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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
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:
Yes
4.5/5
Bernard Cornwells "The Winter King" so far has to the the most unique take on the Arthurian mythos I've ever read. It's almost taking a Nennius or a Geoffrey of Monmouth approach and making Arthur and his take a historical story set in the background of the late 400s AD during the Saxon invasions of Britain. Rather than a Prince of Camelot with a magic sword and a wizard companion here we see a rugged young warlord who is the illegitimate child of the now deceased high king Uther Pendragon having to fight gory and bloody battles on the behalf of the new young child king Mordred. It takes the whole Arthur legend on turns it on its head giving it a realistic edge that's fascinating to watch. All the while I was reading I felt like I had found an old manuscript lost to time and was reading about the rise in power of a famous figure I had heard about a thousand times before without all the magical and religious propoganda fluffing it up through a unique perspective.
That unique perspective, of course, being our narrator Derfel Cadarn. Who is retrospectively telling us Arthurs story later in his elderly years as a monk living his life in a monastery. At first, I was a little confused and put off by the idea of having this absolutely random person be out perspective into the world of Arthur the Warlord but now I get it. Not only is Derfel a full fledged character with his own backstory and persona and is himself fascinating to follow but, because he is unknown, it makes it easier for the audience to feel as though we are also watching history happen and can relate to Derfels awe in it all. Through his eyes we understand the conflict, the world, the personalities of our famous figures we know and love and once again it gives us the sense that we are seeing the real Arthur, the real Galahad, the real Guinevere, etc. Without all the propoganda.
I will have to say though as much as I absolutely really enjoyed my time with this book (I'm giving it a 4.5 after all! I really loved it!) I can't help but miss the magical and fantastical elements of the more popular Arthurian stories like TH White's "Once and Future King" which is, in my opinion, an absolute masterpiece of a story. I love Cornwells take but I think this is going to take some getting used to on my behalf. This is a me problem and not a fault on Cornwell at all. It's just not what I'm used to but I can't wait to dive into th next two novels to see if I can finally wrap my head around it a bit better. I honestly don't think it will be much of an issue the more time I spend with these characters. These are just my initial thoughts after only reading this first book. Im a massive historical fiction fan and I think taking Arthur (who has always had a place in the more fantasy side of my reading) and putting him in a realistic historical setting is just taking a while for my brain to adjust to.
One thing I will put a slight blame on Cornwell for though is the treatment of his female characters. I'm not going to get preachy about this because, let's face it, women were treated like s*** back in the day. There is no doubt about that. Sexual assault happened, abuse happened, being treated like property happened. I get it and I won't put any blame on any historical writer for putting these horrible things women had to endure in their novels. It's absolutely realistic and we need to see these things sometimes and witness what these women went through to understand the history of women in the world, how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go. Yet, I still was slightly annoyed with Cornwell of the amount of times women were sexually assaulted in this book. There were, I'm not joking, four female characters that were assaulted in the first few chapters. Later chapters the amount of times sexual assault was threatened or mentioned was kind of insane. These were not described, not extremely graphic, thank goodness but still I thought it was a bit of an overkill of this topic. I'm not new to the historical fiction genre in the slightest so sexual assault just comes with the territory but these just seemed a bit too much too many times. There are so many other ways to make your point about female oppression and suffering in these eras where not every single female character has to be assaulted. Sometimes it makes sense for example with Nimues character and her three wounds. That assault, while horrible, made complete sense to the story, was accurate to history and the story Cornwell was trying to make and helped further Nimues character development. One that didn't work was King Gundleus wife when taken captive by Owain upon her husbands defeat by Arthur. That could have been prevented and was insane and gross. As I said earlier, I don't want to get too preachy about all this as I don't want to come off as I'm doing some moral grandstanding on the behalf of all women who may not even share my opinion or have men think I'm bashing them when I'm absolutely not. I just think not taking away the subject of sexual assault but toning it down slightly would do books like this a world of good. Historical fiction authors need to come up with better darker outcomes for their female characters than assault. It's not creative and just comes off a bit...creepy sometimes deeping on how deeply the author focuses on it. Although, I will add to Cornwells credit, he really did make some fascinating and bada** female characters. The very ending with Nimue and Gundleus...was an absolute chefs kiss moment. I actually said "Ha! Finally!" out loud. No spoilers obviously. Haha.
Whew! Now that I can put my preachy stick in the mud rant away and exclaim how absolutely excited I am to get to the next two books. On the cover of my particular novel it has a quote from Cornwell stating that "Of all the books I have written these are my favourites." And it really does show. You can tell he had a great time with this story and put a lot of research and painstaking detail into it and it truely paid off. Next..."Enemy Of G-d" here I come!
Bernard Cornwells "The Winter King" so far has to the the most unique take on the Arthurian mythos I've ever read. It's almost taking a Nennius or a Geoffrey of Monmouth approach and making Arthur and his take a historical story set in the background of the late 400s AD during the Saxon invasions of Britain. Rather than a Prince of Camelot with a magic sword and a wizard companion here we see a rugged young warlord who is the illegitimate child of the now deceased high king Uther Pendragon having to fight gory and bloody battles on the behalf of the new young child king Mordred. It takes the whole Arthur legend on turns it on its head giving it a realistic edge that's fascinating to watch. All the while I was reading I felt like I had found an old manuscript lost to time and was reading about the rise in power of a famous figure I had heard about a thousand times before without all the magical and religious propoganda fluffing it up through a unique perspective.
That unique perspective, of course, being our narrator Derfel Cadarn. Who is retrospectively telling us Arthurs story later in his elderly years as a monk living his life in a monastery. At first, I was a little confused and put off by the idea of having this absolutely random person be out perspective into the world of Arthur the Warlord but now I get it. Not only is Derfel a full fledged character with his own backstory and persona and is himself fascinating to follow but, because he is unknown, it makes it easier for the audience to feel as though we are also watching history happen and can relate to Derfels awe in it all. Through his eyes we understand the conflict, the world, the personalities of our famous figures we know and love and once again it gives us the sense that we are seeing the real Arthur, the real Galahad, the real Guinevere, etc. Without all the propoganda.
I will have to say though as much as I absolutely really enjoyed my time with this book (I'm giving it a 4.5 after all! I really loved it!) I can't help but miss the magical and fantastical elements of the more popular Arthurian stories like TH White's "Once and Future King" which is, in my opinion, an absolute masterpiece of a story. I love Cornwells take but I think this is going to take some getting used to on my behalf. This is a me problem and not a fault on Cornwell at all. It's just not what I'm used to but I can't wait to dive into th next two novels to see if I can finally wrap my head around it a bit better. I honestly don't think it will be much of an issue the more time I spend with these characters. These are just my initial thoughts after only reading this first book. Im a massive historical fiction fan and I think taking Arthur (who has always had a place in the more fantasy side of my reading) and putting him in a realistic historical setting is just taking a while for my brain to adjust to.
One thing I will put a slight blame on Cornwell for though is the treatment of his female characters. I'm not going to get preachy about this because, let's face it, women were treated like s*** back in the day. There is no doubt about that. Sexual assault happened, abuse happened, being treated like property happened. I get it and I won't put any blame on any historical writer for putting these horrible things women had to endure in their novels. It's absolutely realistic and we need to see these things sometimes and witness what these women went through to understand the history of women in the world, how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go. Yet, I still was slightly annoyed with Cornwell of the amount of times women were sexually assaulted in this book. There were, I'm not joking, four female characters that were assaulted in the first few chapters. Later chapters the amount of times sexual assault was threatened or mentioned was kind of insane. These were not described, not extremely graphic, thank goodness but still I thought it was a bit of an overkill of this topic. I'm not new to the historical fiction genre in the slightest so sexual assault just comes with the territory but these just seemed a bit too much too many times. There are so many other ways to make your point about female oppression and suffering in these eras where not every single female character has to be assaulted. Sometimes it makes sense for example with Nimues character and her three wounds. That assault, while horrible, made complete sense to the story, was accurate to history and the story Cornwell was trying to make and helped further Nimues character development. One that didn't work was King Gundleus wife when taken captive by Owain upon her husbands defeat by Arthur. That could have been prevented and was insane and gross. As I said earlier, I don't want to get too preachy about all this as I don't want to come off as I'm doing some moral grandstanding on the behalf of all women who may not even share my opinion or have men think I'm bashing them when I'm absolutely not. I just think not taking away the subject of sexual assault but toning it down slightly would do books like this a world of good. Historical fiction authors need to come up with better darker outcomes for their female characters than assault. It's not creative and just comes off a bit...creepy sometimes deeping on how deeply the author focuses on it. Although, I will add to Cornwells credit, he really did make some fascinating and bada** female characters. The very ending with Nimue and Gundleus...was an absolute chefs kiss moment. I actually said "Ha! Finally!" out loud. No spoilers obviously. Haha.
Whew! Now that I can put my preachy stick in the mud rant away and exclaim how absolutely excited I am to get to the next two books. On the cover of my particular novel it has a quote from Cornwell stating that "Of all the books I have written these are my favourites." And it really does show. You can tell he had a great time with this story and put a lot of research and painstaking detail into it and it truely paid off. Next..."Enemy Of G-d" here I come!
3.5 stars and rounding up. I really struggled with the first half of this book. Kinda boring. Weird (unpronounceable) place names. And loooong chapters... I hate long chapters. But it finished strong. I’ll probably read the other two at some point.
This book is so deep on my sh!t list that it will never see the light of day again.
Truth be told, I am not even sure that I want to write this review.
What it's about: the Winter King is a non-magical retelling of Arthur, based on sources such as Y Gododdin and the historical works of Nennius. It takes place in the Dark Ages, somewhere between the 5th and 6th century, and chronicles the state of Britain after the fall of Rome.
What I thought: I feel like this book tried to be [b:The Pillars of the Earth|5043|The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)|Ken Follett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1576956100l/5043._SY75_.jpg|3359698] and missed. In the absence of historical evidence, Cornwell leans hard on the Dark Age setting - with an emphasis on Dark. As far as time periods go, it isn't a bad choice: we have the invasion of Britain by the Saxons, bands of feuding warlords, raiding Irish, the rise of Christianity and the tentative resurgence of Druidism - in short, there is plenty of material to work with.
What puts this book at the top of my sh!t list is the way that Cornwell decides to work with it.
Cornwell's rendition of "Dark Age" Britain would have delighted Petrarch. In short: women are powerless, men are violent, everyone's covered in lice, and religion is King. This is absolute claptrap.
For someone who spent so much time researching history, I am shocked that this is the result. This book reads like an excuse to fetishize rape, glorify violence, and take cheap pot shots at religion and spirituality. I could also write an essay on the author's choices w.r.t. characters such as Merlin, Lancelot and Guinevere, but we would be here all day.
Instead, I will just share a scene that made me want to throw up while I was reading it.
TW for sexual abuse:
Here's the thing - while the main character never actually engages in rape, he doesn't intervene when others do. Nor does he form any true relationships with the women he encounters. His key love interest, Nimue, sleeps with Merlin when she is fourteen. But apparently that's OK because those were the times and that was her choice. Here, by the way, is Merlin's view on children:
Was the author trying for irony here? Probably. Then there's the paedophilia:
The women in this book are either abused or the cause of great misery. The men range from noble (but hapless) heroes to absolute brutes. Meanwhile, Christianity and Druidism are both reduced to politics and performance. There is zero interest in the theological underpinnings of these beliefs, and the author's endnotes show zero awareness of the problematic choices that were made here.
I can find nothing to excuse this.
Read it for the shield walls and the battles if you enjoy those, but personally I'm done.
TL;DR: stay clear.
Truth be told, I am not even sure that I want to write this review.
What it's about: the Winter King is a non-magical retelling of Arthur, based on sources such as Y Gododdin and the historical works of Nennius. It takes place in the Dark Ages, somewhere between the 5th and 6th century, and chronicles the state of Britain after the fall of Rome.
What I thought: I feel like this book tried to be [b:The Pillars of the Earth|5043|The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)|Ken Follett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1576956100l/5043._SY75_.jpg|3359698] and missed. In the absence of historical evidence, Cornwell leans hard on the Dark Age setting - with an emphasis on Dark. As far as time periods go, it isn't a bad choice: we have the invasion of Britain by the Saxons, bands of feuding warlords, raiding Irish, the rise of Christianity and the tentative resurgence of Druidism - in short, there is plenty of material to work with.
What puts this book at the top of my sh!t list is the way that Cornwell decides to work with it.
Cornwell's rendition of "Dark Age" Britain would have delighted Petrarch. In short: women are powerless, men are violent, everyone's covered in lice, and religion is King. This is absolute claptrap.
For someone who spent so much time researching history, I am shocked that this is the result. This book reads like an excuse to fetishize rape, glorify violence, and take cheap pot shots at religion and spirituality. I could also write an essay on the author's choices w.r.t. characters such as Merlin, Lancelot and Guinevere, but we would be here all day.
Instead, I will just share a scene that made me want to throw up while I was reading it.
TW for sexual abuse:
Spoiler
"So tell me about it," Owain said. He was watching one of his men who had stripped a slave girl naked and was now smearing butter on her belly."
"It isn't my tin," Cadwy said forcefully.
"Must be someone's," Owain said. "You want me to ask Lwellwyn? He's a clever bastard when it comes to money and ownership." His man slapped the girl's belly hard, splattering butter all over the low table and causing a gust of laughter. The girl complained, but the man told her to be quiet and started scooping butter and pork grease on the rest of her body.
[...] Owain shrugged. His attention was back on the butter-smothered girl who was now being chased about the lower terrace by a half dozen drunken men. The grease on her body made her hard to catch and the grotesque hunt was making some of the watching men helpless with laughter. I was having a hard time stopping myself from giggling.
Here's the thing - while the main character never actually engages in rape, he doesn't intervene when others do. Nor does he form any true relationships with the women he encounters. His key love interest, Nimue, sleeps with Merlin when she is fourteen. But apparently that's OK because those were the times and that was her choice. Here, by the way, is Merlin's view on children:
"A child is like a calf; if the thing is born crippled you knock it smartly on the skull and serve the cow again. That’s why the Gods made it such a pleasure to engender children, because so many of the little brutes have to be replaced."
Was the author trying for irony here? Probably. Then there's the paedophilia:
"The saint is happier these days, thanks to our remaining novice who is no longer a novice, but consecrated a priest and a monk and already, Sansum insists, a saint like himself. Saint Tudwal, we must now call him, and the two saints share a cell and glorify God together. The only thing I can find wrong with such a blessed partnership is that the holy Saint Tudwal, now twelve years old, is making yet another effort to learn how to read."
The women in this book are either abused or the cause of great misery. The men range from noble (but hapless) heroes to absolute brutes. Meanwhile, Christianity and Druidism are both reduced to politics and performance. There is zero interest in the theological underpinnings of these beliefs, and the author's endnotes show zero awareness of the problematic choices that were made here.
I can find nothing to excuse this.
Read it for the shield walls and the battles if you enjoy those, but personally I'm done.
TL;DR: stay clear.
adventurous
dark
inspiring
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
Fantastic read!
Qualquer coisa escrita por um homem que a mulheres tem a profundidade de uma poça d’água é um grande não pra mim
Not the right time... Try again later!
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Violence, Murder
This is one of the most unique Historical fiction I have read.
Bernard Cornwell uses vivid descriptions and tantalizing battle scenes to keep you reading on the edge of your seat until the end.
What we have here is one of the best, if not the best, retelling of the Arthurian legend.
We follow the story of Derfel Cadarn, an old monk who tells us of his warrior's past. We learn about the politics and battles of Artur through his eyes.
How the places, people, and battles are described is amazing. I can’t remember another book that succeded in making me emerge in a world so good as The Winter King did.
The only thing that felt a bit off was how the book ended. It felt a little rushed.
We had an amazing final battle, but it got solved in a weird way.
I will definitely read the next book in this series. The final score is 4.5 stars for me.
Bernard Cornwell uses vivid descriptions and tantalizing battle scenes to keep you reading on the edge of your seat until the end.
What we have here is one of the best, if not the best, retelling of the Arthurian legend.
We follow the story of Derfel Cadarn, an old monk who tells us of his warrior's past. We learn about the politics and battles of Artur through his eyes.
How the places, people, and battles are described is amazing. I can’t remember another book that succeded in making me emerge in a world so good as The Winter King did.
The only thing that felt a bit off was how the book ended. It felt a little rushed.
We had an amazing final battle, but it got solved in a weird way.
I will definitely read the next book in this series. The final score is 4.5 stars for me.
This book is unlike any I have ever read. Much of this book seemed to be a little slow and I wasn’t sure that this type of book was for me. I think it just took some time to get into the story and there were a lot of characters to remember. I had to keep going back to the list of characters to help remember who was what. In the end I have to say that I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one in the series! 8.7/10
I came upon this take on the Arthurian legends by recommendation by someone dear to me and by the lure of pretty covers, an indulgence to which I’m joyfully guilty. Contrary to perhaps many of the readers, I do not see myself as an Arthur fan but that I think may have added to the magic of the story.
“The Warlord Chronicles” by Bernard Cornwell is a set of three books comprising “The Winter King”, “Enemy of God” and “Excalibur”, which take on the trodden but timeless story of Arthur, a leader of the Britons when England laid swarmed by the invading Saxon at the end of the 5th century. The tale is framed narrative told by Derfel Cadarn a shield-brother to Arthur during the length of his life-long campaign against the Saxon.
Though best described as historical fiction (not withstanding the questionable authenticity of historical Arthur), The Warlord Chronicles mix a tint of the fantastic namely under the hands of the pagan Druids, whose conflict with the rising Christianity make a good deal of the venomous web of intrigue, running side by side with the political struggle between the petty kingdoms of Britain. The story also includes the anachronistic but iconic Merlin and Lancelot, both presented with a personality twist that adds great flavour to the tale.
Cornwell is a prolific writer having written the Sharpe novels along with others tomes of historical fiction. He is a skilled man, capable of weaving fierce page turners and, perhaps more rewarding, of digging deep into History to portray as accurately as possible the customs of the time – something he probably acquired during his career as a journalist.
Throughout the novels and in the first two book in particular, one can almost feel the structured nature of his prose, how the complex chronology and every unfolding event seems to have been meticulously thought out long before any actual writing – a trait common to organized and proficient writers. But, alas, it also robs the story of its mystery as much of what passes is utterly predictable.
Don’t take me wrong. The prose is extremely well-written (if not slightly over-descriptive) and the characters are expertly drawn but for the most part the books lacks the rabid flurry of inspiration. But I guess that is probably something to expect from historical fiction.
Luckily, however, the third book seems to echo the nature of the author more strongly, as characters are more willing to discuss and reflect upon themes likely committed to the (un)consciousness of the writer and the action unfolds more franticly and more on the brink of the unexpected. It is in the final book, I think, that Cornwell speaks more truly as if he had dropped his notes on Annales Cambriae and Historia Brittonum and let the keystrokes run their course.
The series is a rewarding read, profoundly instructive and imaginative and by the time it was over my heart ached and mourned for Arthur, The Once and Future King.
“The Warlord Chronicles” by Bernard Cornwell is a set of three books comprising “The Winter King”, “Enemy of God” and “Excalibur”, which take on the trodden but timeless story of Arthur, a leader of the Britons when England laid swarmed by the invading Saxon at the end of the 5th century. The tale is framed narrative told by Derfel Cadarn a shield-brother to Arthur during the length of his life-long campaign against the Saxon.
Though best described as historical fiction (not withstanding the questionable authenticity of historical Arthur), The Warlord Chronicles mix a tint of the fantastic namely under the hands of the pagan Druids, whose conflict with the rising Christianity make a good deal of the venomous web of intrigue, running side by side with the political struggle between the petty kingdoms of Britain. The story also includes the anachronistic but iconic Merlin and Lancelot, both presented with a personality twist that adds great flavour to the tale.
Cornwell is a prolific writer having written the Sharpe novels along with others tomes of historical fiction. He is a skilled man, capable of weaving fierce page turners and, perhaps more rewarding, of digging deep into History to portray as accurately as possible the customs of the time – something he probably acquired during his career as a journalist.
Throughout the novels and in the first two book in particular, one can almost feel the structured nature of his prose, how the complex chronology and every unfolding event seems to have been meticulously thought out long before any actual writing – a trait common to organized and proficient writers. But, alas, it also robs the story of its mystery as much of what passes is utterly predictable.
Don’t take me wrong. The prose is extremely well-written (if not slightly over-descriptive) and the characters are expertly drawn but for the most part the books lacks the rabid flurry of inspiration. But I guess that is probably something to expect from historical fiction.
Luckily, however, the third book seems to echo the nature of the author more strongly, as characters are more willing to discuss and reflect upon themes likely committed to the (un)consciousness of the writer and the action unfolds more franticly and more on the brink of the unexpected. It is in the final book, I think, that Cornwell speaks more truly as if he had dropped his notes on Annales Cambriae and Historia Brittonum and let the keystrokes run their course.
The series is a rewarding read, profoundly instructive and imaginative and by the time it was over my heart ached and mourned for Arthur, The Once and Future King.