Uhtred’s tale continues in this novel much like it has in the previous novels. He fights a few battles for a king that he doesn’t respect (King Alfred) to help create a country that he doesn’t care about (England). In some respects, Cornwell’s writing style has become somewhat formulaic for The Saxon Tales, but as a reader of this series – I’m fine with it. In other words, when I pick up one of these books (or NOOK books in this case), I know that I’m going to really enjoy reading through the pre-battle, battle, and immediate-post battle portions of the novel. The other parts of the story tend to drag a little bit, but that is the nature of writing fiction.

In The Burning Land, Uhtred is faced with two major in his life. The first is the loss of his wife, Gisela. The second is the introduction and ultimate destruction of a Danish woman who enters the story – Skade. In fact, The Burning Land does a great deal to inform the readers of the importance of certain women during Uhtred’s time period. The novel not only tells the stories of Gisela and Skade, but also of the emergence of Aethelflaed as the much-beloved Lady of Mercia. One of the joys of reading this book was reading about how Aethelflaed gave hope and spirit to the Mercians who were otherwise downtrodden and stuck with an Ealdorman that they could care less about (Aethelflaed’s husband, Athelred).

Of course, the advance of the Danes on the Kingdom of Wessex is also a major part of the story and I enjoyed reading how Uhtred played a part in both bolstering Wessex’s defenses and igniting the fire of war on the side of the Danes. It’s almost as though he was fighting against himself, which might be a great allegory of the strife that is constantly going on inside of Uhtred. The fight scenes in this novel are, as always, intense and near-addicting. Honestly, it gets very hard to put down the book (the NOOK Book, that is) when the story moves to one of the fight scenes. Very well done by Cornwell.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this NOOK Book and I would recommend it to any fans of this type of series. If you’re interested in the middle ages and reading a historical fiction set in that time period (though frequently referencing real life events of historical record), then you would probably enjoy the entirety of The Saxon Tales. The Burning Land certainly lives up to the high standard set in the previous novels in this series and I expect that the next novel – Death of Kings – will do the same.

In the event that you’re interested, you can read any of my reviews of the previous novels in The Saxon Tales: The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, and Sword Song. If you opt to read any of those previous reviews, I hope you enjoy them. And if you’re looking for a good beach read this summer, then pick up the first book in The Saxon Tales and give it a shot. I think you’ll enjoy it!

Today’s book review is of Sword Song, the fourth book in Cornwell’s The Saxon Tales series. Just like The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, and the Lords of the North that came before it, Sword Song follows the evolving story of Uhtred Ragnarson as he serves as King Alfred’s most trusted warrior during the creation of England from the provinces of Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria, and the rest of the lands on the island. And, also like the stories in the previous three books, Sword Song is written from the perspective of an older Uhtred recounting his adventures to someone listening (we don’t know who). In this entry into the series, the story begins with Uhtred carrying out his charge to create a buhr around the town where he’s been stationed and where he lives with his wife, Gisela, and their young family.

However, as a growing force of Vikings begin to amass north of London (or Lundene as it is written in the book), Uhtred is called to capture the city and build up its reinforcements. After defeating the Vikings, Uhtred is named the Military Governor of London which puts him in control of the city’s defenses. His counterpart for civil governance is Bishop Earkenwald, who does no great service to early Christianity with his ultra-pious attitude and ability to completely aggravate the hell out of Uhtred (and, at times, the reader).

One of the major plot points in this story is the marriage of Uhtred’s cousin, Aethelred and King Alfred’s daughter, Princess Aethelflaed. The marriage eventually winds up infuriating Uthred as well as Gisela because Aethelflaed is beaten by her husband during pregnancy. Plus, the story tells us that Aethelflaed is really only 14 or 15 years old and that Uhtred views her almost as a daughter of his own. Oh, and clearly Aethelflaed is disgusted with her husband who, as you might expect, is a bit of a coward.

What adds some interest to this story is how Aethelflaed is captured during a fight with the Vikings and how two Viking brothers – Erik and Sigefrid Thurgilson – hold her for ransom. The interest level in the story perks up when it is revealed during negotiations for Aethelflaed’s release that she has fallen in love with Erik and that Erik plans to abandon his brother and escape with Aethelflaed to the northern part of the country.

It’s almost needless to say, but that plan falls through and there is a great battle in the process. In fact, there is a good amount of writing in this book and Cornwell – as always – speeds up the action during the fight scenes. Like the previous books in this series, when the action slows down so does the story and writing style. However, I’m hooked on The Saxon Tales so I keep on reading and keep on enjoying them!

Actually, my only major complaint about this book isn’t the fact that it slows down and then picks up, but rather that it feels like the book ended a few pages too early. I hate to give away then ending of books (skip ahead to the next paragraph if you don’t want to know what happens), but after Erik is killed by his brother and Uhtred rescues Aethelflaed and Osferth (King Alfred’s bastard son), the story just sort of ends. Uhtred is on the deck of his newly captured boat holding a crying Aethelflaed in his arms as he tries to console her because she is distraught over losing Erik and having to go back to Aethlred – her scumbag husband who doesn’t trust her and beats her. There is no scene where Aethelflaed is reunited with her scumbag husband or even her sickly father, King Alfred. There’s no discussion about Gisela’s health – who was pregnant at the end of the novel and at risk of dying from the pregnancy. The story just sort of ends.

I guess this is one of Cornwell’s literary devices to create a demand for the fifth novel in the The Saxon Tales – The Burning Land. Whatever the purpose of abruptly ending the story (which is unlike Cornwell), I felt that the end of the novel was rather sudden. That might just be my interpretation – if you’ve read the book, I’m interested in hearing what you think about the ending.

A few days ago on this blog I noted how I was putting myself to work by finishing a lot of the books that I’ve left half-read or half-started over the last year or two. With the completion of Sword Song, I’ve come pretty close to completing that task. The only other half-read book that I started reading earlier this year and that I have yet to complete is Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Of course, the truth is that I’ve actually downloaded the next book in The Saxon Tales and started reading it last night, so I’ll probably breeze through The Burning Land and then finish off the Tarzan book.

And then I get to start beating away at my bookshelf – which is stacked with paper copies of books that I haven’t had a chance to even look at yet.

I read those books a few years ago and I really enjoyed them. However, as you’ve probably garnered from this blog – I’ve been booked up over the last few years and thus I haven’t had a chance to catch up on reading the remaining books in this series. Until now, that is…

Lords of the North was one of those books that had been shuffling around from my bookshelf to my home office desktop to the bureau and so on for the better part of a year and a half. In fact, in the last year and a half I only managed to read about 6 pages of the book. But then a few weeks ago I picked up the book on a Friday night and started reading a little bit more of it. I read through the first few pages again, moved along to the next few pages, and before I knew it I was some 50+ pages into the book. Fast forward a mere 24 hours later and I had finished reading the Lords of the North.

That’s how captivating this story is once you start to get into it (and have the benefit of having read the previous two novels in the series). The third installment of The Saxon Tales follows the story of Uhtred Ragnarson as he travels back to his ancestral homeland in Northumbria. What I remember about the “plot thickening” in this story is the part where Uhtred helps free a slave by calling himself Thorguild the Leper. Nothing wrong with a little deception when you’re trying to keep yourself alive, right? The slave turns out to be a guy named Guthred who proclaims himself the King of Northumbria. This part of the book stayed with me as a major plot point because after helping Guthred build some credibility for himself to be the King of that part of England, Guthred goes and sells Uhtred into slavery as demanded by Uhtred’s uncle.

Talk about getting screwed over by your boss, right?

The story takes a bit of a detour when Uhtred becomes a slave. I’m not sure if it’s one of Cornwell’s literary devices or if it’s just the way this part of the book presents itself to the reader, but I thought the entire story slowed down at this point. Having read three of Cornwell’s books (and I’m almost finished with the fourth book in this series), I’ve noticed that when he writes about fighting scenes and action scenes, he’s great. However, when he writes about the mundane existence of a slave (for example), the writing slows down. There are several places in Cornwell’s books that have these slow down points and, as an informed reader, I find myself annoyed at the slow down in the story, but understanding of the need to do so.

The other part of this book that stands out in my mind is the final fight for Dunholm. Uhtred takes Guthred’s “army” and leads an attack against Kjartan. This is the same Kjartan whose son (Sven) had one of his eyes plucked out by Ragnar – the guy who essentially raised Uhtred and whose name he uses in his last name (Ragnarson). What stands out to me in this battle is the release of Thyra and her hounds. From the way that Thyra is described in the book, I envisioned a crazy lady that appeared as a mix of the crazy cat lady from the Simpson and the lustful, angry version of Galadriel from the Lord of the Rings.

This is what I imagine Thyra, Ragnar's sister, was like - just without the magic.

Not exactly a pretty sight if you’re trying to win a battle against her side, you know?

Of course, like in all great movies and novels, the good guys win in the end and Uhtred defeats both of his long-time enemies (Kjarten and Sven) as well as a much stronger, better funded enemy in Ivarr Ivarsson.

I’ve never considered myself a big reader of historical fiction until I began reading The Saxon Tales. They’re very entertaining and Cornwell skillfully crafts each book so that it can be read on its own. Readers of this series, though, know that each book builds on the one prior and that the characters continue to develop throughout. I’d recommend this book to anyone who has read the first two novels in The Saxon Tales as well as anyone who enjoys historical fiction (set in the late 800s and early 900s). Also, those who enjoy reading fantasy and science fiction might enjoy how Cornwell intersperses the Norse religion and Christianity throughout the tale because the character think that the gods of each religion are using their “magical powers” to help them along.

Plus, it’s the summertime and who wouldn’t love a good book to read while laying on the beach?! If you’re headed to the beach this year, then I suggest picking up the Lords of the North – I think you’ll really enjoy it!