War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell

War of the Wolf by Barnard Cornwell --- 352 pages including Historical Note

Bernard Cornwell’s War of the Wolf is the latest, but (fingers crossed) not the last chapter in his Saxon Tales, the basis for the popular British television series The Last Kingdom, which tells of the ninth-tenth century struggle to unite the Saxon, Danish and Norse settlements into one Englaland, with one king and one (Christian) church.

In this eleventh book in the series, Uhtred is now over sixty years old but still riding against his enemies, and still a force to be reckoned with. Although Cornwell sensibly cuts Uhtred some slack --- his seconds in command ride either side of him to protect him, and he fights from the third row in the shield wall now,  letting younger warriors take the brunt of battle. But Uhtred is still the strategist; his battle craft assures victory against all odds.

His new enemy is Skoll, a Norse raider who has been driven out of Ireland and plots to wrest the kingship of Northumbria from Uhtred’s Danish son-in-law, Sigtrygger. Skoll has a blind sorcerer who can kill men with the power of his sightless eyes, and berserkers who eat poisonous henbane to induce a battle frenzy like a howling pack of wolves. Their savagery terrifies anyone who tries to face them. Anyone but Uhtred.

Uhtred himself seems to have grown more stark and implacable in dealing with his enemies as he has grown older. Yet at the same time maturity has allowed him to understand how competing loyalties and bonds of affection blur the boundaries between friendship and enmity.

Uhtred is a man who has lived his life straddling two worlds — the Saxons and the Danes, the Christians and the pagans. That struggle continues, with Uhtred as always, caught in the middle.

The end will come, inevitably --- but for fans of the Saxon Tales, hopefully, not too soon.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from the New York Journal of Books.

Click HERE to read the review from the Book Reporter.

The Flame Bearer by Bernard Cornwell

The Flame Bearer:  Novel by Bernard Cornwell --- 284 pages

The tenth volume in Cornwell's Saxon Tales series, continues to interweave the ninth and tenth century history of how the Saxons under Alfred the Great and his successors drove out the Dane and Norse invaders and united all the petty kingdoms of Britain into one united Christian Englaland, with the imagined tale of Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the fierce pagan warlord pledged in an uneasy fealty to Alfred, whose victories made Alfred's dream a reality.

Alfred's son Edward now rules Wesses and East Anglia, his daughter AEthelflaed rules Mercia. The Saxon's are now eyeing Northumbria, where Uhtred's Danish son-in-law Sigtryggr rules from his stronghold in the old Roman city of Eoferic (York).  And Uhtred, after years of serving the dreams and ambitions of others, is preparing at long last to follow his own dream and win back Bebbanburg, the great sea hold of Northumbria, that is his, by right of blood and birth.

Bebbanburg was stolen from Uhtred when his father died and his uncle, his father's brother, usurped his place. His uncle wanted Uhtred dead and tried more than once to kill him. Now the usurper's son, Uhtred's cousin, sits in Bebbanburg. This crucial fortress, almost impregnable on its high rock overlooking the North Sea, commands all that section of the coast, and the lands around it, including the sacred island of Lindesfarena.

If Uhtred can claim his brithright and win back Bebbanburg, he will have the power to provide sanctuary for his daughter and her Danish husband, and all those who follow the old gods, when inevitably, the Saxons reconquer Northumbria.  He can hold the north for the Saxons against the predatory Scots king Constantin, who would like to establish the old Roman wall south of Bebbanburg as the boundary between Alba and Northumbria.  If he can take Bebbanburg, he can reclaim his patrimony for himself and his son and his son's sons. He can keep his promise to AEthelflaed, to protect her daughter after she is gone; and to protect Edward's inconvenient eldest son AEthelstan from Edward's conniving queen and her powerful clan.

Uhtred will need all the skills and all the cunning of a lifetime of warfare, and all the favors he can wring from gods old and the new, and from cold-hearted Fate, to make his dream a reality.

ɯƴrd bið ful ãræd.

Click HERE to read a review from Kirkus.

Click HERE to read a feature story from the York Press about Cornwell and the inspiration for The Saxon Tales.

Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell

Warriors of the Storm: A Novel by Bernard Cornwell (Saxon Tales Book Nine), (The Last Kingdom Book Nine) --- 298 pages

Bernard Cornwell's fictional take on the history of Anglo Saxon Britain and the efforts of Alfred the Great and his descendents to create a united Britain out of the quareelsome fiefdoms of Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and finally, Northumbria. Cornwell continues his tale of the fictional warlord Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a follower of the pagan gods unwilllingly sworn to the service of Alfred, and now Alfred's daughter AEthelflaed, who rules Mercia with the support of Uhtred's sword after the death of her husband.

But the peace Aethelflaed and Uhtred have achieved is tenuous at best, with Danish warriors just across the border in Northumbria, and the Norse warrior Ragnall Iverson abandoning his holdings in Ireland to seek a greater kingdom in Britain. Accompanied by an Irish warband, and recruiting more warriors in Northumbria, Ragnall can field a formidable army, while Uhtred tries to convince Aethelflaed and her brother Edward, King of Wessex and East Anglia, that they can no longer wait to strike the Danes in Northumbria.

When Uhtred discovers that his own daughter, married to Ragnall's brother Sigtryggr, is at risk in this savage game of swords and crowns, he must find a way to uphold his oaths of fealty to Aetheflaed at the same time he is disobeying her commands, to destroy Ragnall and preserve his daughter --- and to grasp what may be his last chance to wrest back the heritage that was stolen from him so many years ago.

A fine addition to the series, and not yet the final appearance of Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

Click HERE to read the Kirkus Review of Warriors of the Storm.

The Empty Throne by Bernard Cornwall

The Empty Throne: A Novel by Bernard Cornwall --- 296 pages

The eighth book in Cornwall's Saxon Tales series continues to look at Anglo-Saxon Britain through the eyes of the pagan lord Uhtred of  Bebbanburg, warlord in the service of Alfred of Wessex and his dream of a united Saxon kingdom of Englaland.

Alfred is now dead and his son Edward rules Wessex, while his daughter AEthelflaed was wed to AEthelred of Mercia to secure the alliance of Mercia to Wessex. While Edward is an indolent king, content to allow his powerful father-in-law, AEthelhelm, to rule in his name, AEthelflaed has endeared herself to her Mercian subjects by her piety, her canny leadership, and her success in fending off Viking raiders. In this last AEthelflaed is ably assisted by Uhtred, the leader of her warriors and her sometime lover.

Now AEthelflaed's dispised husband, AEthelred, is dying with no direct male heir to succeed him, Ambitious men are vying for his throne, ignoring the Viking threat hanging over Mercia. And Uhtred, suffering from a wound that refuses to heal, seeks to persuade the Mercian witan to do the unthinkable and accept AEthelflaed --- a woman! --- as their ruler.

Historical fiction with the blood and mud immediacy that makes Cornwall of master of the genre. The same British television company that produces Downton Abbey is now filming Cornwall's The Last Kingdom, the first book of the Saxon Tales.  Let's hope it's as good as  the television series based on Cornwall's Richard Sharpe, which catapulted Sean Bean to fame and fortune in the 1990s as the British rifleman who against all odds rises through the ranks during the Napoleonic Wars.

Click HERE to watch the trailer for The Empty Throne.

Click HERE to read the Kirkus review.

The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell

The Pagan Lord: A Novel by Bernard Cornwell --- 299 pages

The seventh volume in Cornwell's Warrior Chronicles/Saxon Tales series about Alfred the Great and his successors and the bloody forging of England out of tribal Britain in the ninth and tenth centuries, as witnessed by the Saxon warlord Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

At the beginning of the tenth century, Alfred is dead and his son Edward is king of Wessex.  The land has endured an uneasy peace for ten years, but as Uhtred cynically remarks, all the talk of peace only convinces him to practice his shield wall. Edward is hedged about by ambitious vassals, the least trustworthy of which is his brother-in-law, Aethelred of Mercia; the Danish jarls Cnut Ranulfson and Sigurd Thorrson, who control Northumbria and East Anglia; the wild Welsh in the west and the even wilder Scots in the far north. If this is peace, says Uhtred, then give him war.

The Saxons under Alfred became Christians, but the Danes (with a few exceptions) still worshipped the old gods of the North. Uhtred is Saxon, but when his uncle usurped his heritage, the great fort of Bebbanburg, and sold Uhtred into slavery, it was Danes who rescued him and raised him. So Uhtred turned his back on the "nailed god" who had failed him and put his faith (such as it was) in the old gods. Ironically it is the pagan Uhtred whose fealty to Alfred and to Alfred's son never wavers, and for his loyalty he is anathema to the Christian priests who advise the king and urge the extermination of every man, woman and child who refuses to submit to the Church.

Now Uhtred, once again banished from the king's favor, leads his small band of loyal warriors in a daring attempt to retake Bebbanburg. Although the attempt fails, Uhtred manages to kill his uncle and take hostage the wife and son of his cousin. In the course of this attempt he stumbles upon a devious plot to attack Wessex and its ally Mercia. For the sake of his oath and his love for Edward's sister Aethelflaed, Uhtred sends a warning to the king, and throws his own small force into the path of the Danish battle horde in a desperate gamble to gain enough time for Edward and Aethelred to join forces and ride to meet the Danish threat at the ford of the River Tame at Teotanheale --- as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the year A.D.910.

Click HERE to read an interview with author Bernard Cornwell discussing The Pagan Lord.

Click HERE to watch a BBC documentary about Alfred the Great.

Click HERE to listen to an interview with Bernard Cornwell from the National Review.com.

If you'd like to read the entire series The Warrior Chronicles/Saxon Tales here are the titles to date in order:

The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, The Lords of the North, Sword Song, The Burning Land, Death of Kings, and The Pagan Lord. 

Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell

Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell --- 320 pages

Sixth volume in The Saxon Tales Series about Alfred the Great's forging of England out of the maelstrom of tribal factions in ninth century Britain. No one writes this kind of historical fiction with more aplomb than Bernard Cornwell.  In this series he creates a tale about his own remote ancestor, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, and inserts him into the fabric of English history to flesh out the bare bones of what historians can tell about Alfred's reign.

Saxon born but raised by Danish raiders when his uncle usurps his place as the lord of Bebbanburg Keep in remote Northumbria, Uhtred survives by his warrior skills, worships the old gods of the North, and nurses one burning ambition: to avenge his father's death and regain Bebbanburg. To gain the men and treasure to achieve his goal, Uhtred becomes the reluctant leige man of the Christian Alfred, who needs a warrior to lead his forces and assert his claim to the kingship of Wessex and Mercia. Alfred is beset with tribal rivalries, while Danish raiders sweep down from the north in search of plunder, slaves and land. Yet Alfred too has a dream: he seeks to unify all the Saxon tribes into one Christian kingdom of Angleterre --- England.

In this volume, Alfred is dying, his dream of a united England slipping from his grasp. His son and chosen successor, Edward, young and untried, needs an experienced war leader he can trust. But he is surrounded by counselors who cannot seem to agree on anything --- except their dislike and distrust of Uhtred. The fragile web of tribal loyalties binding Wessex and Mercia to Alfred's crown is fraying under the pressure of rival claimants, and the Danes, smelling opportunity as power changes hands, come ravening like wolves in winter.

Will Alfred's dream and Uhtred's life survive this lethal knot of divided loyalties and treacherous secrets?

To find out more about Bernard Cornwall's Saxon Tales and other great series, click HERE to go to his web site.