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A review by ever_unread
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
If you want historical fiction that hints at a bit of magic but doesn't actually go there, and is moreso centered around the plot than flowery writing or making sure you feel connected to the characters - this is for you. That might make it sound like i had a negative experience, but actually it was quite refreshing to just let the plot pull me in and nothing else.
I did like our narrator, Derfel, and Galahad, but wasn't particularly bothered about anyone else.
The occasional breaks from plot between chapters while Derfel spoke to the queen he was writing the story down for were a bit annoying and served to spoon feed us more info that was maybe difficult to fit in elsewhere. They did make me intrigued as to how Derfel becomes a monk though.
My main issue with this is that not a single woman could be mentioned without a story about her being raped or assaulted. Any time women in general were mentioned, it was about rape/ assault/ slavery. I know it was and still is common in war, but mentioning it as frequently as Bernard did made it feel like he didn't know how else to feature women unless they were 'magical' or noble. It felt lazy. He also used rape as a plot device to try to make Arthur seem above all other men...oh dear.
Wraps us well enough that you don't need to read the rest of the series if you don't fancy it. I think I'll leave it for now, but may come back to it in future.
I did like our narrator, Derfel, and Galahad, but wasn't particularly bothered about anyone else.
The occasional breaks from plot between chapters while Derfel spoke to the queen he was writing the story down for were a bit annoying and served to spoon feed us more info that was maybe difficult to fit in elsewhere. They did make me intrigued as to how Derfel becomes a monk though.
My main issue with this is that not a single woman could be mentioned without a story about her being raped or assaulted. Any time women in general were mentioned, it was about rape/ assault/ slavery. I know it was and still is common in war, but mentioning it as frequently as Bernard did made it feel like he didn't know how else to feature women unless they were 'magical' or noble. It felt lazy. He also used rape as a plot device to try to make Arthur seem above all other men...oh dear.
Wraps us well enough that you don't need to read the rest of the series if you don't fancy it. I think I'll leave it for now, but may come back to it in future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Sexual harassment, War
Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Pregnancy