Cornwell is the best!

books:


	• Sword Song (The Saxon Chronicles, Book 4) Bernard Cornwell Harper, 2008 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 44 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Sword Song

Another outstanding book by Bernard Cornwell. He is my favorite author of historical fiction and I have read all of his books and like the others, this one was outstanding.

Wonderful Tale

"Love is a dangerous thing...Lust is the deceiver. Lust wrenches our lives until nothing matters except the one we think we love, and under that deceptive spell we kill for them, give all for them, and then, when we have what we have wanted, we discover that it is all an illusion and nothing is there. Lust is a voyage to nowhere, to an empy land, but some men just love such voyages and never care about the destination."

What can I say? Cornwell's insights are brilliant. His historical detail is enjoyable and, when he departs from strict history, his story is generally believable.

I'll make one comment which is no criticism. How could it be? I've enjoyed virtually every book Cornwell's written and he's been influentual in my writing of historical fiction. His heroic characters are perhaps a little superhuman and I prefer somewhat more human types---people who are sometimes bested in a straight-up fight, people who get injured and are even soundly defeated. Still Cornwell's stories work so he must have it right.

I do wonder, however, if Alfred would accept a Thor-worshipper into his ranks? I remember reading a tale in the Icelandic Sagas in which an English king refuses the services of two Viking brothers unless they convert. "You needn't practice Christianity," the Englishman tells them, "but you must agree to be baptised." They agree because, afterall, what harm can a little water do? Hence, believers in Thor and Odin became Christian from Normandy to Iceland...from Greenland to the Volga.

Those who think the Viking surge was somehow defeated must consider the fact that they gave Russia and Normandy their names, colonized Iceland and Greenland, maintained control of Scandinavia and left their abundant seed scattered over northern Europe including Britain and Ireland. They weren't defeated...They got what they came for.

Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God" on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

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Cornwell is the best!

For those of you who have faithfully read the entire Sharpe series, and all the other series, you know full well that Bernard Cornwell is a master author who never fails to fully involve you in everything he writes. I've read other reviews about his books, and such carping, such trifling squabbles over insignificant details always amazes me. I have no trouble believing that any of those peole would ever read a book by anyone twice. "What for?" they would squeal. And that says it all.
I simply want to say that I've always enjoyed anything I've ever read by Bernard Cornwell. His research is very impressive, his characters always completely credible, and as a plotter he has few equals. For those of you who enjoy finding an author who has a lot to offer, look no further. Here's to you, Bernard, may you continue to write for many years. And thank you for all the wonderful time I've spent with your books.

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review of new b ook

Mr Cornwell once again has captured the imagination of the reader and transported him/her back in time. A facinating tale.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

The year is 885, and England is at peace, divided between the Danish kingdom to the north and the Saxon kingdom of Wessex in the south. Uhtred, the dispossessed son of a Northumbrian lord?warrior by instinct, Viking by nature?has finally settled down. He has land, a wife, and two children, and a duty given to him by King Alfred to hold the frontier on the Thames. But then trouble stirs: a dead man has risen, and new Vikings have arrived to occupy the decayed Roman city of London. Their dream is to conquer Wessex, and to do it they need Uhtred's help.

Alfred has other ideas. He wants Uhtred to expel the Viking raiders from London. Uhtred must weigh his oath to the king against the dangerous turning tide of shifting allegiances and deadly power struggles. And other storm clouds are gathering: Ætheleflæd?Alfred's daughter?is newly married, but by a cruel twist of fate, her very existence now threatens Alfred's kingdom. It is Uhtred?half Saxon, half Dane?whose uncertain loyalties must now decide England's future.

A gripping story of love, deceit, and violence, Sword Song is set in an England of tremendous turmoil and strife?yet one galvanized by the hope that Alfred may prove an enduring force. Uhtred, his lord of war and greatest warrior, has become his sword?a man feared and respected the length and breadth of Britain.

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