The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Chronicles Series #2) | Bernard Cornwell

The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Chronicles Series #2) | Bernard Cornwell | Well written historical page-turner

books:

The Pale Horseman ...

	The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Chronicles Series #2) Bernard Cornwell HarperCollins, 2006 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 59 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Go Pagans!

An excellent historical adventure and I enjoyed this much more than the first in the series. Eagerly looking forward to more in this series.

Well written historical page-turner

I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys historical fiction with an emphasis on militaria. The author paints a vivid picture of life in a war-ravaged Essex during the Danish invasions. The book is a fast read with action on most every page. The heros are flawed and life-like. The final battle scene is one of the best I have read. If I could write this well, I'd quit my job.

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell

In The Pale Horseman (sequel to The Last Kingdom), Bernard Cornwell surges on with his series on the life of Alfred the Great, but not simply with a furthering of the plot, but some clear development in both story, character, and the whole point Cornwell is trying to make with this series.

In Pale Horseman we now learn that our hero from the last book, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, while just as skilled in his knowledge of languages, way with words, as well as his ability with his trusty sword - Serpent-breath - is actually not that great of a guy. When he has to spend time at home with his child and pious wife who wants him to be a good Christian, he treats them with disdain and instead goes off with his buddies on one of Alfred's ships, kills a lot of people, and steals considerable amounts of wealth, as well as kidnapping his very own pagan sorceress. While the pathetic excuse for this case can be made that "it's what men did back then," I find it an admirable move by Cornwell to make the protagonist out to be a character that most would find at the least disreputable. But ultimately these facets of Uhtred's character only serve to make him more believable, which is certainly a critique of the characters in Cornwell's other works.

At the same time, he magnificently captures the feel of the period. Here you have the Saxons trying to defend their country (which they invaded just four hundred years before and occupied) against the Vikings and Danes who all but succeed in their conquering of Britain. Cornwell even goes on to say in his elucidating "author's note" that if it weren't for Alfred's decision, when all seemed lost, to still fight back and win, that Cornwell would be telling this story in Danish. Whether you're a Saxon, a Viking, or a Briton; identity was something both questioned and sought after in this melting pot of a country. Cornwell cleverly reveals this with Uhtred's ability to speak many languages, as well as being often thought a Viking or a Briton, but not a Saxon, which he considers himself.

At the end when all that remains of Saxon Britain is a small area of marsh in Wessex, Alfred unites his people who end up banding together from all areas of the surrounding country, and manages to defeat and push the Vikings out of his land, making Wessex the one strong remaining Saxon place left in all Britain. It was with this victory that Alfred earned the title "great." The book ends with the future knowledge and hope that Alfred the Great will begin taking back the rest of Britain and pushing the Vikings out for good.

For more book reviews, and other writings, go to [....]

for more information click here

Entertaining, action-packed historical novel about the Danish invasion of England ...

This is the second book in the SAXON series. While it didn't hold my interest as much as the first novel, THE LAST KINGDOM, it lived up to Cornwell's usual fast-paced, action-filled drama.

THE PALE HORSEMAN continues the story of the fictional Uhtred and the clash between the Danes and the Saxons. It centers around Wessex, the last Saxon stronghold, and it builds up to the battle of Ethandun (now Edington, Wiltshire).

Cornwell portrays Alfred as a pious, weak and lucky leader, which may seem a bit of a stretch. But if he were the strong, brave, irreverent character that Uhtred is, there would be no room in the story for the hero.

for more information click here

Entertaining, action-packed historical novel about the Danish invasion of England ...

for more information click here