Just as good the second time around, if not better! All of Cornwell's strengths are on prominent display here; an authoritative command of the historical setting, likable and lively characters, thoroughly descriptive language and brutal, gritty battles. He also has an inarguable gift for storytelling...the plot always flows forward nicely and never seems forced or overwrought. Cornwell consistently displays a way with packing pretty epic tales into an easily digestible three or four hundred pages, which is fantastic in an age of increasingly anvil-sized novels...everyone knows I love my bricks but there's something to say for getting to the point. It just feels like a friendly, smart but approachable older dude telling you an awesome story about vikings and kingdoms crushed by marauding armies and generally cool stuff like that, made even more gripping by the fact that it's HISTORY! Guys, I know you get tired of my "Woah...that really happened?!" moon-eyed bullshit but these were almost mythical-feeling times. Cornwell has a gift for picking the most gnarly times to set his stories in, and this may be his best example although it's certainly arguable, with series in the Napoleonic Wars and even post-Roman Arthurian stuff.The series also boasts what may be Cornwell's most popular protagonists in Uhtred "Uhtred" Uhtredsson. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Uhtred becomes a feared and famous warrior, but when we meet him in this first book he's only ten and he even has a different name. So in a way this is a bit of a departure for Cornwell; the coming of age story. The rest of his protagonists are all at least young adults by the time we meet them, so this is new territory for the man. I know I'm not the only one who gets bored with coming of age stuff...I went through that whole bit less than a decade ago and I'm not terribly interested in doing it again, even vicariously. So take it from me when I say that this is a thoroughly awesome coming of age story. Within probably ten pages the Danes have invaded and cut everyone's heads off and are just generally kicking the four fledgling Saxon kingdoms on their asses. The Danes like Uhtred, though, and spare his life and take him in as one of their own. As he grows up, Uhtred witnesses the conquering of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia, leaving the titular last kingdom: Wessex. Although he's basically a Dane at this point, Uhtred seems to not be able to cut the Saxon cord and his loyalties are torn as the Danes converge on their final target. I gotta say, I remember being occasionally annoyed with the guy for like the first two or three books but he just wins you over...such an arrogant, mockful motherfucker. You just can't help but smile at his antics.Like I mentioned, there is frequent levity in these books but they're often dark and bleak. Cornwell doesn't shy away from portraying just how short and brutal life could be. Savage violence lays just around every corner, waiting to pounce. The Great Heathen Army was basically a giant rape-and-murder-vacation-invasion for thousands of Danes and harsh shit is constantly going down. Uhtred joins the warrior class pretty early on and there's several battles, all realistically depicted with lots of cringe-inducing gut, throat and head wounds. The stakes were truly high for proto-England and the desperate, ugly nature of these wars are pretty apparent. The ugliness is tempered by the very pretty and moody descriptions of the English countryside, its weather and the surrounding ocean. Cornwell is still one of the best at dropping you into a foreign setting and immersing you, all in a very painless manner. I can't recommend these highly enough to people with even the slightest interest in historical fiction. It goes down easy but is well-written, isn't lengthy but is packed with plot and detail and communicates the brutal nature of the times without becoming over-the-top or silly.The Saxon and Danish cultures clash on one main point besides the territorial one--religion. The Danes are primarily Germanic pagans and the Saxons are mainly Catholic. There's lots of religious talk in the books, stuff like Norse creation myth and Catholic saints and holy relics...all of it seems convincingly ancient and weird, the Christianity of the 9th century can feel pretty different from the one most of us know and I don't know any practicing pagans. Of course, Uhtred is a fervent pagan and spends most of the entire series mocking the Catholic church, its priests and its "Nailed God." Some people have called this book notably anti-Christian, which I get but disagree with for the most part. There are plenty of likable and admirable Christians in the book like Beocca and Alfred, and on the flip side plenty of detestable pagans like Kjartan and Guthrum. I really don't think Cornwell is espousing any kind of actual personal anti-Christian sentiment, though. It makes sense for the irreverent pagan guy to make fun of the religion diametrically opposing his, and he does and it's often really funny. I think people from all religions can have a laugh at someone offending a stuffy ninth century priest with sex jokes. The whole clash of religions thing is just a fascinating dichotomy and will be a familiar theme to those who have read his Arthur books.Like England? Read this! Like vikings*? Read this! Like history? Read this! Like war stuff? Read this! Hell, like fantasy? Read this! I can't recommend it enough. It's just one of those books that you have a really great chance of liking. It's super fun and fast paced and you learn a great deal, not just about the setting and events and people but about stuff like blacksmithing and sailing. It's sad, but this was the book that taught me that you make steel by introducing carbon to iron. The creation of Uhtred's famous viking sword Serpent-Breath and seax (long stabbing dagger) Wasp-Sting is one of my favorite scenes in this book. That's right, COOL WEAPONS WITH COOL NAMES! Just one of the many, many indulgently nerdy aspects of this book. The later entries have meatier and more focused stories, but this is a fantastic introduction to the series. I used the term "edutainment" in my first review and I think it's probably still a good description of this one. An almost perfectly well-rounded and compact yet utterly satisfying book.*Alright, I gotta admit I'm totally Team Saxon and think the vikings were total dicks. I would go so far as to say that if the Danes had gotten their way and fully extended the Danelaw I would probably not even be on this planet. It's speculation, but; No Wessex means no England means no America means no Nate. So I have to say "fuck the vikings" for purely selfish reasons. Plus, they literally made their living by murder, theft, and slavery. Dicks.EDIT: Also fuck the vikings because of Ivarr and Halfdan's repeated bitching out and converting to Catholicism when I beat their asses in holy wars on every one of my Crusader Kings 2 Mercia or Wessex games.
Review in Portuguese from Desbravando Livros:Essa resenha foi revista e atualizada em julho de 2015.Algumas palavras para definir esse livro? Vingança, traição, paredes de escudos. É isso o que você encontrará na narrativa e, tenho certeza, fará você se apaixonar por essa série. Comprei a coleção das Crônicas Saxônicas só de ler a sinopse e olhar para as capas, que são extremamente bonitas e possuem um cenário de guerra "sedutor". Deixando as enrolações de lado, mãos à obra.Uhtred é um garoto saxão nascido na Nortúmbria, ao norte da Inglaterra como conhecemos hoje, e aos 10 anos acaba ficando órfão devido a um ataque dos dinamarqueses à região perto de sua terra natal, Bebbanburg. O que muda totalmente o destino de Uhtred é o fato dele ser capturado nesse ataque e começar a ser criado como um próprio dinamarquês pelo earl Ragnar, um chefe muito carismático e também excelente guerreiro, que desde pequeno lhe ensina a arte da batalha.O livro,na sua maior parte, nos mostra a história do ponto de vista de Uhtred em meio aos invasores dinamarqueses, pois é com eles que Uhtred cresce e percebe a sua veneração pela guerra desde o momento em que põem os pés no mundo. Mesmo gostando do modo de vida dinamarquês e da sua cultura, Uhtred jamais esquece de Bebbanburg, pois é para lá que seu coração aponta, é lá que está a fortaleza da sua família e que pertence a ele agora, apesar de estar fora de alcance."Tinha aprendido a esconder minha alma, ou talvez estivesse confuso. Nortumbriano ou dinamarquês? O que eu era? O que queria ser?"A partir de então a narrativa, sempre em primeira pessoa, por sinal, começa a retratar a conquista dos dinamarqueses, que com sua fúria e coragem chegaram ao litoral norte da Inglaterra e a partir dali expandiram o seu domínio pelo território inglês. Mas o que significa "O Último Reino", Vagner? O último reino refere-se a Wessex, única província inglesa que não foi conquistada pelos invasores, mesmo após Nortúmbria, Mércia e Ânglia Oriental caírem e ficarem sob domínio dos dinamarqueses. Uhtred aprende a lutar ao lado de Ragnar e seus guerreiros, que o consideram um aliado importante e o protegem de todos os perigos que podem atrapalhar a sua caminhada."- Um líder lidera – disse Ragnar – e não se pode pedir que os homens arrisquem a vida se não estivermos dispostos a arriscá-la também."O grande destaque dessa série não poderia ser outro: paredes de escudos. É incrível a quantidade de detalhes que o autor coloca em meio às cenas de guerra que você vai acabar a leitura simplesmente achando que já sabe matar todo mundo e está pronto para uma batalha de verdade.Bernard Cornwell é um dos poucos autores que consegue transformar uma briga de rua em uma batalha épica entre dois exércitos. Você se sentirá lá no meio, baixando o escudo para não receber um golpe nos tornozelos enquanto levanta aquela espada para enfiá-la nas tripas do seu oponente."O júbilo! O júbilo da espada. Eu estava dançando de júbilo, a alegria fervilhando dentro de mim, o júbilo da batalha do qual Ragnar falava com tanta freqüência, o júbilo do guerreiro. Se um homem não o conheceu não é homem. Aquela não era uma batalha, não era uma carnificina propriamente dita, apenas uma matança de ladrões, mas foi minha primeira luta e os deuses tinham se movido dentro de mim, tinham dado velocidade ao meu braço e força ao escudo, e quando terminou, e quando dancei no sangue dos mortos, soube que eu era bom. Soube que eu era mais do que bom. Naquele momento poderia ter conquistado o mundo e meu único lamento era porque meu amigo não pôde ver, mas achei que ele poderia estar me olhando do Valhalla. Levantei Bafo de Serpente para as nuvens e gritei o nome dele. Já vi outros jovens saírem da primeira luta com o mesmo júbilo e os enterrei depois da batalha seguinte. Os jovens são idiotas, e eu era jovem. Mas era bom."Algumas mulheres também entram e saem da vida de Uhtred conforme ele cresce e suas necessidades (fisiológicas) mudam. Sugiro que vocês prestem bastante atenção nessas personagens femininas, pois elas serão imprescindíveis para entendermos o que o futuro reserva para Uhtred.Ah, não posso esquecer de comentar sobre o destino. Sim, sobre ele mesmo, o rumo que nossa vida irá levar. Sobre as três fiandeiras que regem a vida de Uhtred e insistem em colocá-lo na trama mais profunda possível, fazendo-o passar por muitas dificuldades e sempre se perguntar se está fazendo a coisa certa. Porque o destino, como já dizia Merlin nas Crônicas de Artur, é inexorável."O destino é tudo. E agora, olhando para trás, vejo o padrão da jornada de minha vida. Começou em Bebbanburg e me levou ao sul, sempre para o sul, até que cheguei ao litoral mais distante da Inglaterra e não podia ir mais longe continuando a ouvir minha língua. Essa foi minha jornada de infância. Como adulto fui para o outro lado, sempre para o norte, levando espada, lança e machado para limpar o caminho de volta até onde comecei. Destino."Sinceramente, me faltam palavras bonitas e verdadeiras o suficiente para descrever todo o amor que eu sinto por essa série. Apenas leia, e depois passe aqui para dizer se valeu a pena ou não.Os livros das Crônicas Saxônicas fazem parte de uma história épica e que deve ser lida por todos os amantes de guerra! A caminhada do guerreiro saxão Uhtred o levará a traições e mentiras, ódio e vingança, e você não pode ficar de fora. Não vejo a hora de ler o segundo!Pontos fortes: ação. Sangue. Guerra. Batalhas e mais batalhas. Paredes de escudos. Narrativa envolvente e um personagem tão foda que não há como não gostar.Pontos fracos: para mim não é problema, mas acredito que a alta quantidade de personagens e seus herdeiros/antepassados possa confundir alguns leitores iniciantes no gênero.Se eu recomendo? COM CERTEZA!
What do You think about The Last Kingdom (2006)?
I had no idea what I was getting into when I read this book. I'd never read Bernard Cornwell. All I knew was that it was a book about Vikings. Anyway, I absolutely loved it! And I became a permanent Bernard Cornwell fan. I think Uhtred is one of my favorite characters of all time. Yes he’s mean, arrogant, and a bit of an antihero, but he’s a full blooded character, and I felt like I really got to know him. This book goes through Uhtred’s childhood as a Saxon raised by the Danes, and after reading his childhood, I can understand his blood thirsty nature and his conflicted loyalties. I’m always a bit amused by Uhtred’s grumpy disposition. Cornwell has a way of bringing the Dark Ages alive with gritty realism, and he makes the reader feel like they are right on the battlefield, right there with Uhtred. In fact, I’ve actually become quite spoiled by Cornwell, because most historical fiction doesn’t draw me in this well. This truly is one of my favorite series of all time!
—Willow
A Review That Has Very Little to Do with This Book:Sometimes you need a lot of book. You know what I mean. Those Fridays you come home, lie down on the couch, and resolve not to come back until Sunday afternoon. You have vetoed faces and the spoken word. The phone will remain unplugged except for the ordering of something greasy.On these Fridays you have two options: dissolve into a self-pitying, gelatinous blob or turn to a lot of book. You are not without survival skills. You put stock in the usefulness of books. They’ve gotten you through weekends when you waited for the phone to ring, times when your flight’s been cancelled, road trips with the family.So, you know to turn to a lot of book.What you don’t need is Joyce stinking up the joint.What you need on this weekend is something with a clean plot, a protagonist that will win, and somewhere to go far, far from here. You need good historical fiction. Miniver might push Ivanhoe, but let’s face it, such nobility will exhaust you. This weekend may I suggest the sword’s song, and the whale’s way, and the red dawn?What you need is a series --- something that weighs in at 2,000 plus pages so there’s no danger of running out. Go ahead. Follow the nose of the masses. This series is a bestseller: you can count on its opiate properties. It’ll get you through til dawn. And Bloody Sunday.
—h.
This is a first person narration of a child who grows up as a Briton/Saxon but is captured by Vikings, who are more accurately called Danes. He comes to love his Danish father and begins to appreciate their customs and battle lore, as well as becoming battle trained himself. At the same time, though, his roots are with Briton, and, in the end, he joins with the future Alfred the Great, showing him how to defeat the enemy.STRENGTHS:(1) Vivid details of shield walls. Think gritty and bloody.;(2)
—StoryTellerShannon
