The Pale Horseman
Ratings16
Average rating4
15
Ratings16
Average rating4
Uhtred is a Saxon, cheated of his inheritance and adrift in a world of fire, sword, and treachery. He has to make a choice: whether to fight for the Vikings, who raised him, or for King Alfred the Great of Wessex, who dislikes him.In the late ninth century, Wessex is the last English kingdom. The rest have fallen to the Danish Vikings, a story told in The Last Kingdom, the New York Times bestselling novel in which Uhtred's tale began. Now the Vikings want to finish England. They assemble the Great Army, whose one ambition is to conquer Wessex. A dispossessed young nobleman, married to a woman who hails from Wessex, Uhtred has little love for either, though for King Alfred he has none at all. Yet fate, as Uhtred learns, has its own imperatives, and when the Vikings attack out of a wintry darkness to shatter the last English kingdom, Uhtred finds himself at Alfred's side.Bernard Cornwell's The Pale Horseman, like The Last Kingdom, is rooted in the real history of Anglo-Saxon England. It tells the astonishing and true story of how Alfred, forced to become a fugitive in a few square miles of swampland, fights his enemies against overwhelming odds. The king is a pious Christian, while Uhtred is a pagan. Alfred is a sickly scholar, while Uhtred is an arrogant warrior. Yet the two forge an uneasy alliance that will lead them out of the marshes to the stark hilltop where the last remaining Saxon army will fight for the very existence of England.Enthralling as both a historical and personal story, The Pale Horseman is a novel of divided loyalties and desperate heroism, featuring a cast of fully realized characters, from a king in despair to a beguiling British sorceress. And always, beyond the spearmen and the swordsmen are the folk who suffer as the tides of war sweep over their farmlands. From Bernard Cornwell, the New York Times bestselling author whom the Washington Post calls "perhaps the greatest writer of historical adventure novels today," The Pale Horseman is yet another masterpiece of historical and battle fiction that gives life to one of the most important and exciting epochs in the history of the English people and culture.
Featured Series
3 primary booksThe Last Kingdom Series, is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2004 with contributions by Bernard Cornwell.
Reviews with the most likes.
Executive Summary: Another enjoyable Historical Fiction book that I probably would have liked a bit better if I hadn't already known what was coming from watching the TV show. I'm really looking forward to book three now.
Full Review
In retrospect I wish I had read this book before watching The Last Kingdom. I had no idea that a 10 episode season would cover two books. That's partly because they glossed over half of the first book, and partly because they cut a lot of detail out.
I had been hoping that much like the first book, I'd get a lot of extra plot and detail the show left out. While that is true, it was not nearly as much as the first book had. Much of the first season seemed to heavily focus on the major events of this book rather than the one it's named for.
The writing is excellent. The battles are interesting without being dragged out too long. The politics seem believable. Unfortunately for me though, none of the plot developments were a surprise. I knew what was going to happen. It kind of felt like a reread.
I read this while traveling to/from Las Vegas last week, so instead of reading it over a long stretch of time, I did it in two long sittings. As such, I'm not really sure what else to write. It all sort of blurred together a bit.
Overall, I enjoyed it, but mostly I'm looking forward to getting past the show and reading about what comes next.
“[b:The Pale Horseman 68528 The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Stories, #2) Bernard Cornwell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1651524566l/68528.SX50.jpg 891875]”, book two in [a:Bernard Cornwell's 12542 Bernard Cornwell https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1504578807p2/12542.jpg] “Saxon Stories”, picks up right where we left Uthred in “[b:The Last Kingdom 68527 The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1) Bernard Cornwell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407107780l/68527.SY75.jpg 881821]”. The Danes overrun Wessex and King Alfred has to hide in a swamp. And that's my one small gripe about this book: We get to know that swamp pretty damn well.Large parts of “Horseman” take place in the swamp and it's a bleak place.Apart from that there's everything the first book had: Action, battles, betrayal, politics!It adds new and exciting characters (Iseult!), places, intrigues and much more. At its core, “Horseman” is, fortunately, more of the same as “The Last Kingdom” and if you liked that one, it's highly likely you'll enjoy this one, too.Now, you'll have to excuse me again because right after the last page of this book, I started reading its successor and had a hard time making room for writing this!Four out of five stars!Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam
Books
7 booksIf you enjoyed this book, then our algorithm says you may also enjoy these.
