Sword of Kings

I love Bernards prose. Uhtred in first person. I have read each novel and though I am a Scot, I find it difficult not to like him. Loyal yet lethal. A great tactical and strategic thinker. Yet in this episode it seems to be overstretched. Perhaps its an attempt to deal with age and the need to retain his reputation. I felt that the backwards and forwards to London was overdone. In particular I found the episodes with Warmound a bit contrived. Didnt like the way poor Syggitr is left to die of the plague with Edith. From being a flamboyant King in his youth he is hammered by the role of Kingship and then he dies of the plague? I felt gutted for him.

I didnt enjoy this episode as much as the others I admit. I love the prose but the story left me disappointed.

I have bought almost every one of Bernard Cornwell’s books and have enjoyed all of them from The Sharpe Novels through Agincourt and this current latest book in the Saxon Tales Series. Lord Uhtred is the main character that is developed in the first of this series and a kidnapped child raised by the Norse people to be one of them and an enemy of Jesus Christ. Always he is disrespectful of the “Nailed God” but sometimes he cannot help himself when his God “Thor” makes things tough for Uhtred. He sorta with backhanded backdoor compliments seems to realize maybe there is another way beside the trust he has in the Norse gods. But when it comes down to the nut-cutting, Uhtred and his men believe mostly in shield walls, short swords, ponderous long swords (with personal names as if they were alive), spears, battle axes and battle hammers, and sheer brute force in weilding them against Uhtred many enemies when it suits him. Sometimes Cornwell gets lost in explanations and transitions and remembrances as he makes sure we readers don’t miss the relationships of all the myriad characters that flow from the histories of the Celts, Danes, Anglo-Saxons, Norsemen, Scotts and the Irish and Kings are made and destroyed and women are treated as chattle and children are taken hostage to guaranted performance to the victors of battles and wars as their just reward for winning said battles and wars. But, even though Uhtred thinks he is a savage, he is strangely a man of honor who keeps his words when he makes a promise or oath. So this book speeds along along for a while and then plods quite slowly during a transition or remembrance and then jumps back and forth as Uhtred reveals his thoughts for a battle or a withdrawal, always making our like a bandit, thanks to Thor’s blessings and help. This series is rather good historical fiction with a lot of truth to it from the sometimes terrible names for modern towns, cities and country in the United Kingdom. Some of you will reat the first chapter or two and put it aside. Others, like me, will wade through it to the bloody end and enjoy every bit of it. But I wanted to be a history professor at a small college instead of the hospital CFO then CEO I became. Now that I am retired, I have time for looking into the past and seeing why I speak English instead of French or German or Irish or trying to learn why my Dad talked about the Druid in our family history. Curiosity is a wonderful thing.

I have been taught that prolific authors often lose potency and truly I expected to be disappointed. How wrong can you be? Yet another great story, great characters, true to the times, exciting enough to read in one very long day. Now old men have guile and wisdom but still just the animation to create miracles out of hard work, good luck and gumption. Thanks again, looking forward to the next instalment of Uhtreds life storytelling.

Another fast pacing, page turner book full of Uhtred in “adventure mode”. Couldn’t stop until it was finished. Waiting for more, but sad because the end seems to be coming. Fate is inexorable.

Well history mavens, our favorite Northumbrian Lord, Uhtred, has survived yet another chapter of the Saxon Stories saga. King Edward has died and now the battle begins as his sons vie for leadership of Englaland. As the fates would have it, Uhtred had made an oath to Aethelstan, one of the rivals for the crown and is honor bound to fulfill it. He leaves his home of Bebbanburg and travels to Londene to seek out and kill the usurpers to the throne. Sounds simple, right? Not so much. Cornwell weaves a tale of hardship, struggle and agony. Uhtred is no longer a young man and finds that he cannot fight as he once did. He is defeated in a battle against a huge and powerful enemy who injures and humiliates him and steals his beloved sword. The best part of the book, in my opinion, is the last third where Uhtred and his allies seek out those who hurt him and also fight to place Aethelstan to his rightful place on the Throne of Englaland.
There is more drama and less action in this book than in previous books in the series, but given that Uhtred has aged, one might expect that he would use his experience more than pure strength to win battles. I still love the characters in this series and will be saddened when it does finally end.

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