Bernard Cornwell

The first book in a series, 'he Last Kingdom' is set in England during the reign of King Alfred.

The Last Kingdom

Luke Harkness

Not my sort of thing but can appreciate it

As stated in my title, it’s not quite the sort of book that I enjoy, in fact at times I found it a slog. This was not because it was dull or poorly written, likely more due to the fact that there were so many new names and names of places to remember and learn. Trying to remember which place was new, which they’d visited, what relevance each had the story took a real level of concentration.

The writing was interesting, at times it repeated the word ‘and’ quite often but this didn’t lessen the quality and the flow of the story telling. I’d recommend this for anyone who loves historical fiction and loves great wars and ship battles.

Captured and raised by Danes in the ninth century, dispossessed nobleman Uhtred witnesses the unexpected defeat of his adoptive Viking clan by Alfred of Wessex and longs to recover his father's land. By the author of The Archer's Tale. 125,000 first printing.

Wynter

I've been meaning to read this book for years. Imagine how bummed I am that the first novel in the Saxon Stories did not live up to my expectations. To be fair, I generally can't stand books with first person narration. Why some authors resort to this technique is beyond me. This type of narrative limits us to the thoughts and emotion of a single character, while others get lost in the obscurity of the background. I find any secondary characters in this case extremely underdeveloped. Such is the main problem in The Last Kingdom.

Secondly, you inevitably get this "unreliable narrator" disadvantage. How do I really know that Uhtred is a good guy? To me he seems to be kind of an asshole. He constantly changes sides, fighting against either his family or his friends depending on who has him at the moment. His brother is treacherously killed in the very beginning, and Uhtred spends the next several years chilling with the murderer. Give him the command of a fleet and he goes back to his roots and kills the Danes. Does he not know of loyalty or bloodlines? 

Thirdly, the story comes off as a summary of days gone by, rather than exciting action to be lived through. The entire battles are reduced to a couple of sentences in the vein of, In the end we took over the city and collected lots of plunder. Okay?.. In another example Uhtred describes the evolution of his relationship with Brida with one phrase, "we had become more than friends." That's it. No tension, no emotion, no explanation. This ties in with my underdeveloped character argument. I don't want to read a story that goes something like, This battle happened, then I got laid, oh and then another battle happened. I want to see the bloody battlefield, hear the sounds of armies clashing against each other, get in the minds of kings and warriors in the heat of the moment, feel the first love bloom and triumph, cry when the major character gets burned alive... Is it too much to ask? 

I am so, so, so very disappointed, but The Last Kingdom left me numb. Perhaps the tv series will do a better job at characterization and narration.

Colleen

4 Stars

The Last Kingdom is an excellent Historical Fiction story telling the tale of a young boy in ninth and tenth century England who becomes caught up between the Saxons and the Danish Vikings. Uhtred, heir to a Saxon lord, is captured at a young age by the Danes and raised by them. What follows is a grand tale of battles, politics, love, and life. The story is told in first person by Uhtred himself and is engaging and vivid. 

  “All those separate people were a part of my life, strings strung on the frame of Uhtred, and though they were separate they affected one another and together they would make the music of my life.”
 The story spans over a decade as Uhtred grows up and deals with his split loyalties between his homeland and the people who raised him. Despite some great battle scenes, the characterization and character development is what makes The Last Kingdom strong. Uhtred was an interesting, flawed character. Being a teenager for most of the story, he was often more concerned with fighting and whoring than getting wise to the ways he was being used as a pawn and manipulated. But that was part of his journey.

The battle scenes were well written and interesting. And they varied. Some authors only have one good battle scene that they just repeat with slight variations. Cornwell goes into battle strategies and fighting techniques while still keeping up the pace of the battles. There is some graphic content both violent and sexual. There is also some animal sacrifice. The story does not get too gory, but Cornwell also does not gloss over the messy parts of history. Historically, that period did involve a lot of raiding, raping, and cold blooded slaughtering. If you sanitize the past then you sweep tragedies under the rug. I thought Cornwell achieved a good balance between not hiding the goriness of the time period while also not making it the entire focus of the story. 

I definitely commend Cornwell for his excellent historical research! I get frustrated when Historical Fiction authors think that mentioning corsets and chamber pots is enough to create a historical setting. Cornwell not only created a vivid world, he also tied in real historical figures and events. The world-building is very well done. He excels at explaining the customs and cultures of the time without turning it into infodumps. The way he tied in religion and mythology was very interesting. I also appreciated that in his author's note, Cornwell pointed out a large myth: there is zero historical evidence any Vikings wore horns on their helmets. That is a Hollywood invention. Think about it. Why would some of the best warriors in history put something on their helmets that would make them top heavy and unstable? Horns on your helmet either make it easier for the enemy to knock your helmet off, or they give the enemy a convenient handle to hold onto while they stabby-stabby you to death. 

The story does hit the dolldrums a bit about 3/4 of the way through when the action is out of the plot and the character development gets a little stagnant. The strong conclusion makes up for that though.

The other con is that the foreshadowing was too heavy at times. In fact, there were some instances when it went well past foreshadowing and straight into telling what would happen. Uhtred is telling the story is now an old man looking back on his life. And much like an old man telling the story, he loses the trail of his narration occasionally and skips ahead to other things some of which do not happen until much later in the book and others that will not occur until later installments of the series. On the one hand, it did make the story telling seem more organic. People do have trouble sticking to a linear path when telling their own story since they know how it all turns out. But on the other hand, it was a tad vexing on hand to be pulled out of the moment and given flash-forwards to future events. That was my main critique of the book. But I still enjoyed the story overall. 

The Last Kingdom is a great read for those looking for a well-researched Historical Fiction with good action and strong character building. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 4 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 4 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 5 Stars

Melody Izard

It's just one battle with spewing Viking or English blood after another. You'd think I would have known better.

Elli

Upon finishing the audiobook I realized that I had accidentally taken the abridged version out from the library. At some point I will actually listen listen to the whole unabridged version. Because I have seen the show I don't feel like I totally missed out but I would like to know what the whole book in all its details is like before I really decide how I feel about the books.

Kaycee Castleman

I was very pleased with this book. It was full of exposition but I didn't care, I still enjoyed it. As an American, I haven't had too terribly much history of England, so this Historical fiction gave me a new perspective into their past. It actually makes me want to read up about what really happened. 

Good book! I'll most likely be purchasing more of them.

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Set in England during the mid-800s, this is the story of Uhtred, an English-born son of an earl. At the age of 10, he‚Äôs captured by the Danes during a battle and spends the rest of his childhood with the Danes. Although the Danes are the enemy, Uthred (and the reader) develop an affinity for the Danes, who treat him better than his kinsmen, and the line between countryman and enemy becomes very blurry. The Danes slowly conquer vast areas of England, until only one kingdom is left. Uthred, now an adult and a formidable warrior, eventually winds up in the hands of the English again and joins forces with Alfred, the Saxon King, to rid England of the pagan menace. Uhtred becomes something of a mercenary, agreeing to fight against the Danes solely to recover his estate in Northunbria without any true allegiance to England, Alfred, or Alfred‚Äôs religion. Uhtred‚Äôs inner conflict is very believable as he is caught between friends on both sides of the battlefield.

This is a well-crafted story, full of richly drawn characters, authentic battle scenes, and a real sense of the time and place that the story is set in. I‚Äôll be adding the other books in this series by Cromwell to my to-read list. If they‚Äôre as enjoyable as this one, I‚Äôll have plenty of good reads to keep me happy.

Lucas Coelho

I don’t know why it took me so long to start The Saxon Stories because let me tell you, this book is amazing. The story told by the perspective of a older Ulthred makes you feel a friend is telling you the story. The description of the battles is so well done. I even stayed longer with this book, skimming through it a second time, making notes of the historical marks to research later. 

Make yourself a favor and read this.

The Last Kingdom

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