The Last Kingdom: Saxon Chronicles, Book 1 [Audio Download]

The story follows a young boy called Uhtred, as his family deal with the invasion, and without giving away too much of the plot the paths his life takes because of the invasion, crossing the paths of both Dane leaders and Saxon ones.

I have seen criticism that this book is the same formula as all Bernard Cornwell's other books. I won't deny that it DOES follow the same style of story development and characterization as previous books such as "Sharpe" and the Holy Grail trilogy. However the real beauty of these books is the weaving of a fictional story into actual chronicled history, and Mr.Cornwell is a master at this.

We meet such real historical characters as King Alfred, Guthrum and there's a wonderful take on the death of King Edmund of East Anglia.
The way this book has been written you can truly see the Danes and the Saxons in your mind, hear them, touch their clothes and even smell them, such is the wonderful ambience that comes from reading the book.

If you're looking for something original and unconventional then this book may not be for you....but generally speaking historical novels like these can't be too original. If, however you are a fan of history and love delving into thinking about possibilities within history that are not black and white, then you'll love this book.

I'm really looking forward to the second book in this series.

The reason I love his books is because he uses historical fact to tell of intrigue and adventure. Take this new series for example, it draws you into a young boys adolescent life, shows you his beginnings, and then changes his destiny and makes him walk the path to manhood. The choice of time period is quite interesting as it focuses on the days of King Alfred (849AD-899AD), who was the King of Wessex and later the King of Anglo-Saxons who united the people against the Viking invaders. The young boy is the heir to a minor province in Northumberland, and is captured by the Vikings. He grows up loving Viking ways, worshipping pagan gods and dreaming of glory on the battle field. But he still remembers his home and yearns to go back to reclaim his lands. He has to chose between what he has come to love and what he knows he must do.

This book is about destiny. The life of a man whose destiny leads him to be part of Alfred's court. It is pure unadulterated fun, interesting facts about the Vikings (for example the word Viking, means to go raiding) and great battle scenes (Cornwell's trademark). Like all Cornwell books the character development goes only as far as the ability to wield a sword, but that doesn't matter as the strength in his books is combining historical fact with some memorable characters. I just cant wait to read the next instalment, which should come out before the end of 2005 titled: The Pale Horseman.

PulpKult....