in time, centrally important to all Anglophones: the unification of Anglo Saxon England and the expulsion from Britain of the Danes, or at least the assimilation of the Danes under English law. They’re told from the point of view of Uhtred, a Saxon warlord who is sworn in service to the Saxon throne. He isn’t always happy in that service, but who can say that they are, in every particular of their service? “Death of Kings” marks not only Alfred’s passing, but also that of a handful of other kings and pretenders, all Danish, or allied to the Danish side. We know how the story goes, if we want to, but Mr. Cornwell’s grand success is the vivid telling, and the filling-in of fuzzy (or missing) historical detail with well-imagined and logical characters and events. I like this series because it features an extremely tough and clever general, who gets scared on the eve of battle, fierce as it rages, and never compromises with what he considers as the overweening influence of the Church. He remains pagan – he was brought up in the Danish culture – and this leads to tension throughout the story. Royal advisers don’t trust him, but at least Alfred, and maybe his son Edward, know better. These novels have everything I could want in a historical series: they portray an epochal time, in which great stakes hang in the balance, their pacing keeps us furiously turning pages, and it transports me to an exotic time with larger-than-life events. It’s hard to imagine better escapist fare, and hard to imagine anyone handling it better than Mr. Cornwell. http://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2012/01/death-of-kings-by-bernard-cornwell.ht... (  )1 LukeS | Jan 31, 2012 | While I did enjoy reading Cornwell's "The Burning Land" I preferred “Death of Kings” as there was a great deal of political and religious intrigue throughout the book which appealed to me despite less emphasis on military conflict. Again Cornwell demonstrated an excellent knowledge of the subject matter of the time in which he was setting his book as is typical of his other works. I would be content to read other works in the Saxon Chronicles but, if I can be allowed a gripe or two as I own all bar two of Cornwell's works, I still would like it to reach a definitive conclusion soon so as to reduce the similarities between Uthred and Derfel Cadarn, from the Warlord Chronicles, my favourite series, who deserves to be a stand-alone figure in his own right. Finally I think it is overdue for Nathaniel Starbuck to march again given that Sharpe is essentially retired. ( ) thegeneral | Jan 2, 2012 | The further adventures of Utred in the Saxon saga. I wanted to read it in one go. Brilliant and I hope the next installment is soon. (  ) oliver-kaye | Nov 3, 2011 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0061969656, Hardcover)George R.R. Martin Interviews Bernard Cornwell  George R.R. Martin sold his first story in 1971 and has been writing professionally since then. He spent ten years in Hollywood as a writer-producer, working on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and television pilots that were never made. In the mid '90s he returned to prose, his first love, and began work on his epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. He has been in the Seven Kingdoms ever since. George R.R. Martin: It has long been my contention that the historical novel and the epic fantasy are sisters under the skin, that the two genres have much in common. My series owes a lot to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and the other great fantasists who came before me, but I've also read and enjoyed the work of historical novelists. Who were your own influences? Was historical fiction always your great passion? Did you ever read fantasy? Bernard Cornwell: You're right--fantasy and historical novels are twins--and I've never been fond of the label 'fantasy' which is too broad a brush and has a fey quality. It seems to me you write historical novels in an invented world which is grounded in historical reality (if the books are set in the future then 'fantasy' magically becomes sci-fi). So I've been influenced by all three: fantasy, sci-fi and historical novels, though the largest influence has to be C.S. Forester's Hornblower books. Martin: A familiar theme in a lot of epic fantasy is the conflict between good and evil. The villains are often Dark Lords of various ilks, with demonic henchmen and hordes of twisted, malformed underlings clad in black. The heroes are noble, brave, chaste, and very fair to look upon. Yes, Tolkien made something grand and glorious from that, but in the hands of lesser writers, well ... let's just say that sort of fantasy has lost its interest for me. It is the grey characters who interest me the most. Those are the sort I prefer to write about... and read about. It seems to me that you share that affinity. What is it about flawed characters that makes them more interesting than conventional heroes? Cornwell: Maybe all our heroes are reflections of ourselves? I'm not claiming to be Richard Sharpe (God forbid), but I'm sure parts of my personality leaked into him (he's very grumpy in the morning). And perhaps flawed characters are more interesting because they are forced to make a choice… a conventionally good character will always do the moral, right thing. Boring. Sharpe often does the right thing, but usually for the wrong reasons, and that's much more interesting!  Martin: When Tolkien began writing The Lord of the Rings, it was intended as a sequel to The Hobbit. "The tale grew in the telling," he said later, when LOTR had grown into the trilogy we know today. That's a line I have often had occasion to quote over the years, as my own Song of Ice and Fire swelled from the three books I had originally sold to the seven books (five published, two more to write) I'm now producing. Much of your own work has taken the form of multi-part series. Are your tales too 'growing in the telling,' or do you know how long your journeys will take before you set out? Did you know how many books Uhtred's story would require, when you first sat down to write about him? Cornwell: No idea! I don't even know what will happen in the next chapter, let alone the next book, and have no idea how many books there might be in a series. E.L. Doctorow said something I like which is that writing a novel is a bit like driving down an unfamiliar country road at night and you can only see as far ahead as your somewhat feeble headlamps show. I write into the darkness. I guess the joy of reading a book is to find out what happens, and for me that's the joy of writing one too! (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 04 Jan 2013 23:36:34 -0500) The fate of a young nation rests in the hands of a reluctant warrior in the thrilling sixth volume of the New York Times bestselling Saxon Tales series. Following the intrigue and action of The Burning Land and Sword Song, this latest chapter in Bernard Cornwell's epic saga of England is a gripping tale of divided loyalties and mounting chaos. At a crucial moment in time, as Alfred the Great lays dying, the fate of all--Angles, Saxons, and Vikings alike--hangs desperately in the balance.… (more) |
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