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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Well crafted to showcase the alien mindset of a pagan Anglo-Saxon warrior, frequently torn between loyalties, desires, and destiny. Descriptions of battles are particularly well done. The prose didn't really work for me at the beginning, but I grew used to it by the end.
Le tenía mucho miedo para internarme en esta saga, pero sencillamente desde el principio te engancha y te ambientas bien en la epoca
adventurous
funny
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
As always I'd like a half star! 3.5 I'd give it or maybe more. A gripping read and very well written. A period of history that I know nothing about so no idea how accurate it is. On the gory side for my taste in books. Enjoyed it enough to want to read the rest of the series though!
Uhtred is not a great character.
He is party to some horrible crimes against his countrymen and just shrugs them off. His people are burned, murdered, tortured, raped, and robbed and he is a willing participant for much of it and stands by and watches the rest happen. I failed to connect with such a character, nor cared whether he lived or died. The casual way he describes the fall of the English kingdoms makes his decisions later in the novel unconvincing. One might say this is how people behaved at the time, but Cornwell makes some other decisions with the character that were very much not in line with how people behaved at the time (more in that in a bit).
Uhtred has little or no growth throughout The Last Kingdom. He starts the novel primarily obsessed with fighting, f***ing, and drinking, and he ends the novel the same. Not to say that characters like that can't be great, but Uhtred was flat and boring.
We're told he loves Bebbanburg but we're never shown it. We never see him explore his ancestral home or describe it in much detail. He says he wants it back, but we're never shown any motivation for why. He didn't love his father, he has no connection to the rest of his family, so his desire to reclaim Bebbanburg felt forced, like the author knew Uhtred had to have a motivation for something, so he just inserted one. Similarly, later in the story, we're told he loves his new wife and child, but we're never shown it. We're given only vague glimpses of their time together. He never describes them, nor the details about what he loves about them.
Uhtred also feels like the drunken, whoring, irreligious, sarcastic iconoclast that's becoming all too common in medieval and fantasy stories. Feudal societies had very different worldviews and values, so instead of writing main characters who hold those values but still have characteristics the reader can empathize with, the author does the much lazier act of transporting a modern-sounding person in its place, so they can at once elevate their character above all the superstitious rubes around them, and poke fun at all the religious and societal beliefs at the time. Ken Follet is guilty of this as well as a few other historical fiction writers. Game of Thrones does it constantly as well as several other grimdark fantasies. It's not that these characters can't exist, but it's becoming a bit of a tired trope to have your protagonists sound much more like a modern sex-obsessed, alcoholic agnostic than an actual person who lived in the setting you've placed your story in.
2.5 stars because the battles were interesting at least - I may give the next novel a chance...sometime...
He is party to some horrible crimes against his countrymen and just shrugs them off. His people are burned, murdered, tortured, raped, and robbed and he is a willing participant for much of it and stands by and watches the rest happen. I failed to connect with such a character, nor cared whether he lived or died. The casual way he describes the fall of the English kingdoms makes his decisions later in the novel unconvincing. One might say this is how people behaved at the time, but Cornwell makes some other decisions with the character that were very much not in line with how people behaved at the time (more in that in a bit).
Uhtred has little or no growth throughout The Last Kingdom. He starts the novel primarily obsessed with fighting, f***ing, and drinking, and he ends the novel the same. Not to say that characters like that can't be great, but Uhtred was flat and boring.
We're told he loves Bebbanburg but we're never shown it. We never see him explore his ancestral home or describe it in much detail. He says he wants it back, but we're never shown any motivation for why. He didn't love his father, he has no connection to the rest of his family, so his desire to reclaim Bebbanburg felt forced, like the author knew Uhtred had to have a motivation for something, so he just inserted one. Similarly, later in the story, we're told he loves his new wife and child, but we're never shown it. We're given only vague glimpses of their time together. He never describes them, nor the details about what he loves about them.
Uhtred also feels like the drunken, whoring, irreligious, sarcastic iconoclast that's becoming all too common in medieval and fantasy stories. Feudal societies had very different worldviews and values, so instead of writing main characters who hold those values but still have characteristics the reader can empathize with, the author does the much lazier act of transporting a modern-sounding person in its place, so they can at once elevate their character above all the superstitious rubes around them, and poke fun at all the religious and societal beliefs at the time. Ken Follet is guilty of this as well as a few other historical fiction writers. Game of Thrones does it constantly as well as several other grimdark fantasies. It's not that these characters can't exist, but it's becoming a bit of a tired trope to have your protagonists sound much more like a modern sex-obsessed, alcoholic agnostic than an actual person who lived in the setting you've placed your story in.
2.5 stars because the battles were interesting at least - I may give the next novel a chance...sometime...
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
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:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
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