The Last Kingdom: 1 (Saxon Tales) - Softcover

Cornwell, Bernard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006243862X ISBN 13: 9780062438621

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks, 2015

Synopsis

The first installment of Bernard Cornwell's New York Times bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England, "like Game of Thrones, but real" (The Observer, London)--the basis for The Last Kingdom, the hit Netflix series.

This is the exciting--yet little known--story of the making of England in the 9th and 10th centuries, the years in which King Alfred the Great, his son and grandson defeated the Danish Vikings who had invaded and occupied three of England's four kingdoms.

The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them so that, by the time the Northmen begin their assault on Wessex (Alfred's kingdom and the last territory in English hands) Uhtred almost thinks of himself as a Dane. He certainly has no love for Alfred, whom he considers a pious weakling and no match for Viking savagery, yet when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes themselves turn on Uhtred, he is finally forced to choose sides. By now he is a young man, in love, trained to fight and ready to take his place in the dreaded shield wall. Above all, though, he wishes to recover his father's land, the enchanting fort of Bebbanburg by the wild northern sea.

This thrilling adventure--based on existing records of Bernard Cornwell's ancestors--depicts a time when law and order were ripped violently apart by a pagan assault on Christian England, an assault that came very close to destroying England.

About this title

Review:

Does the fact that the The Last Kingdom inaugurates yet another series from Bernard Cornwell fill you with anticipation--or trepidation? His immensely popular Sharpe novels are, of course, the bedrock of the author’s popularity. But when readers learned that he was to abandon the redoubtable Sharpe for a Grail Quest series, there were those who invoked the ‘if isn’t broke, why fix it?’ rule. However, when Cornwell proved himself equally adept at conjuring a world of knights and savage combat, his Grail Quest series (the first book of which was Harlequin) soon established itself as another Cornwell winner.

And here’s yet another series from the protean writer. Do we really need it? Yes, we do--it’s a safe bet that The Last Kingdom will prove that the author is seemingly capable of beginning an endless run of new novel sequences. As well as the impeccably plotted narrative, Cornwell has other fish to fry here: nothing less than a totally fresh look at a historical figure we think we know: Alfred the Great. Cornwell’s protagonist is Uhtred, caught in the conflict between the Danes and the English in the ninth century. He is born into the English aristocracy, but loses his parents at the age of ten and is raised in Viking fashion by a Dane. When massacres reign down on both sides, Uhtred is torn between his loyalties--and when his family disappears, a reckoning with a Viking chieftain is in the offing.

Behind all this is the King, Alfred: complex, conflicted, and by no means the figure that the conventional history books render him. All of the customary Cornwell virtues are fully on display here.--Barry Forshaw

Review:

"Intoxicating....Thrilling....Cornwell conveys the disquiet of change and the melancholy of extinction as few historical novelists manage to."--Washington Post Book World

"Enter Cornwell's vividly drawn ninth-century Kingdom ... after this dip into the Dark Ages, we want to go back."--Entertainment Weekly

"Enthralling ... the desperate, heroic struggle of Alfred "the Great" ... against the seemingly invincible Vikings.--Wall Street Journal

"History comes alive."--Boston Globe

"A crackling good storyteller."--Publishers Weekly

"Cornwell .... makes the usually gloomy ninth century sound like a hell of a lot of fun."--Kirkus Reviews

"Highly recommended ... another great historical series in the making."--Library Journal (starred review)

"Masterful....[An]irresistible epic adventure....Cornwell deserves praise for his mesmerizing narrative finesse and his authentic historical detailing."--Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 006243862X
• ISBN 13: 9780062438621
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368