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kidcola_34 's review for:
The Winter King
by Bernard Cornwell
The Winter King (The Warlord Chronicles 1)
I was recommended this book as “an introduction to the historical fiction genre for people who like fantasy” by reviewers I trust on YouTube. ‘The Winter King’ is a retelling of the Arthurian legend from a more historically accurate lens (ie, no *traditional* magic = no sword in the stone), set in a very grim Dark Ages 6th century Britain.
Admittedly, I’m not extremely familiar with the traditional Arthurian legend. I know the names Arthur, Lancelot, Merlin, etc. but beyond that, I don’t know much. Unfortunately, I think that hindered my ability to thoroughly appreciate what Cornwell did in this story.
I have two major complaints:
1) ‘The Winter King’ is written in the first person past tense from the perspective of Derfel, who apparently is one of the classic knights of the round table (although no such round table exists in this tale). I liked Derfel fine, but there was surprisingly little of Arthur in this book, and that was disappointing. I think I would’ve appreciated Cornwell’s decision to paint Derfel as the narrator more had I come in with some background knowledge on the Arthurian legend.
2) Cornwell committed so hard to historical accuracy that I literally couldnt pronounce some of the character names (eg, Gorfyydyd, Culhwch, etc.) nor most of the locations they visited throughout the tale. This was extremely detrimental to my enjoyment. It was just too much effort for me as the reader.
There are definite redeeming qualities, however. Cornwell’s battle sequences are second to none. The book could have used more of them, imo. I put up with the first ~100 pages of slow-burn plot development to experience Arthur’s first hand-to-hand combat and it was EPIC. I thought I was in for much more of that for the rest of the book, but it was more so centered on more plot development and world building. I’ll chalk that up to the fact that this was book 1 in a trilogy and hope for more of Cornwell’s battle sequences in book 2. The action alone will get me to continue on to ‘Enemy of God’, but it needs to exceed ‘The Winter King’ in almost all facets to get me through to ‘Excalibur’.
Overall: Good, not great. 6.75/10
I was recommended this book as “an introduction to the historical fiction genre for people who like fantasy” by reviewers I trust on YouTube. ‘The Winter King’ is a retelling of the Arthurian legend from a more historically accurate lens (ie, no *traditional* magic = no sword in the stone), set in a very grim Dark Ages 6th century Britain.
Admittedly, I’m not extremely familiar with the traditional Arthurian legend. I know the names Arthur, Lancelot, Merlin, etc. but beyond that, I don’t know much. Unfortunately, I think that hindered my ability to thoroughly appreciate what Cornwell did in this story.
I have two major complaints:
1) ‘The Winter King’ is written in the first person past tense from the perspective of Derfel, who apparently is one of the classic knights of the round table (although no such round table exists in this tale). I liked Derfel fine, but there was surprisingly little of Arthur in this book, and that was disappointing. I think I would’ve appreciated Cornwell’s decision to paint Derfel as the narrator more had I come in with some background knowledge on the Arthurian legend.
2) Cornwell committed so hard to historical accuracy that I literally couldnt pronounce some of the character names (eg, Gorfyydyd, Culhwch, etc.) nor most of the locations they visited throughout the tale. This was extremely detrimental to my enjoyment. It was just too much effort for me as the reader.
There are definite redeeming qualities, however. Cornwell’s battle sequences are second to none. The book could have used more of them, imo. I put up with the first ~100 pages of slow-burn plot development to experience Arthur’s first hand-to-hand combat and it was EPIC. I thought I was in for much more of that for the rest of the book, but it was more so centered on more plot development and world building. I’ll chalk that up to the fact that this was book 1 in a trilogy and hope for more of Cornwell’s battle sequences in book 2. The action alone will get me to continue on to ‘Enemy of God’, but it needs to exceed ‘The Winter King’ in almost all facets to get me through to ‘Excalibur’.
Overall: Good, not great. 6.75/10