I have just finished Bernard Cornwell's Sword of Kings (published in the hardback edition in 2019).
HarperCollins Publishers - paperback edition, 2020
Now, I do have, and have read, some Bernard Cornwell novels - the three in the Grail Quest series: Harlequin (2000), Vagabond (2002) and Heretic (2003); Azincourt (2008) and 1356 (2012). All set in my beloved fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. I enjoyed them all. However, I have not been drawn to the Sharpe series, for which Cornwell is probably best-known. I think it's because Sean Bean, an actor who grates on me, played him in the TV series - a daft reason, I know! Neither had I tried any of the dozen Last Kingdom series.
Cornwell is one of those natural storytellers, who can carry the reader along with an easy narrative style, punctuated by usually believable incidents and dialogue. The novel's hero is a man with his best years behind him - the list of the series at the back of the books shows this is Uhtred's twelfth outing. Variously known as Uhtred the Pagan, Uhtred the Godless, Uhtred the Treacherous, Uhtred Ealdordeofol ('Chief of the Devils'), he had clearly made his mark during the reigns of Alfred the Great (871-899) and his son Edward the Elder (899-924), and that of Aethelflǣd, Lady of the Mercians (911-918). There were frequent references to his previous exploits, so I looked at the reviews on Amazon. The majority were highly favourable from patent fans of Cornwell. However, there were some pertinent comments about Uhtred's age by the time of this story. One reviewer argued that the hero must now be in his mid-eighties but "still fighting like a spring chicken." Another commented: "despite his advanced age, he is still destroying much younger and stronger opponents. This plot line is getting a bit jaded now." This being my first book, it didn't matter so much, but I must admit that the episode where he defeats the huge and fitter Waormund ("He was skilled too, as skilled as any man with a sword, a spear, or an axe. He was younger, taller, he outreached me, and he was probably faster") stretches the reader's credulity too far, especially since Uhtred had not recovered from being dragged naked behind a horse after being nearly punched silly by Waormund only days before.
The story is a simple one. Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Bamburgh in Northumberland) sets out - once again, apparently - to get involved in the fighting between Wessex, East Anglia and Mercia which will break out on the likely - then actual - death of Edward the Elder. His adventures take in the Isle of Sheppey (Sceapig) and Kent ((Cent); Werlameceaster (St. Alban's) and London (Lundene), and include skirmishes, river and sea travel, and much hand-to-hand (or rather spear-to-spear, axe-to-axe and short sword-to short-sword) fighting. There is mild love interest and plenty of hatred.
Cornwell portrays a believable character - ruthless enemy, loyal friend, not immune to loss and suffering, capable of major errors, recipient of luck, and, above all, a leader. There is a glossary of Place Names used in the book, which is invaluable if it matters to the reader. Most were obvious, but a few I struggled with (Elentone - Maidenhead; Eoferwic - York). One can get bogged down in the Ǣthels - Ǣthelhelm, Ǣthelstan, Aethelflǣd - as well as Ǣlfweard, but that is a minor quibble and it's not Cornwell's fault!
For some readers of all twelve novels, it appears they have the same story-fatigue which I am experiencing with Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholomew books (but not yet with Scott Mariani's Ben Hope exploits). One even writes: "Come on Bernard, let Uhtred die". Whether Cornwell will try his hand at just one final book for Uhtred, to kill him off, will, of course, be up to him. What the author has done is kindled for me an interest in reading a book that has been on my shelves, unread (or should that be unrǣd?) for far too long: Sarah Foot's Ǣthelstan: The First King of England (Yale University Press, 2011), one of the Yale's English Monarchs series.
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