The Last Kingdom

I am surprise this book has high reviews. I have given it a fair try and it was very hard to read through. The quality of language and literature is so mediocre, it is painful to read. The author uses extremely basic language and seem to have skills of a 5th grader. The plot is stretched and stupid clearly targeted at many long extension of the series. Characters are flat and basic. On top of this it is worth to mention that the author seems to have issues with the Christian views of events and the martyrdom of St Edmund and uses very low and even stupid ways to paint him in a black light (such as suggesting he farted when he was kneeling for prayer). I was disgusted by such approach. Two stars are given instead of one because the period that the author is describing is indeed a fascinating period of the English history and I loved learning a bit more (despite all of the bad things about this book) about this period.

After becoming hooked to The Vikings TV series, I did a little internet search (as you do, right?) and came across The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell.And wow! This is the first book in the Saxon Stories (10 books and counting so far…), and I’m hooked once again.The story follows Uhtred who was born a Saxon but is captured by the Vikings during one of the many raids. At 11 years old, Uhtred is raised in the ways of the Danes and becomes a warrior, proudly wearing the Hammer of Thor around his neck.As you’d imagine, he’s constantly torn between the two sides. Not just regarding who he should be fighting for, but he’s also stuck between two religions: the Christian English and the Pagan Danes. In this story, he’s young, brash and has little respect for people in positions of power. This makes for an extremely humorous read.It’s skillfully written in the first person and is full of “little nuggets” of 9th century living at a time when England was ravaged by Viking forces. Think seal-skinning, Viking longships, Ale, and honour.I love the way Cornwell describes battle scenes. It really feels like you’re in the thick of it. Also, most characters like Ragnar Lothbrook, Ubba, Guthrum, and Ivar the Boneless are real historical figures. To give that air of authenticity, he uses the Old English spelling for place names which are all given at the beginning of the novel.The Last Kingdom is a great historical novel which provides intricate details of 9th Century life without becoming a bore. I’m already on to the next book, The Pale Horseman which is equally as good.

If you have seen the TV series, it is still very much worth reading the books, since the plots vary significantly and the novels have far more detail. In some ways, the TV series is more polished and sophisticated, as Book 1 has a fair amount of repetition ('Destiny is everything') and much more space is devoted to crude attacks on Christianity and its adherents, notably the piety of King Alfred. However, there is far more historical background and the pace is more sinuous: in the novel we are not rushing pell mell from one battle to the next.There is slightly more interiority to our hero Uhtred in the book. We read of the youthful warrior's uncertainties, not least about his English-Danish identity, his delight in committed battle, and his overriding concern with his reputation. However, his relationship with women comes across as much more basic. Doubtless, it is more difficult now to portray any hero on screen as simply in it for the bonking. We are told that Uhtred’s relationship with his wife is tender, but the novel does not show this (in contrast to the TV portrayal, which manages to convey some complexity).Above all, Book 1 is great fun, a light and compelling read, which does tell one something about the origins of the English state, forged (and nearly killed) by the hammer of the Danes and the anvil of the 'last kingdom.' The fight scenes are particularly well done, very practical when it comes to describing cuts and thrusts and how (physically) difficult it is actually to kill an adversary. Cornwell writes very well, direct and clear, albeit with little subtlety and a deliberate abandonment of any sense of beauty. He is truly in the mindset of a forceful ninth century warrior, who (without psychological currency) avoids becoming brutalised by the bloody mayhem in which he lives.Civilians are treated, by and large, with low level contempt, but without hostility, as long as they are not true Christians, in which case there is a rancorous edge of righteous hate - which seems credible to me, if ultimately shallow and lacking compassion. But then, these novels are not the place for humane attitudes or a profound appreciation of how Christian values immensely improved life for the majority.

Uhtred saw his brother and father die at the hands of the Danes and he was taken hostage. However Uhtred grew up as the foster son of Ragnar, learning the Danish ways, as his uncle usurped his lands and title. Following the Danes to battle with the Saxons, Uhtred is asked to serve King Alfred and after the death of Ragnar he joins the King and marries a Saxon woman. The Danes control all the English kingdoms except Wessex and it is in the defence of Wessex that Uhtred grows from boy to man.Bernard Cornwell is a writer who knows his audience and knows his subject and it makes for a comfortable novel. Whilst Uhtred may be fictional his story is interwoven with the lives of many real historical characters and known events. This is what makes the book so entertaining, the research is there, the events are there but the fictional characters allow Cornwell to develop a narrative the way he wants to.

No, I couldnt get into it. The style, the writing wasn't for me. I have read much better, abandoned it early, a bit like a school essay, to me anyway. Each to their own.