Blurb
It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur.
The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.
As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.
My Review
For those of us weaned on The Last Kingdom, in many ways this is a familiar world, full of invasions, warlike emotions, and hardships. What is not familiar is the story about King Arthur. In fact, Arthur is no king at all. He is a warlord, sworn to protect and serve the baby Mordred. You see, Arthur is a bastard, rejected by his father Uther, Pendragon of Britain, though everyone knows he should be the king rather than his club-footed half-brother. After Uther dies, Arthur loyally accepts his role as defender of the kingdom, fighting off the Saxons. He is determined to bring all the local tribes together but becomes his own worst enemy when he spurns his ally’s daughter—and his betrothed—the moment he sets eyes on Guinevere. It’s a catastrophe, and plunges the Britons into civil war.
There have been many more beautiful women, and thousands who were better, but since the world was weaned I doubt there have been many so unforgettable as Guinevere, eldest daughter of Leodegan, the exiled King of Henis Wyren.
And it would have been better, Merlin always said, had she been drowned at birth.
Our story is told in first person by Arthur’s friend Derfel, who loved him like a brother but also saw his flaws—as well as his heroism. Derfel understood Guinevere’s attractions but had actually fallen in love with the woman Arthur was supposed to marry, though since he was son of a slave, his was a doomed devotion. Poor guy! He also dislikes Lancelot, who is glorious but a coward. This book turns many of our preconceived notions upside-down, and it will be interesting to see how Cornwell ties everything together in the next volume.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312156960/
