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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
I made a start on this series this year having discovered that the TV series, which I love, was based on these books! I loved the first series and so when the second series started, I began catching up with the books! This book picks up the beginning of the second series and much to my delight, there aren't particularly any discrepancies between book and show. The only thing that crossed my mind was that one of the characters on the slave ship in the show (Hallig) was never in the book, but that is literally all. Inevitably comparisons will always be made when shows/films are based on books - some are better than others.
I actually found this book slightly easier to read than the previous two and I think it's because we could relate to him more. The story flows very well and we get to see a refreshing development of character for Uhtred. As a general rule he is very self-confident, cocky even - he conveys a sense of self-importance and angers at the smallest sleight against him. Admittedly he knows as a Saxon born man who was raised as a Dane; he is in a unique position and knows how to use it.
In this book we see him mature; from the beginning of the book we start with Uhtred as a 21 year old young man, back from war feeling underappreciated by King Alfred... again. Whilst traveling back to Northumbria he encounters Sven and old bitter resentment returns. Throughout the book he endures at least two and a half years in slavery and then returns to England to face the man that put him in chains. Old Uhtred would have gutted that man, regardless of who he was, but I think his time as a slave must have both humbled him and given him time to think because he in fact forgives Guthred and saves him from the clutches of the other lords of the North - including Kjartan, with whom Uhtred and Ragnar have a bloodfeud.
As ever there are epic battles, daring missions and all too human struggles as Uhtred finds himself in the centre of all the conflict. Fate is inexorable, and I cannot wait to see what the three spinners bring Uthred next.
I actually found this book slightly easier to read than the previous two and I think it's because we could relate to him more. The story flows very well and we get to see a refreshing development of character for Uhtred. As a general rule he is very self-confident, cocky even - he conveys a sense of self-importance and angers at the smallest sleight against him. Admittedly he knows as a Saxon born man who was raised as a Dane; he is in a unique position and knows how to use it.
In this book we see him mature; from the beginning of the book we start with Uhtred as a 21 year old young man, back from war feeling underappreciated by King Alfred... again. Whilst traveling back to Northumbria he encounters Sven and old bitter resentment returns. Throughout the book he endures at least two and a half years in slavery and then returns to England to face the man that put him in chains. Old Uhtred would have gutted that man, regardless of who he was, but I think his time as a slave must have both humbled him and given him time to think because he in fact forgives Guthred and saves him from the clutches of the other lords of the North - including Kjartan, with whom Uhtred and Ragnar have a bloodfeud.
As ever there are epic battles, daring missions and all too human struggles as Uhtred finds himself in the centre of all the conflict. Fate is inexorable, and I cannot wait to see what the three spinners bring Uthred next.
The main character here is more clever and sympathetic than the previous volume. Still horribly violent but maybe less ghastly since many had it coming?
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
These stories are very fast paced and hard to put down. Despite depicting times of horrific violence and squalor, it is fascinating to watch the main character respond to the events around him in ways that would be wildly unfamiliar to any of us today.
Another brilliant book in Saxon series. I liked how we managed to wrap up a story line that started in early book 1. I get the distinct feeling that the story is the main element - and if something takes a little time, so be it.
Uthred can still be a dick, but i suppose that's how it was back then.
This is a series that i will most certainly be continuing.
Uthred can still be a dick, but i suppose that's how it was back then.
This is a series that i will most certainly be continuing.
Good descriptive writing with a fast-moving and mostly compelling plot, but somewhat hampered at the end of the day by the author's narrative choice. By writing in the retrospective first person, as if the protagonist were composing a memoir in his old age, Cornwell reveals much more of Uhtred's character (and generally makes things more entertaining) than he would otherwise--and we also sometimes get personal digressions full of interesting hindsight. And yet sometimes, to build suspense, the narrator will implausibly leave things that he did out of the story, just so that we can find out about them later at the same time as the book's characters. And then other times, (to destroy all possible suspense?), the reader will be told in the middle of an important confrontation that things worked out in the end.
If you're at all interested in early medieval England, Viking invasions, etc., etc., then you're unlikely to find a better series of historical fiction. You feel as physically immersed in this world as you would in 19th C. England if you were reading a Charles Dickens Novel.
If you're at all interested in early medieval England, Viking invasions, etc., etc., then you're unlikely to find a better series of historical fiction. You feel as physically immersed in this world as you would in 19th C. England if you were reading a Charles Dickens Novel.
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think I would have enjoyed this third installment better if they hadn't changed narrators. I despised the new narrator.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes