Leave 'Em Wanting More

So, my first book of 2015 was 'The Empty Throne' by Bernard Cornwell, the latest novel in the bloody marvellous Saxon Stories series.

'The Empty Throne'
by Bernard Cornwell
(HarperCollins, 2014)

The future looks bleak for Mercia.  Its ruler, Aethelred, is dying without a male heir and too many people want to fill the soon-to-be-empty throne.  Nobles at home and abroad are manoeuvring themselves and a coup seems inevitable.  Yet the candidates are all politicians, not the warlords Mercia needs to defeat its Danish invaders and prevent them taking over the whole country.  Although Aethelred's wife, the formidable Aethelflaed, is a proven warrior and inspirational leader, no woman has ever ruled and her greatest supporter, Uhtred of Bebbanburg is wounded.  So is this the end for Mercia?

There's little I can say here that I haven't said before about other Bernard Cornwell books.  That sounds like a bad thing, but it's actually a compliment.  His work is consistently absorbing, energetic, interesting and enjoyable, so that really only the action and locations change.  It's like reading one book in instalments rather than a series of books over a number of years.

In a way, the fact that this book is part of a series is its weak spot.  The story, while gripping and eventful, feels like a bridge between one plot point and another rather than a destination in itself.  Even so, it still gives Uhtred fans all the things we've come to expect - treachery, battles, political machinations, sea voyages, a quest and a wonderful sense of time and place.

But because it feels like a stepping stone, it really leaves you wanting more.  Not just more from different characters, but literally what happens next because it feels half done.  I'm like an excitable youngster in a shieldwall, held back by a more experienced commander who knows when it's best to strike.  I'm sure Mr Cornwell knows what he's doing, but, goodness, the next couple of years will feel a long wait!  Just as well I have plenty of other things to read in the mean time!

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'Sword Song' by Bernard Cornwell (Saxon Story Four)

'The Burning Land' by Bernard Cornwell (Saxon Story Five)

'The Death of Kings' by Bernard Cornwell (Saxon Story Six)

'The Pagan Lord' by Bernard Cornwell (Saxon Story Seven)

What's that Coming over the Hill...

I really have to stop reading about warlords and battles before bed.  After finishing 'Death of Kings' by Bernard Cornwell, I'm far too buzzy to sleep!

'Death of Kings' by Bernard Cornwell
(Harper Collins 2011)

'Death of Kings' is the sixth book in Cornwell's Saxon Stories series, which tell the story of the birth of England through the eyes of pagan warrior Uhtred of Bebbanburg.  Lord Uhtred's career as King Alfred the Great's most feared warlord has earned him reputation, but not wealth.  While he scratches a living from the poorest of Mercian estates, King Alfred himself is slowly dying.  But despite the continued threat of Danes from the north, the king is determined that his dream of a united country shouldn't die with him.  Eager to cement alliances before it's too late, he agrees to send Uhtred with a peace delegation to King Eohric of East Anglia to negotiate an alliance.  But all is not as it seems.  Politics and power struggles soon come into play and before long Uhtred finds himself once again in the thick of battle.

This book has a broader canvas than the previous novel, 'The Burning Land'.  'Death of Kings' takes in a wider political view, involving hungry rulers from across the borders of the Daneland, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex.  The last book focussed very much on Uhtred and his love/hate relationship with Alfred, but here we see the bigger picture and how, as our favourite warlord finally gets his just rewards, the machinations of others could see him and the West Saxons lose everything.

Despite the greater breadth of the plot, Cornwell, like the seasoned professional he is, manages to keep the reader up to speed with all the characters and backstories without overdoing it and becoming tedious.  As such, the book remains highly readable and doesn't get irritating bogged down or confusing.

An air of impending doom hangs over this story and the way it was managed made me keep reading.  From the title alone we know King Alfred isn't long for this world and with so many greedy eyes on Wessex, it's easy to see that there are those who see opportunity in his death.  This is a great source of suspense that is worked brilliantly from beginning to end.

Overall, Mr Cornwell has done it again.  'Death of Kings' is an atmospheric and suspenseful novel and yet another fantastic read.  Special mention has to go to the final battle scene.  In a series of books where battles are ten-a-penny, they could easily become uniform and predictable.  The last battle featured in this book really stood out for me, however.  This was possibly because it was so near the end and I was conscious that I was running out of pages, but in reality there is far more to it.  But I daren't say more because I don't want to spoil it for anyone else!

Now, I'm off to try and get some sleep!

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'Sword Song' by Bernard Cornwell (Saxon Story Four)

'The Burning Land' by Bernard Cornwell (Saxon Story Five)

Burn, Baby, Burn

Earlier this week, I finished 'The Burning Land' by Bernard Cornwell, the fifth book in the (currently) seven strong army of novels set during the reign of Alfred the Great.

'The Burning Land' by
Bernard Cornwell
(2009, HarperCollins)

It's the late 800s and the greedy eyes of the Vikings are still fixed on Alfred's flourishing kingdom of Wessex. Looking for gold, power and reputation, two notorious Norsemen, Jarl Haestan and Harald Bloodhair, land in the country.  While Haestan is content to wait for Alfred to buy him off, Harald ravages the land, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.  Before long, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the king's reluctant oathsworn warrior, finds himself once again doing the calculating king's dirty work, going into battle to defend a country not his own.  But this is an Uhtred whose success has made him confident to the point of arrogance, whose fury is fuelled by his enemies at court and who is made discontent by his burning ambition to retake the Northumbrian castle stolen from him by his uncle.  Will Uhtred's bitterness overwhelm his judgement? Will Wessex's greatest warlord be there in its hour of need? Or, after so many year's of service, will Uhtred finally burn out?

I bloody love Bernard Cornwell's books.  I wish I could say something more intelligent or analytical, but that really does sum it up.  They're not high literature and shouldn't be read as such, but they're absolutely fantastic, rollicking, gung ho stories that sweep you up and keep you galloping along to the last page and beyond.  The atmosphere Mr Cornwell creates is amazing and it's hard to visit any location mentioned without trying to imagine it all those centuries ago.  A bit of escapism does us good once in a while.

This isn't everyone's idea of historical fiction - this is blood-and-guts rather than cloak-and-dagger or romance-and-royalty - but boy is it good fun!

'The Burning Land' is part of a series and, as such, does feel a bit of a stepping stone, but that's not really a problem.  Because you know there are more books to follow, it just makes you wonder what waits in store for Uhtred and how long it will be until he makes a final play for his hereditary home.  Although it is carefully structured (lead up to battle, battle, trouble, adventure, lead up to battle, battle), this book is not filler, it propels Uhtred's story forward and takes him into a different direction with a whole new set of possibilities. I can't wait to see what this means for him in 'Death of Kings' and just published 'The Pagan Lord'.  After all, there's no smoke without fire.

Admittedly, Uhtred is not the nicest of characters - he's petulant, grumpy, thuggish and, at times, driven by his less than noble passions.  You may not want to be mates with him, but he's a hero, has a spark of intelligence and a sense of justice and it's hard not to cheer him on as he joins another shieldwall or fights another battle.

Overall, if you want to escape from the daily grind of more cuts, bland characters and the first gloomy signs of autumn, here's a ring of fire you might enjoy diving into.

Now, the newly published Jung Chang or some more Saxon sword clashes?

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'Sword Song' by Bernard Cornwell (Saxon Stories Book Four)

Thwacks Lyrical

I've just finished 'Sword Song' by top, pop historical fiction writer Bernard Cornwell.  'Sword Song' is the fourth of Mr Cornwell's Saxon Stories, all set during the reign of King Alfred the Great and narrated by Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

'Sword Song' by
Bernard Cornwell
(HarperCollins, 2007)

Uhtred has been living in relative peace, working to rebuild defences at Coccham and protecting the Temes river, all part of King Alfred's plan to fortify Wessex against Danish attack.  He is settled with his wife Gisela and young family, but remains embittered by his oath to the king.   When King Alfred weds his daughter Aethelflaed to Uhtred's cousin Aethelred, he gives them overlordship of Mercia and the city of Lundune.  Unfortunately, Lundune is occupied by two unfriendly new arrivals, Sigefrid and Erik Thurgilhson, brothers who look towards the defiant young kingdom of Wessex with hungry eyes.  Ordered to reclaim the city for his hated cousin and to secure the frontier once more, Uhtred the feared warlord again finds himself dancing to Alfred's tune, an instrument of Wessex's will.

The last book in this series, 'The Lords of the North', seemed to go a bit odd at the end (there was a character communicating with dogs for goodness sake), but Mr Cornwell is definitely back on form with 'Sword Song'.  It's classic Cornwell, full of bloodthirsty battles, duplicitous warlords and impossible challenges.

I absolutely love Bernard Cornwell books (except, weirdly, his best known work, the Sharpe novels. Go figure!), but they aren't music to everyone's ears.  They are incredibly violent, the characters are usually uncomplex and having to translate old place names into their modern day equivalents is enough to make your head spin.  But I find I get completely lost in them.  I love the way England in the Dark Ages is recreated and places that I know now are given echos of the past.  I love imagining the heat and fervour of shieldwall battles and fearing for the lives of the characters at war.  And I love the character-driven politics of it all, the network of oaths and allegiances, the blood feuds and promises of vengeance, the friendships and family ties.  His books are tales of heroes and villains and it's hard not to get a buzz from it.

'Sword Song' and its siblings are certainly not to everyone's taste, but if you're a fan of Cornwell or love a good adventure, it may be worth you tuning into the first in this series, 'The Last Kingdom' or 'The Winter King', the first of the equally superlative Warlord Trilogy based on the legend of a post-Roman King Arthur.

Let's hope the next in this series is also a hit!