261 reviews for:

The Pagan Lord

Bernard Cornwell

4.19 AVERAGE


As a huge fan of historical fiction, I have become absolutely captivated by Bernard Cornwell’s Last Kingdom series (Saxon Stories). His vast level of research on the time period, attention to detail and accuracy not only ensured I became heavily engrossed in the pages of his work, but I feel like I have learnt a huge amount on a time period I was previously very ignorant about. When lost in the pages, I feel like I am walking next to Uhtred, seeing what he sees and fully experiencing England in the 10th century before it became one land.

The twists and turns in the plot line of The Pagan Lord were gripping as always, and I honestly could not foresee what would happen next. While all of the books I have read in this series so far have been intriguing, I have never before read a novel with such a powerful ending. This book haunted me, and I am very fortunate that I was able to immediately quick up the next book in the series.
adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

 I love this book and didn't see that ending coming. I picked up the next book straight away. I am loving following Uhtred's journey.

So far I would admit that this book was my least favorite of the series. The characters are becoming a bit tedious with only Uhtred doing the heavy lifting in the story. While his son, Uhtred, and his Irish companion, Finan, are also consistent again in this novel, I felt that Cornwell really needs to introduce and develop some other characters in the story to avoid the plot becoming stagnant and almost wholly centered on "Uhtred rode there and killed X, then rode to here and killed Y, and then in the finale kills Z." With King Alfred dead, I really want his son King Edward (or some other figure) to step into the void to illustrate more of the political and religious machinations of Wessex during circa 910-920.

3/5 stars. Hoping that #8 will be stronger.
adventurous fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Man, I love these books.
adventurous dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I really hope this isn't the end. I love uhtred. which is crazy but true

alethela's review

4.0

These are such easy and fun reads although maybe a bit formulaic at this point. I do wish that some of these books were just combined though.
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cbking's review

4.0

I can't get enough of this series, even though each successive book is a bit repetitive. But I'm learning history! And Uhtred is fine with gay men who fight for him! Cornwell is such a great writer that I'll never give up on Uhtred.
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alexis_hookedtobooks's review

4.0

I feel like I’m trudging along this series. It’s amazing and I’m loving it, but it seems to be taking forever to read! Other books keep getting in the way; either books from publishers or other books I want to read! Hopefully I’ll finish this series in 2020!
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Uhtred is getting older, and he now gets to fight alongside his son! He is at odds with his sons as they have decided to become Christians, but he wants them to be Pagan! Uhtred has been at odds with the Christian church this whole series, and he always seems to be butting heads with the heads of the church and Christian nobles!
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The book also centres around Uhtred wanting to take back his home territory of Bebbanburg! He realizes he is getting older and that if he wants to retake the territory he is going to need to act soon!
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Athelflaed is still my favourite! She’s such a strong character and has a great following among the Mercian soldiers, which I think is really cool! I hope she gets even stronger as the series progresses!