Cornwell is a master of historical research, and always finds a compelling point of view to illuminate the past. Unfortunately, Stonehenge seems more generic than inspired, and I've been trying to analyze why that is so. I loved Agincourt and his Arthur trilogy, which both kept me turning the pages, but I won't be finishing this one.I enjoyed skipping ahead to the end of the book and reading Cornwell's notes on his Stonehenge research, which I found far more interesting, particularly his speculative but supported insight that the major construction was completed within a lifetime, probably under the direction of one or very few people. I think as a writer he was dominated by three problems:1) The mentality of our more distant ancestors is difficult to penetrate, and even more difficult to represent in anything like a modern novel. There's a reason that the novel, as an art form, arose at the same time as the European Enlightenment. That's worth a book in itself. In any case, although stories are as ancient as the hills (so to speak), they are a far cry from the requirements of the popular novel form, which depends a great deal on vivid individual personalities that speak for their times. I think that, with study and inspiration, one could touch the hard lives, oral culture, magical thinking, and tribal identities of earlier people (heck, go look at rural Afghanistan today), but they are not like the people of modern novels. I think that Cornwell has fallen too deeply into creating types instead of individuals, depending too much on the reader's interest in the construction of Stonehenge. Historical novels always require representative types of characters, but inspiration is required, too. The most interesting but also most enigmatic character is Camaban, the sorcerer, but he is external to much of the action, and too strange for this author to seriously entertain. I think that Cornwell has taken his fascination with Stonehenge and has challenged himself to write a book about it, but having set himself this project, it feels to me as if he is fleshing it out into a standard novel format, without passion or inspiration. 2) Too many points of view, diluted over many "types" who are generically intended to speak for their culture, reduce the reader's ability to connect with important characters.3) The main character is a weird, massive, strange, chthonic stone temple that stands in some relationship between the earth and the sun. I think Stonehenge would work better as a movie. I think that the visual, physical properties of the setting far outstrip the writer's ability to represent it, and the myriad characters of the book would succeed as primarily visual actors (in both senses of the word). Bernard, get crackin' on that screenplay!I think Peter Weir or Ridley Scott could direct. Or, preferably, a less renowned, up-and-coming director who I haven't heard of. This is a movie that won't need stars to succeed: the star is Stonehenge itself. It needs a superb cinematographer who "gets" the mystery and power in a big-screen way, an energetic, physical cast, and a director with a great love of setting and action scenes. But oh, Lord, save us from the shaky-cam, and let us return to clearly staged fights and battle scenes, and give us gore with a modicum of taste... sounds like a prayer, doesn't it?) Doesn't Britain have bronze-age re-enactors?
Finally plowed all the way through this, for two reasons. One: we wanted to see the darn thing built. No spoiler there. You know the thing does get built.How they raised the lintels is always a matter of controversy and as a warning for some Chariots of the Gods fans, there are no aliens involved, which is good thing. Give the humans some credit for the emergence of intelligence, and application of brute force which would have been their strength in that era.It's a plausible-sounding method I hadn't heard of as a possibility. It does not involve building earthen ramps as has been proposed, due to -- as one of the characters points out -- a thin top soil layer over the chalk bedrock of the area; there might not have been enough earth to gather for ramps with reasonable effort. We won't give the lintel-lifting method away. If it interests you then you are the reader the author is looking for. The other reason we wanted to see this book through to the end was, without even peeking, we sensed there would be an afterward where the author talks about the research on which the book was based. We were looking forward to that and was not disappointed.The author's strength is in the knowledge -- no, complete mastery - of the subject exhibited in that Historical Note afterward. He admits at the outset of the Historical Note that nothing of the plot, characters or action are anything but fiction. Limitation of the narrative, in fact, prevents some of the more interesting findings on the site from being included, such as the fact that there are painted circles in the parking lot at Stonehenge that mark the locations of ancient post holes from 8000 BC, 5000 years prior to the start of the Neolithic Stonehenge construction. In the story, a political/religious conflict involving early Bronze Age villages is conjured up, and all of it struggles to reach the level of contrivance. At the root of it, you find out early, is gold. In the afterward is a mention that a body had been found that had been buried with gold piece artifacts just like those in the story. The hero, Saban, is not all that heroic, letting events wash over him pretty much exactly like a hero isn't supposed to do, and at times, indeed, allowing himself to be pushed around and knocked about. At one point the line "Seize him!" is actually spoken. Enough said.All in all a run-of-the-mill impetus to a plodding build-up to the construction of one of humankind's earliest engineering achievements. Read it for the account of the gathering, transportation and placement of the stones, but don't expect much from the surrounding story.
What do You think about Stonehenge (2004)?
The novel takes place around 2000 B.C. and most of the story events surround the construction of Stonehenge. In this sense, it was a lot like The Pillars of the Earth – except with Bronze Age characters. And like The Pillars of the Earth, the characters drive this story, which concerns the three sons of Hengall, a tribal chieftain. Lengar, the eldest son, is a ruthless warrior who wants to bring war against the tribe’s enemies. Camaban, the middle son, is an outcast and a sorcerer who speaks to the gods and is determined to build a temple that will change the world. While Saban, the youngest son and the story’s protagonist, longs for peace. After Lengar kills his father to become chief of the tribe, a tale of jealousy, betrayal, and murder ensues. Camaban believes that only the construction of a great temple to the sun god can save the land, and he’s convinced that Saban must build it. Over time, the brothers encounter two strong female characters, Derrewyn and Aurenna, whose actions, much like those of Nimue and Guinevere in The Warlord Chronicles, will determine the fate of men. The drama plays out amid the madness of primitive religion, with its sex rites and human sacrifice. The latter is quite disturbing, both to the reader and to Saban, but this theme of violence in the name of religion is one of the book’s most thought-provoking elements. While I prefer Cornwell’s novels set in the Middle Ages, I am glad I ventured back a few thousand years and explored Stonehenge.
—Joseph Finley
This was the first book I've read by Bernard Cornwell and I was very pleased with his writing :). It was recommended to me by a friend, it is one of her favorites. I can see why. If you are a fan of historical fiction at all, I think you should probably read this. The story, obviously, is a fictional story about the creation of Stonehenge. I'll admit, I didn't expect great things from this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. The amount of depth and detail put into this book is really quite amazing. Every character in this story has so much work put into it. Sometimes you can't tell if they are insane or insanely intelligent. I loved Saban right from the beginning to end. I also thought I was going to like Camaban, but that changed throughout the story. The characters grow and change so much throughout the book. I couldn't bring myself it like any of the female characters in this story, but I don't know that we are supposed to like them. Their roles are ever changing. Bernard made it so easy to immerse yourself in this fictional past that I could easily believe all of it was true. This is indeed a great book that I would definitely recommend. I'm glad my friend shared it with me :) I think I will need to read some more books by Cornwell in the future.
—Meghan
I can't say that I enjoyed this book. It has a dry, spare style that feels almost like a list in some places. There are lengthy passages to do with the details of moving the stones that aren't particularly well done or interesting. The characters are hard to identify with, though I'm not of the opinion that you have to identify with characters in order to enjoy a book, it is often helpful. It takes a grim and brutal view of human nature which isn't necessarily a bad thing but presented in this humorless manner is not particularly enjoyable. The book tries to envision what would drive people to build a structure like Stonehenge. There is madness, self-delusion and many battles of will. While I am interested in what drives people to do crazy/epic/impossible things the way the story was told was not of particular interest to me. The protagonist was the most likable, yet least interesting character who really had no agency and whose life and destiny was in thrall to his stronger-willed brothers. The brothers were more interesting but also horrible. I liked the idea of the crippled brother trying to make the world straight but, again, it was not done in a way that resonated for me. The role of the female characters was problematic as women were second rate yet some had much power. Again, this could have been compelling but not the way it was done here. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book was the author's note at the end. I have no doubt that this was painstakingly researched but the storytelling was somehow lacking.
—Jennifer
