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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Consider me surprised at how good this book was. I remember watching the show back in 2019 and enjoying it; now I've finally gotten around to reading the first book.
I'm honestly upset that the show didn't show Uhtred's early life with the Danes, and how that shaped him. It was mostly told to us rather than shown in the show. Now with great anticipation, I'm excited to go to the next book, and see what else is in store, and how much it differs from the show.
4/5 Stars ⭐
I'm honestly upset that the show didn't show Uhtred's early life with the Danes, and how that shaped him. It was mostly told to us rather than shown in the show. Now with great anticipation, I'm excited to go to the next book, and see what else is in store, and how much it differs from the show.
4/5 Stars ⭐
I am Uhtred, Earl Uhtred, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, and destiny is everything.
Love, all I feel is love for this book. It's like an epic love story but for a man who fought for what was rightfully his.
Definition
^All that and more is what I feel about this book. I don't know where I have been that I haven't read this sooner. This blows all the books that I've read recently out of the water. I'm actually thinking of going through and really thinking about the choices and ratings I've made on previous books because of this book.
I have a real love for the characters, the world, the dialogue, the timeline and of the religion and mythology of these two worlds. These two kinds of people clash to bring bloodshed, war and turning the world upside down. I mean, I'm still speechless, I still don't know what to say about what I went through reading this book. It made me hate the Christians, and then I later disliked the Danes. I was suppose to be on one side, but yet I couldn't see myself siding with what I know was right? I couldn't decide if Uhtred should going back to the world he came from and if it was even a good idea. I didn't want a people to influence this character because of their beliefs but for him to choose what he knew was right in his heart. In the end I feel in love with Uhtred and his fight to survive and his cleverness and his will to get what he knew he deserved.
This is a tale that begins in 866 with Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred and only 10 years old when he confronted and captured by Ragnar the Fearless. Ragnar takes Uhtred into the lives of the Danes. Now, he's not Ragnar Lothbrok but he's just as amazing and Ragnar Lothbroks sons make appearance. I don't want to say anymore but there is family and unity, blood and gore, fighting and war and Uhtred is learning how to be the best he can and still take back what is rightfully his.
I have deep love for this book.
I have deep love for this story.
I have deep love for the writing.
I have deep love for the feels and the air it brings.
I have deep love for the way this book takes you traveling to a world that is sometimes forgotten.
This book=Love
Love, all I feel is love for this book. It's like an epic love story but for a man who fought for what was rightfully his.
Definition
Love, noun. Pronunciation: luhv
A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; preëminent kindness or devotion to another; affection; tenderness; as,
the love of brothers and sisters.
Of all the dearest bonds we prove
Thou countest sons' and mothers' love
Most sacred, most Thine own.
Affection; kind feeling; friendship; strong liking or desire; fondness; good will; - opposed to hate; often with of and an object.
Love, and health to all.
Smit with the love of sacred song.
The love of science faintly warmed his breast.
^All that and more is what I feel about this book. I don't know where I have been that I haven't read this sooner. This blows all the books that I've read recently out of the water. I'm actually thinking of going through and really thinking about the choices and ratings I've made on previous books because of this book.
I have a real love for the characters, the world, the dialogue, the timeline and of the religion and mythology of these two worlds. These two kinds of people clash to bring bloodshed, war and turning the world upside down. I mean, I'm still speechless, I still don't know what to say about what I went through reading this book. It made me hate the Christians, and then I later disliked the Danes. I was suppose to be on one side, but yet I couldn't see myself siding with what I know was right? I couldn't decide if Uhtred should going back to the world he came from and if it was even a good idea. I didn't want a people to influence this character because of their beliefs but for him to choose what he knew was right in his heart. In the end I feel in love with Uhtred and his fight to survive and his cleverness and his will to get what he knew he deserved.
War is fought in mystery. The truth can takes days to travel, and ahead of truth flies rumors, and it is ever hard to know what is really happening, and the art of it is to pluck the clean bone of fact from the rotting flesh of fear and lies.
This is a tale that begins in 866 with Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred and only 10 years old when he confronted and captured by Ragnar the Fearless. Ragnar takes Uhtred into the lives of the Danes. Now, he's not Ragnar Lothbrok but he's just as amazing and Ragnar Lothbroks sons make appearance. I don't want to say anymore but there is family and unity, blood and gore, fighting and war and Uhtred is learning how to be the best he can and still take back what is rightfully his.
Blood on the grass now, so much blood that the ground was slick, and there were bodies that had to be stepped over as our shield wall thrust forward, leaving Brida and me behind, and I saw her hands were red because blood seeped down the long ash shaft of her spear. She licked the blood and gave me a sly smile.
Ships on the winter Temes. Ships sliding past brittle reeds and leafless willows and bare alders. Wet oar blades shining in the pale sunlight. The prows of our ships bore their beasts to quell the spirits of the land we invaded, and it was good land and rich fields, though all were deserted.
I have deep love for this book.
I have deep love for this story.
I have deep love for the writing.
I have deep love for the feels and the air it brings.
I have deep love for the way this book takes you traveling to a world that is sometimes forgotten.
She was heavy, Serpent-Breath, too heavy for a thirteen-year-old, but I would grow into her. Her point tapered more than Ragnar liked, but that made her well balanced for it meant there was not much weight at the blade's out end. And there is magic in Serpent-Breath. Ealdwulf has his own spells that he would not tell me, the spells of the smith, and Brida took the blade into the woods for a whole night and never told me what she did with it, and those were the spells of a woman, and when we made the sacrifice of the pit slaughter, and killed a man, a horse, a ram, a bull, and a drake, I asked Ragnar to use Serpent-Breath on the doomed man so that Odin would know she existed and would look well on her. Those are the spells of a pagan and a warrior.
This book=Love
adventurous
slow-paced
I can't help but 5 star this - I had a great time. Don't expect amazing characters. But do expect VIKINGS!!!!!
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've been toying with reading something by Cornwell for some time, largely because of the almost universal high praise by people on YouTube. I wasn't disappointed, but I also was not as blown away by this as others seem to have been.
This is the beginning of a series about Alfred the Great, who is sometimes regarded as the first truly English king. It's told, at least in this book (I don't know if it keeps up through the series) from the standpoint of Uthred, a magnetic character, but not particularly likable. Uthred is the heir to an earldom in Northumberland, but his father gets killed early on in a battle with the Danes, and Uther is then brought up by his Danish captors and learns their ways. He admires the Norse Gods and loathes what he sees as the weakness of Christianity.
In the book, he is torn between the two sides of his upbringing - the English and the Norse. His goal here is to become a man, as he defines it. And thus this book is a coming of age tale. And it works quite well in that regard.
The writing flowed easily. There are some great battle scenes which live up to the hype. And there are some very interesting, strong characters including Uthred, Brida (a Saxon girl who becomes his friend/lover), Alfred, Guthrum, Ragnar (his second "father"), Ragnar the younger, and Leofric (a fellow soldier).
When reading the historical note at the end, I was surprised at how much of the events in the books were based on real events. I didn't know that we had that much information about what was going on in England in the mid 800s. And I never had the feeling that Cornwell was pushing us to major events for the sake of doing a travelogue through history.
Also, there were moments in the book that I found genuinely funny, especially Uthred's diatribes about the uselessness of poets. There's one part where he is bored as a bard is reciting what is obviously Beowulf, and another time when he gives a botched description of what must be Paris stealing Helen and starting the Trojan War.
My hesitation with the book is that it did feel a little bet shallow to me. I might be wrong with that, and it may be that I'm just lulled by the ease of Cornwell's prose. But for me, this did not have the depth or the mystery of, say, Dunnett's books or of Mantel's Cromwell books. It was very good, and almost excellent. I will definitely continue with this (and then probably watch the show).
This is the beginning of a series about Alfred the Great, who is sometimes regarded as the first truly English king. It's told, at least in this book (I don't know if it keeps up through the series) from the standpoint of Uthred, a magnetic character, but not particularly likable. Uthred is the heir to an earldom in Northumberland, but his father gets killed early on in a battle with the Danes, and Uther is then brought up by his Danish captors and learns their ways. He admires the Norse Gods and loathes what he sees as the weakness of Christianity.
In the book, he is torn between the two sides of his upbringing - the English and the Norse. His goal here is to become a man, as he defines it. And thus this book is a coming of age tale. And it works quite well in that regard.
The writing flowed easily. There are some great battle scenes which live up to the hype. And there are some very interesting, strong characters including Uthred, Brida (a Saxon girl who becomes his friend/lover), Alfred, Guthrum, Ragnar (his second "father"), Ragnar the younger, and Leofric (a fellow soldier).
When reading the historical note at the end, I was surprised at how much of the events in the books were based on real events. I didn't know that we had that much information about what was going on in England in the mid 800s. And I never had the feeling that Cornwell was pushing us to major events for the sake of doing a travelogue through history.
Also, there were moments in the book that I found genuinely funny, especially Uthred's diatribes about the uselessness of poets. There's one part where he is bored as a bard is reciting what is obviously Beowulf, and another time when he gives a botched description of what must be Paris stealing Helen and starting the Trojan War.
My hesitation with the book is that it did feel a little bet shallow to me. I might be wrong with that, and it may be that I'm just lulled by the ease of Cornwell's prose. But for me, this did not have the depth or the mystery of, say, Dunnett's books or of Mantel's Cromwell books. It was very good, and almost excellent. I will definitely continue with this (and then probably watch the show).