Stonehenge: A Novel [Paperback]

Bernard Cornwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 14, 2004

Bestselling author Bernard Cornwell takes us back four thousand years, to a vibrant world of ritual and sacrifice that is at once timeless and wholly original. This historical novel unlocks the mystery of Britain's most haunting and puzzling structure, and tells a tale of three brothers—fierce rivals—who are uneasily united in their quest to create a temple to their gods. Lengar, the eldest brother, kills his own father to become chief of his tribe. Camaban, the illegitimate middle brother, is determined to have a massive temple built in his own honor. And Saban, the youngest, who actually builds Stonehenge, must act as mediator between the other two. Stonehenge is the enthrallingly dramatic story of patricide, betrayal, and murder; of bloody brotherly rivalry; and of the never-ending quest for power, wealth, and spiritual fulfillment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prolific British author Cornwell is best known for his Napoleonic warfare adventure series with Captain Richard Sharpe, and for the Starbuck Chronicles, about the American Civil War. Now he imaginatively unlocks the mystery of Stonehenge's creation in 2000 B.C., at the beginning of Britain's Bronze Age. This wild tale, rich with sorcery, pagan ritual, greed and intrigue, is Cornwell's most ambitious fiction yet. It features three brothers linked by blood but divided by madness, jealousy and lust for power. Lengar, the eldest, murders his own father to become the chief of his tribe. As a warrior and tyrant, his brutality is second only to that of his crippled brother, Camaban, a sorcerer ruthlessly determined to have a massive stone temple erected to honor his authority. The youngest sibling, Saban, will ultimately construct the temple, but not until he has endured torture, slavery and betrayal. The story covers nearly 20 years as the brothers and the people of Ratharryn struggle to survive as a tribe, fighting harsh weather and starvation, warring with other tribes and trying to appease their angry gods. It is Camaban's idea to build Stonehenge as a temple to create balance between the moon god and the sun god, to eliminate winter and force a change in the circle of life. Murder, magic and misery prevail, and there is no shortage of victims or bloodshed. Cornwell's portrayal of life and death in ancient Britain is graphic, gritty and riveting. However, his detailed descriptions of how Stonehenge was constructed utilizing primitive engineering are the real strength of this book. Although its length may daunt some readers, this ambitious and intriguing saga will be a hit with lovers of ancient history who want to decipher the mysteries of a vanished world. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Cornwell is best known for his novels about modern military heroes stories that make for nearly perfect audiobook listening. Stonehenge is something very different a purely fictional speculation about the origins of England's most famous ancient stone monument. Nevertheless, it, too, is engrossing. Set so far in the past that even the Druids would have considered its time period ancient, this tale imposes a demanding learning curve on listeners. Every character and place has an unfamiliar name, but eventually they seem natural, and the story is not difficult to follow. Its speculations on the construction of Stonehenge are fascinating, but even more fascinating is its depiction of the power struggle among three very different brothers competing for control of their tribe. This work is probably easier to follow in print than on tape; however, Sean Barrett's powerful reading brings the story alive in ways not possible on mere paper. Recommended for all audio collections. R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (December 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060956852
• ISBN-13: 978-0060956851
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bernard Cornwell was born in London in 1944 - a 'warbaby' - whose father was a Canadian airman and mother in Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted by a family in Essex who belonged to a religious sect called the Peculiar People (and they were), but escaped to London University and, after a stint as a teacher, he joined BBC Television where he worked for the next 10 years. He began as a researcher on the Nationwide programme and ended as Head of Current Affairs Television for the BBC in Northern Ireland. It was while working in Belfast that he met Judy, a visiting American, and fell in love. Judy was unable to move to Britain for family reasons so Bernard went to the States where he was refused a Green Card. He decided to earn a living by writing, a job that did not need a permit from the US government - and for some years he had been wanting to write the adventures of a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars - and so the Sharpe series was born. Bernard and Judy married in 1980, are still married, still live in the States and he is still writing Sharpe.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stonehenge The Novel, May 12, 2000

By 

DEAN TAYLOR (CARDIFF, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stonehenge: 2000 B.C.--A Novel (Hardcover)

The view of Stonehenge rising among the rolling hills of the Salisbury plains in Southern England is a moving experience for anyone interested in our Ancient past. Most people come away wondering how ancient people could have possibly erected such a monument without using modern tools or machinery. The most fascinating part of the riddle is the motive and the identity of the peole who spent their lives at the task. The novel by Bernard Cornwell is a fascinating story of the people and motivation which may have created Stonehenge. The blend of fact and fiction gives the reader appreciation of what it may have been like to live in the era when the monument was created. The novel has been carefully researched to provide an accurate picture of the remains as they stand today with a plausible theory as to why it was constructed. The description of the way of life of the ancient people is as interesting as the story of Stonehenge itself. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is curious about the lives of our ancestors and one of the mysteries they have left for us to ponder.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A stirring epic of Bronze Age England!, January 7, 2008

By 

Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stonehenge: 2000 B.C.--A Novel (Hardcover)

Dr Phil would have loved to get his teeth into these boys - the perfect dysfunctional Bronze Age tribal family!

Three brothers - Camaban, the all but insane sorcerer born a cripple who dreams of re-uniting the sun god and the moon goddess in his perfect temple; Lengar, the brutally sadistic, power hungry warrior who kills his own father to take over the position of chief of the tribe; and Saban, the quiet cerebral type who achieves the impossible by staying alive despite his brothers' efforts and completing the near impossible engineering feat of erecting Stonehenge, a never before dreamed of monolithic temple on the Salisbury Plains.

"Stonehenge" is a magnificent hypothetical tale set in the second millennium BC, Bronze Age England. As enormous in conception and as dramatic in the writing as Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth", Cornwell has treated his readers to a magnificent epic rich with sorcery, pagan ritual, ambition, tribal warfare, family rivalries, mythology and bronze age culture that hypothesizes a possible backdrop to the completion of that enigmatic monolithic structure, Stonehenge.

But he also did much more than merely tell a story that all readers of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy. He also provided some absolutely fascinating sidebars and essays on the probable state of Bronze Age science - medicine, astronomy, weaponry, warfare, engineering - and indulged himself in some musings on what might have been tribal mythology, philosophy and theology.

A thoroughly engrossing read from first page to last. Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable, well researched book with an engaging plot., July 24, 2000

By 

Simon Jackson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stonehenge: 2000 B.C.--A Novel (Hardcover)

For a writer having Stonehenge as a central theme could be a double-edged sword. The history of Stonehenge lies shrouded in mystery, some give it almost mystical powers and others simple suggest it was designed as a meeting place or the venue for ancient parties! Having such a vast blank page could provide an author with either a rich vein to use as a plot or it could lead to a novel containing undisciplined guesswork. Due to both his skills as a writer and the time he invests in research, Bernard Cornwell's Stonehenge belongs to the former category.

The plot and story line explores the motivational force behind the construction of the monument of Stonehenge. Not only is it strong in it's sense of history, Stonehenge offers a multi-layered approach to the development of characters and their lives. Cornwell's writing is here particularly strong and evocative. This book, although well researched is fiction and it's important to hold onto that fact. However, Cornwell writes with such conviction that at times one could believe that his account of the building of Stonehenge is factual in nature. My only criticisms were perhaps a tendency for Cornwell to over-elaborate and the passing of time-scales in one or two lines.

This book is does not have the feel of Sharpe or Starbuck and those readers who expect that style of writing will I feel be disappointed. Stonehenge builds the story line rather than plunges into it. Both forms are valid but with Stonehenge it would be unwise to expect a thrill a minute al la Richard Sharpe.

An enjoyable, well researched book with an engaging plot.