Customer Reviews

The Last Kingdom

5 star:		(107)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

It is Northumbria, England, in the year 866. Uhtred, the son of an Earl becomes an orphan at ten and is captured and adopted by Ragnar the Dane. He is taught the Viking ways and Ragnar becomes more a father to him than his own father ever was. He loves the unrestricted, impious ways of the Danes and learns to become a formidable warrior.

King Alfred, (later known as "The Great") is portrayed as an over pious but clever King of Essex. While Alfred is not a well-liked King, he is an intelligent one and soon comes to bind Uhtred to his cause against the Danes.

The brutally descriptive battle scenes are exciting and repellant at the same time. Battles and wars are not described here as glorious and heroic circumstances but as what they really were, brutal, bloody, and often times fatal.

This title was an excellent read and I just couldn't put it down many times at night. I've read it until the wee hours of the morning. I believe this is the best BC title I have ever read to date, even though I haven't read any of the Sharpe's novels (that era and place settings are not of interest to me). I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in early English (Saxon) history and/or Alfred the Great (and in the upcoming series, his descendants).

Just a few moments ago, I was writing a review of one of Cornwell's American Civil War novels. Now I am writing a review of this Cornwell novel about 9th Century England. That's how good a historical novelist Cornwell is: the era doesn't matter. Cornwell weaves fact and fiction together seamlessly, believably and in a way sure to engage the reader's interest.

The year is 866 A.D. The island is not yet united and the Danes raid and conquer at will. Cornwell's device is Uhtred, the 10 year old son of a minor chieftain, who is taken by the Danes, raised in the Viking ways of war and accepted as a Viking warrior.

A priest becomes the medium through which the boy grows into a man and meets Alfred, the King who will take the first major steps in uniting England.

Cornwell's story is well plotted, his characters are delightfully rich and his history both interesting and fascinating. A wonderful read.

Jerry

I've read almost all the Cornwell books: the Sharpe series, Civil War series, the archer, and King Arthur--only the 2 or 3 individual novels have been missed. This is my favorite so far. It is similar to the King Arthur books but with less of the mysticism and magic. The hero is a spunky boy who amuses a Viking chief during a battle and is adopted; the Norse life proves to be more suited to his taste and he grows up as a Dane. However, some old business brings him back to the English side. I won't tell more but any lover of historical fiction will find it hard to put this book down.

I'm a huge fan of Bernard Cornwell, and this book is very well-written and exciting like all of his novels. If you enjoyed the Warlord Chronicles you will be sure to enjoy his Saxon stories. The reason this novel lost stars is because it has a number of problems that make it somewhat inferior to other books Cornwell has written.

First, the main character Uhtred is just a recycled version of Derfel from the Warlord Chronicles. Like Derfel, he is a pagan warrior who narrates the story and has most of Derfel's beliefs and mannerisms. Unlike Derfel, he is highly unlikable because he is arrogant and only shows loyalty to whoever can benefit him at the moment. Despite these traits, Uhtred is made out to be the perfect hero of the book.

Which brings me to another point. In this book and its sequel "The Pale Horseman", Cornwell seems to place far too much historical importance on the actions of his fictional protagonist. After all, these books are supposed to be about Alfred the Great, the Saxon king who drove out the Danish invaders. Yet Cornwell seems content to portray Alfred as an annoyingly pious weakling who only succeeded in defeating the Danes because of the fictional Uhtred. Uhtred is gifted with the hindsight of the author and is therefore able to predict everything that the Danes will do and know exactly how to defeat them in every engagement. For some punk who isn't even out of his teens, this all seems too much to achieve.

Also, Cornwell always has an axe to grind against Christianity and this book is no exception. Like almost all his books, in this story Christian characters are generally portrayed as sniveling and stupid weaklings. He always throws in one token likable Christian character, but this person is usually not a proper Christian at all. I enjoy Cornwell's books, but as a Christian it never ceases to annoy me when the author insists on depicting all Christians as horrible and misguided people simply because he has some unfathomable grudge against us.

If you find yourself looking past these problems, you will no doubt enjoy this book very much. It has all the good qualities which are characteristic of this author, and it was interesting to learn a bit about a period of England's history that I myself was not at all familiar with before reading this book.

Name the Kings of England.

Well, there's mad old George III, who lost the Revolutionary War. That's one. And Henry VII, everyone remembers him. After that, there's King James, who we recall from his version of the Bible, and the one who gave up his crown to marry the American woman, and the one who got his head chopped off.

After them, and maybe Richard III from the Shakespeare play, the collective memory (at least on this side of the Atlantic) goes a bit dim.

But only one of those Kings of England who we really don't know or remember was named "the Great," and that was Alfred, who ruled from 871 to 900, back in the days when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was on the bestseller list, at least for people who could read. Bernard Cornwell thinks we should know more about Alfred and his times, which is why he has written THE LAST KINGDOM. That should be enough of a recommendation for anyone.

Cornwell is the author of the bestselling Richard Sharpe series, which follows the adventures of a hard-charging British soldier during the Peninsular Campaign. Although Sharpe is a great character by himself, one thing he serves to do is to illustrate the greatness of Lord Wellington --- the commander of the British forces in Spain, and Sharpe's own patron. Wellington (at least as portrayed by Cornwell) is far too stiff, aloof and unlikable to ever be the hero of his own tale, and Sharpe ably stands in.

The same trick is tried in THE LAST KINGDOM, with a twist. The first-person narrator here is Uhtred, who is the son of a minor lord of Northumbria. As a child, he is captured by a raiding pack of Danes that are "going Viking," or raiding the coast. The young Uhtred becomes the adopted son of a Viking leader and learns a central, universal truth: Vikings are cool.

Vikings are cool for the same reasons that Vikings have always been cool. Vikings don't have to brush their teeth (not that anybody did, much, in the ninth century). Vikings get cool swords and stand shoulder to shoulder in the shield wall. Vikings don't have to learn how to read, or say their prayers, or build a stable, efficient society based on the rule of law. Vikings don't have to do any of that, so they are

cool.

While Uhtred is with the Vikings, learning the way of the warrior from his surrogate parents (and bedding a nubile wench or two along the way), the story meanders along, explaining the Viking way of revenge and the blood feud and the glories of Valhalla. But Uhtred is English and wants nothing more than to reclaim his lost castle and birthright; to do that, he may have to return to his own people. And when treacherous Danish opponents of his foster family launch a surprise attack, he has no choice but to do so.

Alfred is different because he, at least for his day and age, was civilized. Uhtred misses few opportunities to sneer at Alfred for his Christianity, his belief in law, and his supposed softness. Uhtred takes off the cross and puts on the hammer of Thor because he finds Thor to be the stronger --- but Thor lives on today only in the pages of Marvel Comics and in the name of Thursday. It was Alfred, and Western Civilization, that were the stronger in the battle, and it is Cornwell's job to show why.

THE LAST KINGDOM is the first of a proposed trilogy, which will show how Alfred defeated the Danes and established England as England and not as a Viking protectorate. As such, it is just the beginning of the story, and a long and bloody epic it promises to be. Cornwell is a talented historical novelist, and he's at the top of his game here --- all the more so because the history of the ninth century is much less documented than the nineteenth.

The novel provides a lot of insight to our time, of course, with Western Civilization again under threat. And the character of Uhtred, going back and forth between the civilized and uncivilized worlds, is emblematic of the struggle (as well as being a skilled teller of tales and describer of battles). But none of this explains the appeal of THE LAST KINGDOM so much as these three words, which are all you need to know about the book.

Vikings are cool.

--- Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds

Bernard Cornwell, perhaps our best writer of the historical adventure novel today, scores high with the first book in his Saxon Stories. I'm a devoted follower of Cornwell, and in my opinion, The Last Kingdom ranks with the better Sharpe stories and exceeds The Heretic.

The Last Kingdom tells the story of the 9th-century Danish (Norse or 'Viking') invasion of Anglo-Saxon England (or Englaland as they said a millennium or so ago). The fierce Danes roll over three of the four kingdoms and have only to finish off the pious Alfred, King of Wessex. This book begins the story of Alfred's resistance. The Saxon Stories relate how Alfred became known as the only 'Great' king in English history.

Highly recommended for fans of Cornwell or anyone who like historical adventure stories. Terribly exciting battle scenes on the 'shield wall'.

I very much enjoyed this book. It's a great story with intricate characters. Cornwell lets us get to know many different sides of one story. You get to know the Vikings or rather Danes and what kind of people they are and the people of England who are barely Christians and also the priests and pious kings. It's very interesting to read about a time in the English history that isn't written about much in historical fiction. I highly recommend this book.

Bernard Cornwell's "The Last Kingdom" sees our favorite spinner of rollicking historical fiction turn his clever eyes to the historical mists surrounding England's King Alfred the Great and his defense of England against the invading Danes (known to you and me as the Vikings). For those familiar with Cornwell, there are few surprises here, and that is a major plus.

This tale of 9th-century England is told by Uthred, a fictional character (while many of the other characters in the novel are real-life historical figures). A Northumbrian, Uthred is captured in battle by the Danes as a child and raised as a Dane, learning their mythology and values. Yet Uthred remains English at heart, and knows that even while he has learned to honor (and even love) Danes, his destiny will see him fighting in the shield wall against their invasion. Uthred's inner conflicts make him one Cornwell's more compelling heroes.

9th-century England is really four separate kingdoms, and over the course of the novel the Danes sweep over three, leaving Wessex to stand alone as the Last Kingdom of the title. Wessex is led by the scholarly, sickly, pious, and reluctantly randy Alfred. Uthred has little affection for this man, particularly when placed alongside Uthred's favorite reckless Danes, but Alfred remains a player to be reckoned with. Alfred has the talent to see Uthred's military prowess, and Uthred rises to become a leader of the English forces.

As one can expect from Cornwell, battle scenes pepper the novel, and Uthred finally gets the chance to satisfy his dream of standing in the front of a massive shield wall against hundreds of foes. Fortunately for the reader, Uthred is a man of humor as well as might, and Uthred spends a lot of his time bedeviling Christian priests by pointing out the inherent weaknesses of their faith when compared to the noble (and relatively reasonable) worship of Odin and the other Norse gods. Uthred also has a remarkable ability to be able to tell folks what they want to hear -- while most of Cornwell's heroes have a tendency towards brutal honesty, Uthred has a refreshing talent for mendacity.

Since this is clearly the first novel in a series, the climactic scenes are relatively reserved but are nevertheless satisfying. Several juicy plot lines remain unresolved, and there are still Danes aplenty in England at the conclusion of the novel. One can hope that this series will progress in the same fashion as Cornwell's other medieval trilogies, the Grail Quest series and the King Arthur series. In "The Last Kingdom," Cornwell has taken a lean, mean first step with plenty of thrills and a surprising amount of humor. One heck of an enjoyable read!

As an avid reader of history and historical fiction, I have developed high standards. I was not disappointed with The Last Kingdom. It is not contrived, it does not have people acting outside of character to benefit the plot, and its descriptions of life in the times ring remarkably true. I can't wait for the sequel, and will likely dip into other Cornwell before it comes out.

The book tells the tale of the Danish invasion of Britain in the ninth century through the eyes of Uhtred, a Northumbrian ealdorman who is orphaned at age ten and sees his patrimony stolen by an uncle. Raised by his Danish captors, he grows into an accomplished warrior while grappling with conflicting loyalties and religious convictions. Don't start this book if you have something else that needs to be done quickly, since you may find that you can't do anything until the last page is turned.

I first heard of this series because one of my other favorite authors, George R R Martin (The song of Ice and Fire series), had posted a blurb on his website describing how wonderful Cornwell is.

Martin was right. 100% right. I was blown away by what I read and could hardly put the book down.

Usually I enjoy reading high fantasy fiction as written by Martin and Jordan. I was extremely happy with the book despite being used to reading about magic and dragons. The story is excellent and the characters are well done. The pacing is quick, the numerous battles are written beautifully. Important events happen frequently and are surprising. All in all, an excellent read.

I cannot wait to devour the other 30 or so Cornwell books. It will most likely take me years, but after reading the first couple of chapters of THE LAST KINGDOM, I knew I was in for the long haul.

Brilliant.