War of the Wolf (The Last Kingdom Series, Book 11)

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Then I forgot the dead brothers as we rode south through fields showing the first signs of the new year’s crops, beside pastures where fresh-born lambs bleated, and by woods hazed with new leaves. A fat land, I thought, which is why men fought for it. The Romans had captured it, then we Saxons took it, and after us came the Danes, and now the Norse were strengthening their hold on the wilder lands of Cumbraland and casting greedy eyes on these plump fields. I touched Serpent-Breath’s hilt. “They’ll always need us,” I said to Finan.

battle scenes bettered in their excitement levels only by those of Wilbur Smith, yet generally without the tongue-in-cheek elements meaning Bernard' s work delivers more credibility to the reader. But Leofstan was a gentle and kind man. Lord Osferth is troubled. He doesn’t think God loves him, poor man.” Mus, I thought, was a gentle and kind woman. I gave her the last two of my gold coins.

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Cornwell draws a fascinating picture of England as it might have been before anything like England existed’ THE TIMES Uhtred learns that Edward has called a Witan at Tamweorthin, summoning Sigtryggr, but not him. He goes anyway. He sees Æthelhelm there too. Eadgifu, Edward's wife, tries subtly enlisting his support against their mutual enemy, Æthelhelm; later Æthelhelm tries to have him killed, but fails. Sigtryggr agrees to a treaty with Edward so that he can turn his full attention to avenging his wife. Then, Æthelstan swears an oath to never fight against Uhtred or invade Northumbria (if he becomes king of Wessex) while Uhtred lives; in exchange, he gets Uhtred to swear to try to kill Æthelhelm. War is bitter. The poets give battle a splendor, extolling the brave and exulting in victory, and bravery is worth their praise. Victory too, I suppose, but the poems, chanted in mead halls at night, give boys and young men their ambition to be warriors. Reputation! It is the one thing that outlives us. Men die, women die, all die, but reputation lives on like the echo of a song, and men crave reputation”

The Flores Historiarum claims that the Warwolf sent a single stone through two of the castle's walls in the course of the siege, "like an arrow flying through cloth". [4] Other sources, however, report that the weapon was only finished after the Scots had surrendered. [3] Edward decided to use it anyway, refusing to let anyone enter or leave the castle until it had been tested. [5] In the original records [ edit ]War of the Wolf is the 11th book in Bernard Cornwell’s series about Uhtred of Bebbanburg and the founding of Anglo-Saxon England. Orphaned as a young boy, Uhtred is taken as a slave by the great Danish warrior Ragnar, who eventually comes to love him as a son. My issue with the way Cornwell kill off his characters aside, War of the Wolf is one of the finest installment in the entire series. Uthred’s dialogues and interactions with other characters were engaging, and Cornwell’s battle scenes remain great as always. War, valor, faith, reputation, family, life, and death are key themes of the entire series, and War of the Wolf has some of the best presentations of it. I have only two books left to read now. I am both sad and happy that I’m so near the end. I hope the next and last two books, Sword of Kings and War Lord, will be even better than this. Cornwell has his protagonist observe: "The gods are not kind to us, any more than children are kind to their toys. We are here to amuse the gods, and at times it amuses them to be unkind....Perhaps my conviction that I was cursed was false, but there were not birds in the winter sky, and that omen told me I was the plaything of cruel gods." Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!

stars for another rousing historical fiction book by Bernard Cornwell. This is the 51st book that I have read by Cornwell and I enjoyed all of them. I recommend that you start this series with book 1, The Last Kingdom. It is the story of Uhtred of Bebbanburg. In this book, Uhtred faces a new enemy, Skoll, a Norseman, defeated by Celtic warriors in Ireland and now living in Northumbria. He kills one of Uhtred's family and Uhtred swears revenge. I think that Cornwell writes the best battle scenes of this period--about 9th to 10th century. They are so vivid that you can imagine yourself watching the battle in real life. Constant philosophical battle between paganism and Christianity that depicts given period precisely. Nevertheless, Uhtred is bound by his word, so once again, he must strap on Serpent’s Breath — his great killing sword — and fight England’s foes. For the Danes are threatening England again and they want Uhtred dead. Bernard Cornwell’s epic story of the making of England continues in this eleventh installment in the bestselling Saxon Tales series—"like Game of Thrones, but real" ( The Observer)—the basis of the hit Netflix television series The Last Kingdom. Outside of the inconsequential scuffle at the start of the book, and the large set-piece battle at its end, there isn’t a great deal of martial action in WAR OF THE WOLF. What there is, unfortunately, is a good deal of palace intrigue. The good news here is that Uhtred has (seemingly) learned his lesson about making oaths to Saxon kings, but this doesn’t keep him out of politics. The unification of the English crown, over the long term, is going to require the conquest of Northumbria and the end of the uneasy accommodations that Christians and pagans have made in that community. Uhtred, as a thoroughgoing pagan, can only look at the rise of Christian England with disgust --- and has to endure the spectacle of his pagan son-in-law undergoing baptism to placate the Saxons.War is bitter. The poets give battle a splendor, extolling the brave and exulting in victory, and bravery is worth their praise. Victory too, I suppose, but the poems, chanted in mead halls at night, give boys and young men their ambition to be warriors. Reputation! It is the one thing that outlives us. Men die, women die, all die, but reputation lives on like the echo of a song, and men crave reputation, as they crave the heavy arm rings that mark a warrior’s victories. Osferth was not invited to Tamweorthin. “King Edward,” he had told me stiffly, “would prefer I did not attend.” Norwegian novelist Jacobsen folds a quietly powerful coming-of-age story into a rendition of daily life on one of Norway’s rural islands a hundred years ago in a novel that was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize. This 11th entry in Cornwell’s Saxon Tales series ( The Flame Bearer, 2016, etc.) is a rousing, bloodthirsty tale of tumult in early-days Britain.