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matt_furka11 's review for:
The Winter King
by Bernard Cornwell
My goal for this year is going to be to actually write reviews for the books that I read instead of just leaving a rating. I also hope to be more consistent in my ratings by providing some criteria for them. The following four things will be used to help me consistently evaluate all of the books that I read.
I listened to this book, and the narrator, Jonathan Keeble, was absolutely fantastic. Definitely enhanced the experience I had reading the book.
Enjoyment (weighted double) - 1 * 2 = 2
I enjoyed this book massively. The world and the feel of it was grim and I felt as if I were in the world that Bernard Cornwell created. As someone who doesn't have much experience at all with Arthurian legend, this was a wonderful first step. I thought the characters were wonderful. There was dialogue that incredibly natural about the philosophies/reasonings why people go to war, what they want out of it, etc. There was humor. The tensions between the Druids and the Christians was palpable. Everything about this book just grabbed you by the lapels and took you on a journey. I also loved the framing narrative. Best implementation of it that I've seen thus far.
World - 1
I guess I really love the Celtic/Roman time period just during/after the war. I haven't read or learned about anything during that time period in school or in other things that I read and I just happen to be simultaneously reading The Faithful and The Fallen by John Gwynne which pulls inspiration from the same culture and myths. It's fantastic and one of my favorite settings for a story I've read thus far.
Characters (forgive my spelling...audiobook...) - 1
Where to start...Lancelot is the worst. Durfel is absolutely wonderful. Durfel and Ceinwyn all the way. Really enjoyed Merlin and his comedic relief and craziness. All of these characters were written in such a way that you felt strongly about them one way or another. And that's all I can ask for.
Plot - 1
Again, I haven't read/watched much Arthurian legend so this was new and fresh to me. Even still, from what little I do know, it sounds like Cornwell really took it in a different direction. Taking the perspective of an otherwise little known side character from the stories and putting him as the main POV that we receive the story from. As well as twisting the traditional understanding of tails on its head in a bunch of ways. I was gripped the whole time.
Final rating: 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5 out of 5
Other comments:
Set pieces and battle scenes were good. We spent enough time with them that I could really start to see the terrain/battlefield and the characters actions/responses. Again, Jonathan Keeble was so good. Just listen to it. It'll be better than reading it. Excited to be continuing on with book 2 which I hear is even better.
I listened to this book, and the narrator, Jonathan Keeble, was absolutely fantastic. Definitely enhanced the experience I had reading the book.
Enjoyment (weighted double) - 1 * 2 = 2
I enjoyed this book massively. The world and the feel of it was grim and I felt as if I were in the world that Bernard Cornwell created. As someone who doesn't have much experience at all with Arthurian legend, this was a wonderful first step. I thought the characters were wonderful. There was dialogue that incredibly natural about the philosophies/reasonings why people go to war, what they want out of it, etc. There was humor. The tensions between the Druids and the Christians was palpable. Everything about this book just grabbed you by the lapels and took you on a journey. I also loved the framing narrative. Best implementation of it that I've seen thus far.
World - 1
I guess I really love the Celtic/Roman time period just during/after the war. I haven't read or learned about anything during that time period in school or in other things that I read and I just happen to be simultaneously reading The Faithful and The Fallen by John Gwynne which pulls inspiration from the same culture and myths. It's fantastic and one of my favorite settings for a story I've read thus far.
Characters (forgive my spelling...audiobook...) - 1
Where to start...Lancelot is the worst. Durfel is absolutely wonderful. Durfel and Ceinwyn all the way. Really enjoyed Merlin and his comedic relief and craziness. All of these characters were written in such a way that you felt strongly about them one way or another. And that's all I can ask for.
Plot - 1
Again, I haven't read/watched much Arthurian legend so this was new and fresh to me. Even still, from what little I do know, it sounds like Cornwell really took it in a different direction. Taking the perspective of an otherwise little known side character from the stories and putting him as the main POV that we receive the story from. As well as twisting the traditional understanding of tails on its head in a bunch of ways. I was gripped the whole time.
Final rating: 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5 out of 5
Other comments:
Set pieces and battle scenes were good. We spent enough time with them that I could really start to see the terrain/battlefield and the characters actions/responses. Again, Jonathan Keeble was so good. Just listen to it. It'll be better than reading it. Excited to be continuing on with book 2 which I hear is even better.