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Loading... The Last Kingdom (2005)by Bernard Cornwell
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Honestly..... I fell in love with the story and how one person's destiny was portrayed. I COULDN'T stop listening to the book. I did do audiobook and I wasn't disappointed. Great voice acting and as I said great story. ( ) I loved this book. I had watched the TV series, so I was familiar with the characters and setting already. I really enjoyed spending more time with these characters and am looking forward to spending time with some characters that have yet to be introduced. The writing is very straightforward, almost history bookish, which I like. The first half of the book is a little slow going since Uhtred is still a child. There is a lot of telling, not showing but that changes when Uhtred becomes old enough to participate in the things happening around him. It was super fun guessing the modern placenames from the old timey spelling. Some were easier than others. Lundene->London versus Eoferwic->York. This was an all-around good time and while I'm sad that the show has ended, I'm glad that I now have the books. Deeply evocative & granular fictionalisation of Viking-age Britain, with remarkably first-rate style & prose. Clear liberties with actual history, but Cornwell has always been vocally upfront about that &, more essential, these liberties are somewhat fewer - or certainly less damaging - than one might fear for the spectacular immersive quality of the story. Overall, far better & more instructive than expected, a pleasant surprise. *Audio note* One of my rare audiobook reads; I was in great luck with the voice actor - Jonathan Keeble - who was sensational. IMO the show is WAY better. The book isn’t bad, it’s just written more like an overview than a novel. I would have liked a lot more dialogue and character development. That may come in later books in the series, but I’m fine not reading any more and just watching the show again. Cornwell did manage to create a fantastic basis for an amazing show, and for that I applaud him. no reviews | add a review
Is contained inThe Saxon Tales Collection: Books #1-4: The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, and Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell The Saxon Tales Series Books 1 - 6 Collection Set By Bernard Cornwell (Last Kingdom, Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, Sword Song, The Burning Land & Death of Kings) by Bernard Cornwell Has the adaptationIs abridged in
This is the exciting - yet little known - story of the making of England in the 9th and 10th centuries, the years in which King Alfred, his son and grandson defeated the Danish Vikings who had invaded and occupied three of England's four kingdoms. The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them so that, by the time the Northmen begin their assault on Wessex, Alfred's kingdom and the last territory in English hands, Uhtred almost thinks of himself as a Dane. He certainly has no love for Alfred, whom he considers a pious weakling and no match for Viking savagery, yet when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes themselves turn on Uhtred, he has to decide which side he is on. By now he is a young man, in love, trained to fight and ready to take his place in the dreaded shield wall. Above all, though, he wishes to recover his father's land, the magical fort of Bebbanburg by the wild northern sea. This thrilling adventure - based on existing records of Bernard Cornwell's ancestors, depicts a time when law and order were ripped violently apart by a pagan assault on Christian England, an assault that came very close to destroying England altogether. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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