The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell
Title: The Pale Horseman
Author: Bernard Cornwell
Published: December 26th 2006
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Pages: 384
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Synopsis:
The second installment of Bernard Cornwell’s New York Times bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England, “like Game of Thrones, but real” (The Observer, London)—the basis for The Last Kingdom, the hit television series.
This is the exciting—yet little known—story of the making of England in the 9th and 10th centuries, the years in which King Alfred the Great, his son and grandson defeated the Danish Vikings who had invaded and occupied three of England’s four kingdoms.
At the end of The Last Kingdom, The Danes had been defeated at Cynuit, but the triumph of the English is not fated to last long. The Danish Vikings quickly invade and occupy three of England’s four kingdoms—and all that remains of the once proud country is a small piece of marshland, where Alfred and his family live with a few soldiers and retainers, including Uhtred, the dispossessed English nobleman who was raised by the Danes. Uhtred has always been a Dane at heart, and has always believed that given the chance, he would fight for the men who raised him and taught him the Viking ways. But when Iseult, a powerful sorceress, enters Uhtred’s life, he is forced to consider feelings he’s never confronted before—and Uhtred discovers, in his moment of greatest peril, a new-found loyalty and love for his native country and ruler.
My Review:
"There comes a moment in life when we see ourselves as others see us. I suppose that is part of growing up, and it is not always comfortable."
This is the second of the series but you can read it standing alone and it still makes a complete story because the events in this book are of vital importance in the life of Alfred The Great. In fact, these are the events that made him what he is. There is enough adventure, betrayal, oaths, and loyalty that was the seal of the people of that time and the constant struggle of the priests, bishops and church to gather riches and people to them while influencing the King and rulers!
It tells the story from the viewpoint of the fictional Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a dispossessed young nobleman who has lived among the Danes and is scornful of Alfred’s piety and caution. His actions at the critical battle of Cynuit in the previous novel should have made him a hero. Instead, his thunder has been stolen by Odda the Younger who claims the honor for himself.
Uhtred is a complex protagonist. He has many traits common to heroes in other books: strength, bravery, a vicious brand of loyalty, and a sense of justice that should make him easy to appreciate. You cannot help not to love him!
Cornwell does an awesome job again of blending fact and fiction in 9th century Great Britain, leading us around Cornwall to fatten our Viking purses, then running around Wessex with King Alfred to defeat the Danish hordes. We get a good picture of the motivations of all involved, and an understanding of the fighting customs. His portraits of swaggering, ignorant, grasping, petty nobles are swiftly drawn and piercing., Cornwell produces the smell of the era, the ignorance, the coarseness of life. His battle scenes are marvels: you can feel the fear, the raw courage, the brutality of combat.
The Review of The Last Kingdom you can find here
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