The Last Kingdom

A refreshing take on historical fiction. The plot is fast pacing, there is hardly any time to get bored. Uhtred is a charismatic protagonist, and the supporting characters are well fleshed out.

The duality of his allegiance is well played out. He was born and raised in his family stronghold in Normandy, until the age of 10. But then he was captured by the Dane Ragnar the Fearless, who raised and loved him as a son. So at times his heart wants to go back to his Saxons origins and rule the land that is rightfully his, becoming an Earl on his own terms. At other times, he just want to fight and go raiding with the Danes.

King Alfred's cunning is demonstrated as he is the only ruler capable of hold off the viking invasions. He is the historical figure that would eventually lead to the unification of England. He manages to fool Uhtred into not only fighting, but wanting to fight for him, burning out all his Danish sympathies.

Fatter Beocca is another endearing character. Crossed eye, ugly as hell and devotedly pious, he never looses hopes for the young Uhtred, that one day he would be rescued and become a christian again.

The author portrays really well the true spirit off the vikings, their love of fighting, ferocity and strategic minds which brought down the English to their knees. But they were not just warriors. They were farmers, and had families, and the rulers cared about the lives of their subjects, and they saw in the fertile lands of England an opportunity for their people to prosper. At the cost of eliminating half of the native population though.

The antagonist Kjartan and his son Sven gives us something to look forward to in future books.

I saw the series first and I liked it. I can now tell it was very faithful to the book.

so far it has Vikings, which makes it awesome.

Good book, it really made history come alive. It is indeed chock full of Vikings and Alfred the Great pops up as a reoccurring character. He also had Crohn's disease, which is no joke. Poor guy. This is one of those periods in England's history which I love reading about, so I really enjoyed it. But oh, those names! Aefelwulf! Uhtrecht! Ubba!

Not my sort of thing but can appreciate it

As stated in my title, it's not quite the sort of book that I enjoy, in fact at times I found it a slog. This was not because it was dull or poorly written, likely more due to the fact that there were so many new names and names of places to remember and learn. Trying to remember which place was new, which they'd visited, what relevance each had the story took a real level of concentration.

The writing was interesting, at times it repeated the word ‘and' quite often but this didn't lessen the quality and the flow of the story telling. I'd recommend this for anyone who loves historical fiction and loves great wars and ship battles.

This book is pure sugar. Like playing Call of Duty but more historical. Uhtred is a real life badass. What an actual person with actual legends about them might have been like. And he's also an arrogant, prideful young man. He makes no apologies and destroys his enemies. He fights for himself, his friends, and his name—and nothing else. No cause, no reflection from the viewpoint of modern morality. It feels great.

Only 4 stars because the writing is extremely straightforward. Really it should be a 4.5. The book accomplishes everything it wants to do and no more. It doesn't reach for anything and often ‘tells.' But you know what? That's fine. The Last Kingdom is an epic adventure without those things. It doesn't need to be changed one bit. I just feel weird giving it a perfect score.

Executive Summary: Despite being Historical Fiction, it's borderline fantasy at times, and therefore right in my wheelhouse apparently. I'll definitely be continuing this series.

Full Review
I've had a few friends raving about this series for years, but I never got around to it before now. It's one of those rare occasions for me where I watched the TV show before reading the book. Apparently a lot of fans of the books don't like the show, but I enjoyed it. It motivated me to finally pick up the book.

As is usually the case, the book is better. It seems as though the show decided to cut down the first 2/3 of this book into a single episode. Likely because they didn't want to have to find/use a child lead for half the season. I think Ragnar's story suffers a bit as a result. I found that fascinating to read.

It also seems like they either added a bunch of stuff, or more likely used parts of book 2 at the end of the season. I wasn't really surprised by anything since I knew what was coming, but I still enjoyed it. I likely would have enjoyed it a bit more had I read the book first. I didn't realize until about halfway into the season that it was based on books I already owned/had on my to read shelf. Oops.

The writing is good, and the characters are interesting. I know almost nothing about English history, so it's hard to know what's truth and what Mr. Cornwell made up. It comes off very realistic to me though.

I've always enjoyed history, and I must really enjoy this time period, because I've read a boatload of fantasy based on it. This one feels a bit fantastical at times with the various gods and superstitions of both the Danes and the English.

Overall, I found it a fast and enjoyable read. I definitely plan to continue on with the series soon (which is good since I own most of it already).

Look, is this series peak literature? Perhaps not.

Does Uhtred son of Uhtred (son of Uhtred) know how to spin a tale that gets me hyped as fuck? Absolutely.

It's been 8 years since I read this book and several years since War Lord came out and I've read anything following Uhtred. This book reminds me why he's one of my favorite characters and why this series gripped me so much.

Also Cornwell writes the best battle scenes. For sure. The end of this book I knew what was going to happen and I still was sitting there like “holy shit”.

Wyrd bið ful aræd!

Destiny is All

The Last Kingdom is the first historical novel in The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell. First published in 2004 the story introduces Uhtred Ragnarson. A man born a Saxon then kidnapped by raiding Danes who raise him from age 11, teaching him how to be a warrior.

Plot summary866 - 876: Osbert is 9 years old and the second son of Ealdorman Uhtred, Lord of Bebbanburg in Northumbria. Danes raid Bebbanburg. Ealdorman Uhtred's first son, also called Uhtred, is killed and his body desecrated after he is sent out to scout the raiders. Osbert is now the oldest son of Ealdorman Uhtred and is renamed Uhtred. Ealdorman Uhtred seeks to avenge his son's death. He is killed during the failed attack on Eoferwic (York) and Uhtred is captured by Earl Ragnar the Fearless of the Danes. Ragnar, intrigued and amused by the boy's attempted attack on him during the battle, retains him in his household. Uhtred's uncle, Ælfric, takes Bebbanburg and the title of Ealdorman for himself although Uhtred is the rightful heir.Uhtred describes his life among the Danes. Moving to the country with Ragnar and his men, working like a slave and fighting with other boys, slaves and Danes alike. Uhtred befriends Ragnar's youngest son Rorik. He has many clashes with one boy in particular, Sven, son of Kjartan, a shipmaster in Ragnar's small fleet. One day, Sven kidnaps Ragnar's daughter, Thyra, and removes part of her clothing to sexually assault her. Uhtred charges Sven from hiding, taking Sven's sword and attacking him with it. Uhtred, Rorik, and Thyra escape back to Ragnar's hall. Ragnar, offended and angry, banishes Kjartan from his service. He crushes one of Sven's eyes with the hilt of his sword - adding that he would have crushed both, had Sven stripped Thyra completely naked.Uhtred then goes viking across East Anglia, and participates in the conquests of Mercia and East Anglia, and the invasion of Wessex. He is kidnapped by a priest, Beocca, an old family friend. He then escapes from Wessex and joins his adopted father Ragnar again. Uhtred enjoys life with the Danes but flees after Kjartan kills Ragnar in revenge, burning down his hall with his former lord inside.Uhtred hopes to escape Kjartan's assassins by spreading the rumor that he too died in the hall-burning. Uhtred then joins King Alfred in Wessex. There he learns to read and write, and sails with Alfred's fleet of 12 ships against the Danes. After a battle with the Danes he again meets Ragnar the Younger, Earl Ragnar's eldest son, and tells him how his father died. They part friends, swearing that one day they will band together to take revenge on Kjartan. Seeking to take command of the fleet, Uhtred gains it on the condition that he marry the orphaned Wessex girl Mildrith, whose family is in debt to the Church. After doing so, he takes part in a siege against Guthrum, and is among a group of hostages exchanged when the Danes and Saxons agree on peace. Staying with the Danes in the city over winter he again meets Ragnar, who saves him from death when Guthrum breaks the peace and murders the other Saxon hostages. Uhtred then escapes to find his wife. She was taken by Odda the Younger, another Wessex ealdorman (earl or noble), to the north. There he fights in the battle at Cynwit, where Uhtred finds himself fighting against Ubba Lothbrokson's Danes.

This was my first introduction to this prolific author. It kept my interest from the very beginning and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Along with all the action, Cornwell has an eloquent writing style, using the dramatic first-person narrative in a magnificent early medieval setting. Kudos to Bernard Cornwell for making such a wonderful series. The story feels grounded in the history and attitudes of the time. There is a great deal of extreme violence, including a lot of rape and pillage and some gory battle scenes. Cornwell manages to achieve a sense of the brutality of the time without lingering on the details. And Uhtred is a believable but conflicted protagonist who helps Alfred to greatness

Do yourself a favour and read it!