Lords of the North

I started reading Cornwell after watching “The Last Kingdom” on Netflix. Apparently I’ve been living a sheltered life, because I haven’t read any Cornwell before – but “The Warrior” or “The Saxon” chronicles, depending on what continent you’re on, are just one great read after another.

This is book three in the series, and we’ve got Uhtred, with the loyal Hild, in Northumbria, all ready to take vengeance for the wrongs that were done to him in book one, and seeking his missing sister. But, not surprisingly, many an adventure will occur first – new wrongs, an unforeseen betrayal that takes him far away from his goal, new loyalties, and always new battles.

I love the well-articulated stress between Christianity and traditional Danish beliefs that permeates the series. Cornwell also does an excellent job of bringing up the violence and ignorance endemic of the times. You get an exceptional contemporary history lesson as well as a well-written story that’s difficult to put down.

I’m on my third series by Cornwell. This is my favorite, which truly surprises me since I’m not really into this era for historical fiction. It’s surprising but completely understandable simply because this is some fine writing. The characters are complex and believable as is the plot. The characters and the plot are well thought out and well written so that I experience total immersion in the story. Cornwell has certainly suspended my disbelief. One of the most annoying aspects of serial historical novels is the determined retelling of past events the characters have lived in previous stories. I know you know what I mean. Somehow I guess authors feel the necessity to engage in this type of storytelling. Cornwell has found the correct balance of retelling where it makes sense and is useful to the current story in this series. Cornwell is rapidly becoming my favorite historical novel author. I highly recommend Lords of the North and his work in the Sharpe series, the Grail Quest series and the Saxon tales series. As always, I recommend you start with the first book and read through. This is hours of inexpensive entertainment.

This is the third book in Cornwell’s Saxon Series. I’ve enjoyed all the books in the series, which looks like it’ll be at least 13 books. If you love historical fiction, this is truly enjoyable reading. If you’re a history buff, remember this is fiction and expect Cornwell to take liberties with timelines and relationships. This is pretty standard in historical fiction but Cornwell does it well and it’s less distracting than it could be. This series is an insightful journey into life and times in Anglo-Saxon Britain. Written from the perspective of Uhtred, son of a Northumbrian nobleman raised by Vikings, Cornwell paints a portrait inclusive of all the diverse peoples and cultures in 9th & 10th Century Britain and tells a riveting tale of the birth of England. Great reading.

As I had mentioned on my prior reviews, the TV series had piqued my interest to read the book, because most adaptations would delete the long details of storytelling and change the script. I wanted to find out if there was more to Uthreds background rather than the fast-forward version on TV. I had learned that Aethelred (Alfreds daughters betrothed) was Uthreds cousin and Hild (the nun) was his lover after Iseult died. Also, Gisela (Guthreds sister) was kind of a fortuneteller, and she had foreseen the life she would have with Uthred and the types of children they would bear together.

Well, this third installment entailed how Uthred defiantly disobeyed Alfreds edict and the consequences he would deal for his action. Like a petulant child, he travelled to North to regain his entitlement as the rightful King of Bebanburg, but of course, The Three Fates had already weaved his fate in a path that he would always be tangled in inexorable mishaps between the Danes and Christianity. A very tough road to tread on, but his hardships defined him as a great warrior.

I have literally Fallen madly in love with the character of uhtred of bebbanburg. I actually even dreamt I was a princess and I came to meet him LOL the story writing is compelling it’s intriguing it’s intense it sucks you in like a vacuum cleaner I don’t know any other words to describe it. The writing is phenomenal. You ever heard of the term ABC format? That is how Bernard Rite he writes in a manner that is easy for everyone to understand no matter how young or old I guess you could say. I’ve read novels from other writers and their sentences are just too complex and everything is a large word that you got to go and get a dictionary so that you can understand. But Bernard is just very simple and basic and personal and it’s easy writing easy understanding and I love large print the large print versions of of this series are phenomenal they have a good feel in the hands they’re very flexible they’re not stiff and even though I’ve completed the entire series I intend to one day read them all over again.

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