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A review by llsburg
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
4.0
Stripping away mythological elements, Cornwell weaves a more realistic tale of the legendary "king" Arthur. Narrating the tale is Derfel, a secondary character to the traditional stories, and he gives us insider info on the storybook lives of Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the others. (Much like Biff, in Lamb!) The people of "Camelot" become human, as Derfel exposes their quirks and weaknesses while still appreciating their feats and victories (and treacheries).
The book revs up slowly. I found it hard to get into, partly because the type is so small I had to use readers for the first time in my life (!), and partly because the pacing is slow while minute details are abundant. At first, I could not understand the hype around this series which finds itself on many "all time best" lists. Cornwell's genius is that this deliberate widening of the narrative lens eventually draws you in and immerses you in the Briton of the Dark Ages. Here there is overwhelming cultural clash: the lingering ruins of the Roman empire, nostalgia for the age of the Druids, the emergence of Christianity, political clashes between states, and the threat of invading Saxons, Franks, and even the Irish. To quote Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
A little over halfway through this tome—actually when Merlin truly enters the story—I found myself obsessed with reading it. As soon as I finished, I opened the second book of the series. It is amusing to anticipate some of the elements of the story to come and know that we are only a third of the way through the story at this point.
Note that the TV series deviates extremely from the novels, almost to the point of nonrecognition.
The book revs up slowly. I found it hard to get into, partly because the type is so small I had to use readers for the first time in my life (!), and partly because the pacing is slow while minute details are abundant. At first, I could not understand the hype around this series which finds itself on many "all time best" lists. Cornwell's genius is that this deliberate widening of the narrative lens eventually draws you in and immerses you in the Briton of the Dark Ages. Here there is overwhelming cultural clash: the lingering ruins of the Roman empire, nostalgia for the age of the Druids, the emergence of Christianity, political clashes between states, and the threat of invading Saxons, Franks, and even the Irish. To quote Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
A little over halfway through this tome—actually when Merlin truly enters the story—I found myself obsessed with reading it. As soon as I finished, I opened the second book of the series. It is amusing to anticipate some of the elements of the story to come and know that we are only a third of the way through the story at this point.
Note that the TV series deviates extremely from the novels, almost to the point of nonrecognition.