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A review by jgnoelle
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
5.0
I can see why Bernard Cornwell is considered a grand master of adventure/military historical fiction. The Winter King is my first book by him and it was mesmerizing. It’s a retelling of the myth of King Arthur, but one that strips out all of the magical elements to leave a gritty, earthy, epic tale full of warring kings and kingdoms of the British Isles who ally with and betray each other at will, political maneuvering to protect the realm of a child king, pagan religions and druidic mysticism trying to hold fast against the growing influence of Christianity, the ruins of the fallen Roman Empire, encroaching Saxon invaders, blood oaths of loyalty to one’s lord, and loads of battles, spears, swords, and death. It’s also something of a coming of age story for the main character and narrator Derfel, who starts off as Saxon orphan taken in by the druid Merlin after the sack of his village and who, after getting swept up in events surrounding the succession of the kingdom of Dumnonia, winds up as a spearman of Arthur (not a king but rather a bastard son of Uthur Pendragon), who is sworn to preserve and deliver the throne to the infant king Mordred when he comes of age.
I really liked how, removing all the magic from the myth, it allows for reinterpretation of the roles of all the familiar Arthurian characters. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of Lancelot as, Guinevere as having interest and insight as a political player in her own right, and Merlin as a salty old man with an agenda that, if helpful to Arthur's goals at all, is only such by pure happenstance.
I even liked the frame story of Derfel as a monk in his old age writing the history of Arthur for his patron, the queen of Powys, and I usually hate framing devices in fiction. It really helps create suspense as to how Derfel went from warrior to monk, a question that has yet to answered by the end of the first book. It also provides a vehicle for the customary (magical) Arthurian elements to be first presented/discussed (by the romance-loving queen) and then re-contextualized within this new version of the tale.
I got the audio for this book, which was a huge help with the multitude of Welsh and Saxon people and place names, but the narrator, Jonathan Keeble, was incredible! He truly sold the story, with different voices for every character, huge range in emotional expression, and variations in his pacing and intensity that especially brought each battle scene to life.
I heard that this series is being adapted into a TV show and I can’t wait to see given how excellent the source material is. I'm also very excited to continue with books 2 and 3, which Keeble also narrates!
I really liked how, removing all the magic from the myth, it allows for reinterpretation of the roles of all the familiar Arthurian characters. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of Lancelot as
Spoiler
a lying coward with really good PR; it was a surprising and amusing response to Sir Thomas Malory's incessantly exceptional self-insert OC from La Morte D'ArthurI even liked the frame story of Derfel as a monk in his old age writing the history of Arthur for his patron, the queen of Powys, and I usually hate framing devices in fiction. It really helps create suspense as to how Derfel went from warrior to monk, a question that has yet to answered by the end of the first book. It also provides a vehicle for the customary (magical) Arthurian elements to be first presented/discussed (by the romance-loving queen) and then re-contextualized within this new version of the tale.
I got the audio for this book, which was a huge help with the multitude of Welsh and Saxon people and place names, but the narrator, Jonathan Keeble, was incredible! He truly sold the story, with different voices for every character, huge range in emotional expression, and variations in his pacing and intensity that especially brought each battle scene to life.
I heard that this series is being adapted into a TV show and I can’t wait to see given how excellent the source material is. I'm also very excited to continue with books 2 and 3, which Keeble also narrates!