Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell

9 reviews

unluckycat13's review against another edition

Really vile, sexist stuff in this one. Not because it's historically accurate mind you, they never are when it comes to women. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, Slavery, Sexism, Violence, Ableism, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

nerdkitten's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, War, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Murder, Sexism, Blood, Violence, Ableism, Death, Alcohol, Gore, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Excrement, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Pedophilia, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Abortion, Confinement, Infertility, Trafficking, Drug use, Vomit, Medical content, Animal cruelty, and Classism

girish0731's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Brilliant start to a darker age and brutal retelling of Arthurian tales. The book starts out slow with its characters but picks up close to 1/4th into the book and doesn't let go of the steam and pacing. The atmosphere of 5th to 6th century Britain is portrayed in a grim picture.The characters are the most important draw for this series. Must read for anyone wanting to pick up a historical fiction with fantasy elements mixed in very less amounts.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Animal death, Grief, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Blood, Child death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, and Misogyny

cjblandford's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this more realistic take on the legend of Arthur. Here he is not presented as a King, but as a Warlord who is trying(and many times failing) to unite Britons against the invading Saxons, but just as often, he is battling other Britons who are vying for more power. This was first published in 1996 and I think, even though this is more definitely historical fiction (less fantasy), this influenced a lot of the grimdark fiction that came after this in the fantasy genre. It is dark, violent, gory, ruthless, and at times hard to read, especially the sexual assault scenes. The author was trying to accurately portray the violence of daily life that was inescapable during this time, and in that regard he was successful. As far as the story goes, the plot meandered a bit before an overarching story revealed itself. A lot of time was spent establishing the characters and this world. The characters are well-rounded and interesting. Arthur is a flawed, tragic human whose nature has him fighting himself as much as his enemies. Merlin is a crazed, single-minded asshole who is only looking to reestablish Britain's "natural gods" and to kick out any invaders. Our narrator is very sympathetic, and at the beginning of this story, has a bit of hero-worship for Arthur going on. As the story progresses, and as he matures, our narrator learns that Arthur is still a hero, but he's also just a man, not some God-like being. And that's what I find interesting about this novel, it reimagines a legend and mythic character as a real person, with ambitions, flaws, and weaknesses. I'm looking forward to seeing how this story plays out, even though I know if it follows the legend, it won't end well for Arthur...

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexism, Blood, Animal death, Gore, Death, Rape, and Violence

caskeene's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and War

Moderate: Animal death and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death

kissmelicia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Rape, and Animal death

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Once and Future King is my favorite book. To call this A Tale of Arthur and then have the narrative focus on a warrior named Derfel? It is certainly a bold move, but I think in the end it is a good choice. Trying to base the historically spotty, retroactively-Christian narrative of Arthur in the actual post-Roman dark ages of Britain is no easy task. But Cornwell’s attention to historical detail and respect of it makes for a very fun and interesting read. As long as you can stomach historical sexism and misogyny, which I wouldn’t blame you for skipping.

Also, this Lancelot is wildly different from T. H. White’s, which I didn’t expect. What a dick. 8/10.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Slavery

Minor: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

mad_mad's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Sexism, Slavery, and War

ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense slow-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

4.75

“Fate, Merlin always said, is inexorable… There was so much heartache, so much blood and so many tears that they would have made a great river; yet, in time, the eddies smoothed, new rivers joined, and the tears when down to the great wide sea and some people forgot how it ever began. The time of glory did come, yet what might have been never did…” 

 

TITLE—The Winter King (first novel of The Warlord Chronicles trilogy) 

AUTHOR—Bernard Cornwell 

PUBLISHED—1995 

 

GENRE—Arthurian Legend retelling 

SETTING—mythological/fantasy medieval Britain 

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—who tells our stories 

 

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Derfel and Nimue are some of my favorite fictional characters of all time. And Merlin is pretty cool too but I wish there was way more of him...) 

PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Even for a book that is a first in a series, that ending was epic. 

BONUS ELEMENT/S—This is one of my favorite time periods to read about and Cornwell’s historical worldbuilding is the best there is. 

PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 

“Christianity now lapped around the old faith like a wind-driven high tide splashing through the demon-haunted reed-beds of Avalon.” 

 

Not my usual genre of choice but I’m always here for Bernard Cornwell’s outstanding writing style and complex, subtly heroic characters. (His Saxon Chronicles featuring my book-husband, Uhtred of Bebbanburg 🥰, are some of my alltime favorite books.) 

 

What I like best about Cornwell’s books is that since he’s an historian, every detail is accounted for and his worldbuilding is so indepth that you cannot help but be drawn  completely in to medieval Britain through his writing. From everything from how the hay is dried in summer, to the way linen is made, to the architecture, the vestiges of Roman culture that remained after the Fall, the traditions and customs. If I didn’t know better I’d swear that Cornwell was a time traveler his vision of medieval Britain is so complete. 

 

I’m looking forward to continuing the series this winter! 

 

“The night was long and bitterly cold. But I wished the dawn would never come.” 

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 

 

TW // rape, sexual slavery, violence, gore, death, death of children, problematic portrayal of a character with dwarfism, confinement & banishment of the mentally ill (who are also portrayed somewhat problematically) 

 

Further Reading— 

• The Saxon Chronicles, by Bernard Cornwell
• The Once and Future King, by T.H. White
• The Story of Silence, by Alex Myers
• Legendborn, by 
• Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
• The Welsh Princes Trilogy, by Sharon Kay Penman

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal cruelty

Also contains problematic portrayal of a character with dwarfism, and confinement & banishment of the mentally ill (who are also portrayed somewhat problematically).