Book Review: The Winter King

March: Historical Fiction

Title: The Winter King

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Blurb: Uther, the High King of Britain, is dead. His only heir is the infant Mordred. Yet each of the country's lesser kings seek to claim the throne for themselves. While they squabble and spoil for war, a host of Saxon armies gather, preparing for invasion. 

But no one has counted on the fearsome warlord Arthur. Handed power by Merlin and pursuing a doomed romance with the beautiful Guinevere, Arthur knows he will struggle to unite the country - let alone hold back the Saxon enemy at the gates. yet destiny awaits him...

I should start this review by saying this is not my first Bernard Cornwell read. I am a HUGE fan of his "The Last Kingdom" series and have read one of his famous Sharpe novels which I found on a bookshelf in the a hotel in Malta whilst on holiday a few years ago and it became my poolside companion for the next 7 days. So when I was thinking of a book to read for my historical fiction month, the only question that I really had to ask was which of Cornwell's books that I haven't read should I choose? I decided to go with the first of one of his series' that I hadn't read before in the hope that the review could be as non-biased as possible.

Firstly, this book did not disappoint! Set in the early 6th century, it tells the story of Arthur's quest to bring peace to Britain. It is narrated by a character named Derfel, a once great warlord turned monk and the story switches occasionally from the present to the past as he tells his story. However, I liked how this changing of time only happens on a handful of occasions as it doesn't break from the story too much to get confusing. 

What I love about Cornwell's novel is that through such amazing storytelling and prose he is able to transport you right into the heart of Arthurian Britain. The story of Arthur and characters such as Merlin, Lancelot and Guinevere have been told so many times over the years and in so many different ways. It's hard to know what the truth of these legends are but of all the versions I've read, I could easily believe this to be real. There's also a perfect balance kept between the romanticized versions of these characters and the altered aspects that Cornwell has cleverly added to made these characters so intriguing. For example, Lancelot is a coward which really shocked me at first because I always thought of him as a hero but the more I read the more it made sense and I thought it was really cleverly done.

Also,  if you like historical fiction with great battle scenes then I would recommend this book. You can tell there is so much research that has gone into writing this book that you feel like you're one of the warriors amongst that shield wall. 

Have you read this book or any other Bernard Cornwell novels? What were you thought? Please comment below! 😊

Next Review:

April: Humour  

Book:The Final Game by Caimh McDonnell