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stormlightreader's Reviews (934)
Yes, the series is formulaic at this point and Uhtred is lucky as ever, but I'm not going to complain about this when this is a comfort series. Unfortunately, other than physically aging (he's over 60 at this point ), Uhtred has developed very little over eleven books. This is where I feel the show depicts him a little bit better, he still has some of the traits he has in the book but I think the show smooths some of his edges and makes him a little easier to like (particularly towards women).
Some of the past few books have been a bit on the slow side, and while I’ve still enjoyed them, a couple have just scraped a 4* for me. War of the Wolf is one of these purely because of the pacing at the start of the book (despite opening with Æthelflaed's death ). It starts slow (at the 100 page mark, I was thinking this would be a 3*) but around the halfway point it really picked up for me unfortunately because it is around this point we hear of Stiorra's death . I still adore Finan! He is without a doubt my favourite character in this series and I am so sad that he is a loyal supporting character but gets substantially less page time than he deserves. The continued confusion about what a lion is has me laughing every time I read it now 😂 ("a lion, whatever that is").
At this point (2 books left) Cornwell is clearly setting up for what I hope is a great ending to the series. I’m sad this series is coming to an end but I don't see how much more story there would be, so it feels like a nicely sized series.
Some of the past few books have been a bit on the slow side, and while I’ve still enjoyed them, a couple have just scraped a 4* for me. War of the Wolf is one of these purely because of the pacing at the start of the book (
At this point (2 books left) Cornwell is clearly setting up for what I hope is a great ending to the series. I’m sad this series is coming to an end but I don't see how much more story there would be, so it feels like a nicely sized series.
One of my favourites in the series so far. Uhtred is back home ! Basically, this book is Uhtred marching his way back home and spreading rumours up and down the country to throw his enemies off 😂
The historical notes at the end of each book tells the reader how much of the book is fictional and how much is history and regardless of how much is fiction, I still enjoy the books. This is a must read if you are already invested in the Saxon Stories, even if it's just to see Uhtred come home! This is the seventh book in my recent marathon of the Last Kingdom books and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Such a comfort series. I say it in almost every review but Cornwell writes amazing battle scenes! Cornwell's book are so immersive and hard to put down. I'm looking forward to finishing the series.
The historical notes at the end of each book tells the reader how much of the book is fictional and how much is history and regardless of how much is fiction, I still enjoy the books. This is a must read if you are already invested in the Saxon Stories, even if it's just to see Uhtred come home! This is the seventh book in my recent marathon of the Last Kingdom books and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Such a comfort series. I say it in almost every review but Cornwell writes amazing battle scenes! Cornwell's book are so immersive and hard to put down. I'm looking forward to finishing the series.
I've read reviews that complain of tiresome writing and following an aging warrior, but if you're going to invest in a series, you need to accept that the writing is likely to become fairly formulaic and yes, the main character is going to age.
I am very much a series person. I like changing places and adding new characters, but ultimately following a character, or group of characters. Warriors of the Storm was a good instalment in the series, with some great character development and appearances.
It was great to get some ofFinan's backstory but it wrapped up too quickly for my liking . However, getting some more on what drove Finan from Ireland was good. We got some friction between Uhtred and Æthelflaed, which makes sense since they tend to disagree (and we didn't really see friction between them in the show). Æthelflaed does so much more in the books and that's so good to see. Even though her position as queen is disputed by a lot of male characters , it's what you'd expect given the time period the books are set in and this didn't feel like it was addressed as much in the show. Stiorra is incredible in the books! I like her in the show but in the books she is fantastic! Stiorra kills Brida in the show and the books but in the books it's even more wildly done . Excellent scene.
Overall, it felt like a bit of a filler but better than The Pagan Lord and still enjoyable.
I am very much a series person. I like changing places and adding new characters, but ultimately following a character, or group of characters. Warriors of the Storm was a good instalment in the series, with some great character development and appearances.
It was great to get some of
Overall, it felt like a bit of a filler but better than The Pagan Lord and still enjoyable.
The Empty Throne is among my favourites of the series so far. I really enjoyed the prologue from the POV of Uhtred's son . Uhtred and his son are such a good pairing, although there is an alarming number of Uhtred's mentioned in this book ("My name is Uhtred. I am the son of Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred, and his father was also called Uhtred. ") 😂 There were some really great moments in The Empty Throne. Getting to know Stiorra was one of my favourite parts of this book! She is such a badass! Uthred's children coming more into focus and their personalities showing through is great to see. I do like Uhtred in the books but I prefer the show version of Uhtred. Book Uhtred has some qualities that I'm not a huge fan of. Also, Æthelflaed. I do love her and her becoming queen (thanks to Uhtred) was a great moment. She deserves it. The book also has some funny moments (Uhtred confessing his sins 🤣 and Æthelstan basically tripped and fell into Finan's shield wall 😂 excellent!
Things to remember:
Things to remember:
Stiorra marries Sigtryggr
The book focuses a lot on Uhtred’s role to provide for his men despite being poor, which is good to address. It's one thing I always think about when watching the show - how loyal his followers must be to follow him through thick and thin for little reward. He attempts to take back Bebbanburg but is unsuccessful. He's very cold in this book (disowning Uhtred, his attitude of women ). I missed how much of my favourite characters (Finan, Æthelflaed) that we got in the previous book. This book was also less atmospheric. Normally I get a real sense of the story and how the Saxon and Norse influences on Uhtred are very much at odds, but this feels lacking in this book. Despite feeling like a filler, this book still had some great battle scenes. I just wish Alexander Dreymon narrated these books.
A solid entry in the series. This book is the first one I've read where I really started to appreciate the historical note at the end of the book. Cornwell's detail and historical knowledge is so good and his battle scenes are among my favourites. I enjoyed this instalment as much as all the others in the series so far. Death of Kings is the first of 4 books that I read back to back, because I was enjoying Finan (and Uhtred) so much. We finally get to see the end of Alfred and Edward coming to power. I liked reading more about Osferth, and feel like he had some good character development.
Things to remember:
Things to remember:
Alfred dies Edward is king Uhtred is getting older
The author referenced one of their own books as "so good I was worried I wouldn't be able to get to sleep". D. N. F.
The book starts out with very little Will or Sara and lots of the McAlpines. Given that this is book 12 in the Will Trent series, I did not anticipate a book so heavily focused on characters other than Will and Sara. This does change towards the mid point of the book, but this type of plot might have been better suited to a standalone that ties into the Will Trent series (book 11.5, maybe?).
NOTE: somewhere between the 15-20% mark, I'd already figured out the killer.
There were a lot of things that kept taking me out of the story:
NOTE: somewhere between the 15-20% mark, I'd already figured out the killer.
There were a lot of things that kept taking me out of the story:
- The involvement of Faith and Amanda felt very convoluted and kind of unnecessary to the resolution of the case.
The crime happens outside of GBI jurisdiction (GBI are called in when an investigation goes sideways) and and the justification for their involvement is because Amanda feels bad that Will is on his honeymoon? - The biology talk is obnoxious in this book.
Normally Sara can deliver this sort of information well but I found it difficult to believe that Sara would be that condescending to Amanda (who probably does know what an epididymis is after this many years in service). Will has a clear conflict of interest (of course he's going to suspect his former bully) which seems quite out of character. He is so blinkered and has complete tunnel vision where Dave is concerned because of issues that happened back in their childhood . Will forgoes any sort of professionalism in favour of pursuing this line of investigation.Will actively decides not to search the kitchen in the main house because Sara (medical examiner/wife/not GBI) searched it already. Granted the weapon was found elsewhere, but that logic is terrible . I don't envy the person writing up that report.Dave is so clearly a red herring . Slaughter is so heavy handed in pointing the fingerat Dave throughout the first half of the book .Then towards the conclusion of the book, she just goes through the cast of characters trying to make the reader suspect any of them by stating random past events or poor character traits that could make them a viable murder suspect .- Follow up on the previous point,
why have your red herring exonerated with voicemail evidence and then have him confess in the lead up to the reveal? - did anyone take that seriously? - There's a lot of repetition about the McAlpines. We get it, Dave is abusive, Cecil is a horrible person, Mercy was pregnant at 15.
It's so sad that I didn't enjoy this book, because I love the series and look forward to a new instalment. However, the first half of this book was hard work, and even though the second half felt a bit quicker, throughout the majority of the book, I kept wondering how necessary it was for this book to be THIS long.
Thanks to NetGalley for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Hmm, parts of this felt really good and other parts felt slightly less good, but overall it's hard to give it less than 4* because Uhtred and Æthelflæd's relationship is lovely and there was a lot of Finan!
The biggest drawback of this book is how shallow Uhtred is about women. Once you get past the fact that Uhtred IS going to sleep with women even though his wife, Gisela, is pregnant, or that he is going to start being affectionate right after she and his new baby died, then it's all good. The show also shows Uhtred's indifference to his existing children, particularly, Uhtred, but this is definitely more apparent in the books.
Overall, slow paced book, for me the Skade stuff is particularly slow (I even thought this with the show). However, as usual, the battle scenes (and it felt like there were a lot in this book) were so well written and I really like the historical note at the end of each book, detailing how much of the book is history and how much is fiction.
NOTE:Uhtred is very shallow were women are concerned (p.196) .
The biggest drawback of this book is how shallow Uhtred is about women. Once you get past the fact that Uhtred IS going to sleep with women even though his wife, Gisela, is pregnant, or that he is going to start being affectionate right after she and his new baby died, then it's all good. The show also shows Uhtred's indifference to his existing children, particularly, Uhtred, but this is definitely more apparent in the books.
Overall, slow paced book, for me the Skade stuff is particularly slow (I even thought this with the show). However, as usual, the battle scenes (and it felt like there were a lot in this book) were so well written and I really like the historical note at the end of each book, detailing how much of the book is history and how much is fiction.
NOTE: