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A review by thisotherbookaccount
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
5.0
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwall is the first book in The Warlord Chronicles, and it is yet another take on the Arthurian legend — though arguably the most exciting and realistic take on the story yet.
All the characters you are familiar with are here, including Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin, etc. But what makes this take different is that, because it’s by Bernard Cornwall, The Winter King is devoid of magic. Yes, some characters do practice magic, and religion is a big part of this world, but Cornwall never once shows that the magic actually does anything — a point that I greatly appreciated. I really didn’t want to read another Arthurian legend dipped in fantasy, so this book is just perfect.
Cornwall came to me highly recommended by George RR Martin, who once wrote that no one else writes action and epic battles better — and it’s true! Cornwall masterfully takes you through every swing of the blade, every punctured gut, every freed arrow, and every facet of victory and defeat. In fact, he’s especially good at setting up the battle, letting the readers in on the action, and you never lose your sense of place amid the scale of things. I’ve read many writers and their attempts at creating epic battle scenes and, while they are large in scale to say the least, you never quite feel like you are THERE. Cornwall, on the other hand, describes everything to such detail that you can feel just how heavy the armour is, or how fast the horse is galloping, or how much that slice of the blade is hurting your cheek. I’ve never read fights and battles described with such realism, and THIS is the bar to beat when it comes to describing action.
But The Winter King is not all action, action, action.
Between the fights and battles, you have the political mechanisms in place, which I love. This is Game of Thrones without the dragons, essentially, and the same politicking rules apply here. Hell, Arthur’s arc in this book even resembles Robb Stark’s arc in A Storm of Swords. Although, spoiler alert, no Red Wedding type event here, but the root of war remains the same.
If you are wondering, hey, Arthur is supposed to be the gleaning example of righteousness and chivalry, right? So how can he be like Robb Stark? You mean he promised to marry someone, only to fall in love with someone else and, as a result, cause the war to breakout?
Well, yes, and that’s the brilliance of Cornwall’s take. The characters we’ve come to know are not fantastical caricatures. Instead, they are flawed, and that’s refreshing. Arthur is righteous to a fault and is a weakness to Guinevere; Lancelot is not really THE knight in shining armour, but a paper general who’s better at making up stories about his heroics; Guinevere, well, Guinevere’s a bitch. So there.
Cornwall has mentioned that The Warlord Chronicles are his favourite books, and maybe I shouldn’t have started with this series. I mean, what if it is all downhill from here? Nonetheless, that’s all in the future. For now, I am enjoying the hell out of this series, and I cannot wait for the second book to arrive at my doorstep.
PS Even though I knew Merlin’s going to appear, his reveal in the book took me completely by surprise.
All the characters you are familiar with are here, including Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin, etc. But what makes this take different is that, because it’s by Bernard Cornwall, The Winter King is devoid of magic. Yes, some characters do practice magic, and religion is a big part of this world, but Cornwall never once shows that the magic actually does anything — a point that I greatly appreciated. I really didn’t want to read another Arthurian legend dipped in fantasy, so this book is just perfect.
Cornwall came to me highly recommended by George RR Martin, who once wrote that no one else writes action and epic battles better — and it’s true! Cornwall masterfully takes you through every swing of the blade, every punctured gut, every freed arrow, and every facet of victory and defeat. In fact, he’s especially good at setting up the battle, letting the readers in on the action, and you never lose your sense of place amid the scale of things. I’ve read many writers and their attempts at creating epic battle scenes and, while they are large in scale to say the least, you never quite feel like you are THERE. Cornwall, on the other hand, describes everything to such detail that you can feel just how heavy the armour is, or how fast the horse is galloping, or how much that slice of the blade is hurting your cheek. I’ve never read fights and battles described with such realism, and THIS is the bar to beat when it comes to describing action.
But The Winter King is not all action, action, action.
Between the fights and battles, you have the political mechanisms in place, which I love. This is Game of Thrones without the dragons, essentially, and the same politicking rules apply here. Hell, Arthur’s arc in this book even resembles Robb Stark’s arc in A Storm of Swords. Although, spoiler alert, no Red Wedding type event here, but the root of war remains the same.
If you are wondering, hey, Arthur is supposed to be the gleaning example of righteousness and chivalry, right? So how can he be like Robb Stark? You mean he promised to marry someone, only to fall in love with someone else and, as a result, cause the war to breakout?
Well, yes, and that’s the brilliance of Cornwall’s take. The characters we’ve come to know are not fantastical caricatures. Instead, they are flawed, and that’s refreshing. Arthur is righteous to a fault and is a weakness to Guinevere; Lancelot is not really THE knight in shining armour, but a paper general who’s better at making up stories about his heroics; Guinevere, well, Guinevere’s a bitch. So there.
Cornwall has mentioned that The Warlord Chronicles are his favourite books, and maybe I shouldn’t have started with this series. I mean, what if it is all downhill from here? Nonetheless, that’s all in the future. For now, I am enjoying the hell out of this series, and I cannot wait for the second book to arrive at my doorstep.
PS Even though I knew Merlin’s going to appear, his reveal in the book took me completely by surprise.