As you already know, I am a pretty big fan of Bernard Cornwell. So when I recently was preparing to go on vacation and stocking up on books to take on my Kindle, I discovered a whole series by Cornwell that I had not gotten around to reading! You, my fellow book lovers, will totally understand the joy, excitement and sheer exhilaration that comes from such a discovery! I promptly downloaded all 9 books and snarfed them during vacation!

As a child Uhtred was the son of a nobleman living in Bebbanburg a wild North Sea coastal fiefdom in what would later become England, but was now just a loose federation of four kingdoms whose leaders were constantly feuding against each other. But in the 9th century however, their squabbles seemed almost childish compared to the fierce and powerful vikings who began ravaging their coastlines seeking treasure, slaves and new lands to conquer.  And so it was that Bebbanburg’s downfall also came at the hands of these powerful Danes who went a viking. In Uhtred’s case his father was killed in the attack and his uncle, seeing his chance for power made a deal with the Danes to leave him in place as ruler of Bebbanburg with a promise to pay tribute thus depriving Uhtred of his birthright. Uhtred, instead, ended up as part of the spoils of war given to a Danish warrior who had resettled his family in this new land and luckily was accepted as part of the family.  As Uhtred grew he was able to train in the Danish style of warfare, learned the art of the shield wall, worshiped their gods and accepted their way of life, until no one could tell that he had not been born into a Danish family.

This good life however was suddenly destroyed when a rival Danish warrior who took offense, came and destroyed their home and killed Uhtred’s adopted mother and father in a horrific slaughter.  Uhtred who managed to hide and keep quiet, watched from the forest as the horror unfolded leaving him an orphan for the second time.

Vowing revenge and hoping to maybe be able to regain control of Bebbanburg again, Uhtred makes his way to Alfred the King of Wessex and offers to help him oust the Danes who have caused such havoc all over the four kingdoms.

Cornwell bases Uhtred on a distant family relative and you can tell that he has done enormous amounts of research to bring the time period and culture to life. The clash of faith between Uhtred who worships Thor and Alfred, also know as the Monk King for his devotion to Christianity, is of significant import in this story. Uhtred who was baptized as a child in the Christian faith, now has nothing but disgust for the “nailed god” who Christians worship and similarly Alfred cannot fathom those who choose to follow pagan gods in the face of the one and only Truth.  But in spite of their antipathy for each other’s faith, Alfred and Uhtred must forge an uneasy alliance in order to get what they want from each other.  For Alfred, Uhtred is a rich source of knowledge of the Danish fighting style and the strategies that might be used to overcome their superior force. For Uhtred, Alfred is the one person who can give him his birthright, Bebbanburg.

If you love historical novels, you will be spell bound by a master story teller who lets you inside the minds of people of the 9th century, allowing you to understand their way of life and their deeply human responses to betrayal, hope, and faith. An added bonus for readers is that BBC is now adapting these books into a TV series called The Last Kingdom!

For ease of reading the following is the the series in book order.

1. The Last Kingdom
2. The Pale Horsemen
3. The Lords of the North
4. Sword Song
5. The Burning Land
6. Death of Kings
7. The Pagan Lord
8. The Empty Throne
9.  The Warriors of the Storm; with more to come!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend these books to: Ken, Sharon and Marian

Books Study Worthy? yes

Read in ebook format!