The Winter King audiobook

4.5/5 StarsDepending on the rest of the trilogy, this could be the most original and the best Arthurian legend retelling of all time, out of all medium.A little background before I start my review; this is my first dive into Bernard Cornwell’s work and only my second time reading a historical fiction, so this is totally out of my comfort read but I’m delighted with my decision to go out of my usual read. I’ve heard of the name Bernard Cornwell several times until now, all pretty much claimed he’s a legend in ‘Historical Fiction’ genre but nothing ever truly pushed me into starting his books until last March when I finished binge reading the entire ‘The Faithful and the Fallen’ series. Both the series and the author (John Gwynne) since then have been included in my favorites of all time lists. I decided back then to do an interview with Gwynne and one of my questions was:“If you have to recommend one book or series for everyone, what came into mind and why?” His answer was 'The Warlord Chronicles' by Bernard Cornwell and that’s how I stumbled upon this series, and how I finally decided to give his work a try. Click this link for my full interview with Gwynne for anyone who’s interested. http://booknest.eu/component/k2/30-bl...On to the review, even though this is still only the first book out of a trilogy, I can already see why Cornwell is named as a legend in the genre. He managed to make my most disliked narrative, omniscient narrative into something that worked wonderfully.Told in the similar style with Kvothe from Kingkiller Chronicles, we follow Derfel Cadarn, the main character, and the narrator, now old and a monk, recounts his journey with Arthur, his best friend, The King that Never Was, The Enemy of God and The Lord of Battles. “The bards sing of love, they celebrate slaughter, they extol kings and flatter queens, but were I a poet I would write in praise of friendship.” Most of the stories told here took place in the past, going back to the present times only five times in total throughout the entire book. This also means that Derfel pretty much knows all the events that will happen already during his narration and he reminded us over and over again about this with sentences like “it’s not until later that I find out what he meant”. This usually doesn’t work in my fantasy read but damn it worked so well in this story.The Winter King mostly focused on Arthur’s struggle to unite Britain during the Dark Ages in the midst of Saxon’s inevitable invasion. Cornwell’s retelling of Arthur is magnificent, contrary to usual Arthurian legend; Cornwell erased every magical aspect, at least here anyway. Sure there’s a hint of magic in the world but they’re not actual magic per se, just superstitions that the population back then heavily believed. Cornwell has stated that The Winter King is a tale of the Dark Ages in which legend and imagination must compensate for the lack of historical records, as there’s no conclusive evidence on Arthur’s legend and he did it with greatness.Arthurian legend has always been one of my favorite retellings, it’s been done countless times already in any medium but I’ve never once experienced a retelling as original and fantastic as this one. Cornwell’s storytelling and prose qualities are top notches. So many emotions were felt and delivered throughout my times reading this, thought provoking and realistically poignant such as this “And at the end of life, what does it all matter? We grow old and the young look at us and can never see that once we made a kingdom ring for love.” or philosophical like this: “But fate, as Merlin always taught us, is inexorable. Life is a jest of the Gods, Merlin liked to claim, and there is no justice. You must learn to laugh, he once told me, or else you'll just weep yourself to death.” Not only the storytelling and prose are fantastic, Cornwell’s versions of the characters that we’ve known in the legend are very unique. Arthur, in particular, is amazing, felt like a real person that truly existed in the past despite this being written as a historical fiction. Also, a huge plus in originality towards Lancelot and Guinevere, for they have completely take on a direction that I never thought I would ever see in their character.Do note however that this is a slow paced book, we only get a little taste of Cornwell’s big battle scenes (another factor that he’s highly praised for) in the last 60 pages of the book, if you love Shield-Wall, you’re going to love the battle scenes for sure.Honestly, this could’ve been an easy 5-star book for me if it wasn’t for the first half of the book. The minor con I had with the book is that during the first half, the pages are very dense, a paragraph could last an entire page, with a minimum amount of dialogues. To give you a clear picture of what I’m talking about, here’s a picture of a paragraph I took from the book, non-spoiler of courseThe first half of the book mostly looked like that, as you can see, there’s almost no heavy dialogue section and this means you’re going to have to read tons of details and descriptions. Plus, the long chapters (15 chapters for 490 pages) made this book not an easy read. I felt my progress reading this book became very slow because of these situations. These can be a good or bad thing depending on your preferences but personally, I prefer it to be balanced. The second half however fixed this problem.Overall, I truly enjoyed reading The Winter King and I thank John Gwynne for recommending this book to me. I will definitely continue with this trilogy and I highly recommend it to any fans of historical fiction and Arthurian legend.Bonus Picture: My beautiful editions of The Warlord ChroniclesYou can find this and the rest of my Adult Epic/High Fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at BookNest

I really can't say enough about this book. There are a lot of reasons to enjoy books and this one scores highest in so many categories. It is just very fun to read.Who would I recommend this book to?If you loved The Lord of the Rings but the smallest part of you that doesn't care about poetry kind of wished it had a little more action . . .If you loved watching the movie Braveheart but wish it was a little more accurate historically . . .If you were excited about the 2004 movie King Arthur, which although was advertised to be "the real story of King Arthur" had Arthur and his band of Mongolians defending the Scottish border against Saxons. The hell kind of sense does that make? Saxons invaded the South west coast, the region of England now called Saxony, the people Arthur would have fought on the Scottish border were, yes, you guessed it Scotts . . . If you were excited ditto Tristan and Isolde . . .If you loved Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series but don't have the eons required to read each with a 1000+ pages per volume . . .I'll break down the idea behind the book. Yes, it's about King Arthur. And I know what you are thinking, "it's a magic book". No! there are no fairies, no pixie dust, no Crystal Cave (sorry Mary Stewart I loved your books too, but for slightly different reasons). The book does a real, researched job in telling a story which might have happened. Many of the characters believe in magic and things happen which might be interpreted as such but they might also be explained by realistic means.It portrays Arthur as a warlord in around 500 AD right after the Romans abandoned their foothold in the British Isles and right before the Anglo-Saxon invasion turned the Celtic land of Britain into Angl-land (England). History indicates something stopped the Saxon invasion for about 50 years and most historians believe that might have been Arthur. There is also no jousting (a sport popular about 700 years later). The story is different from the traditional Arthur Legend but similar enough to make it enjoyable to people who also liked: The Crystal Cave The Once and Future King Le Morte d'Arthurand the many hundreds of others, film and book.Oh, and I don't know who wrote the description which accompanies this book (probably someone at [www.amazon.com] but they say it is written in "flat American diction". I don't believe Bernard Cornwell, a native of Britain, would appreciate that. He might live in America currently but is still quite English. What they may have meant to say is that it is "readable". Why they didn't just say that I have no idea.

Extremely enjoyable retelling of the legend of King Arthur. Full review coming soon...

Full review now posted!Original review can be found at Booknest.Here lies a book that didn’t enthrall me, but somehow fascinated me. I wasn’t filled with longing to pick it up and continue reading, but every time I did I was given incredibly interesting theories and historical information. This was likely the most probable telling of the Arthurian legend that I’ve come across. The mythos of Arthur and Merlin and Excalibur and Camelot has always intrigued me, but it’s always remained in the realm of myth. For the first time in my life, I read something that convinced me of the possibility of Arthur’s existence. Not its likelihood, mind you, but its possibility, which is still an astonishing change for me regarding a myth.Cornwell sets his tale in the 5th century, after the Roman occupation of Britain has ended. Saxons are invading and Britons are warring amongst themselves. This is a land of warring factions and a multitude of kings, and this is where Cornwell has planted his version of Arthur. Here, Arthur’s tale is told by Brother Derfel, an aging monk who wasn’t always a Christian. In his youth, Derfel was a pagan and a warrior who fought alongside Arthur. In the framework of Cornwall’s story, Derfel is writing out the true story of Arthur for Igraine, the young Queen over the realm that houses the monastery. Witnessing Arthur’s story from an eyewitness, and one who isn’t one of the names we’re familiar with, was a unique perspective. And trying to reconcile Derfel himself, the aging Christian monk and the young pagan warrior, is actually one of my favorite aspects of the novel. How radically people can change always intrigues me.There were some people Cornwell portrayed here that were at complete odds with almost everything I’ve ever read or heard. Particularly, his representation of Guinevere and Lancelot. Even though they were pretty people, neither of them seemed to have much goodness within them. Guinevere here is a catalyst for war, much like Helen of Troy. I will never be able to fathom shattering a kingdom in the name of love, though I know it’s one of the most ancient of justifications for declarations of war. And Lancelot is just awful, though I’m still not sure how many of his failings are truth and how many are exaggerated through the eyes of our narrator. However, a hero he is not, though he knows how to twist events in the minds of poets to ensure his legacy.The presentation of the Druid belief system was my other favorite aspect of this book. Their superstitions and “spell casting” were absolutely fascinating. And disturbing. I don’t think I’ve ever read another book that contained this much spitting. Or urine-flinging. Or cow dung as hair product. And the Druid’s view of the Christian interlopers, and the way those opposing faiths both widened the rift in their land and how the people banded together in battle in spite of those opposing faiths, was captivating. One of the main reasons I’ll be continuing the trilogy at some later date is to understand how Derfel transitioned from one faith to the other.Even though I have a deep appreciation for both the story and Cornwell’s writing, I have to admit that I struggled reading this. It was just so dense. The information was interesting, for sure, but sometimes I felt so glutted by the outpouring of information that I couldn’t digest quickly enough to keep reading. Cornwell did an insane amount of research, and it really shows. I feel like I learned so much about the Druid faith and ancient Britain, but that learning sometimes overwhelmed the story. The book reminded me of some of the really amazing history books I read in college. Well written and fascinating, but too dense to read for simple enjoyment. Also, it felt a little like the vast majority of the book was either preparing for battle, engaging in battle, or the aftermath of battle. Which is fine, but is something I get really bogged down in.If you love historical fiction, this is definitely the book for you. If you’re obsessed with Arthurian legend, you owe it to yourself to give this a read. And if you just can’t get enough of battlefields, I think I found your new favorite book.I read this because Petrik loved the series so much.

Nobody does this quite as well as Bernard Cornwell. He is quite literally the master of this genre. He creates a vivid warrior culture time and time again, and I will never get bored of it. This is saying a lot because Bernard Cornwell has written a huge amount of novels over the years and a few are similar in ways, but I don’t care because they’re just so good. This time Bernard Cornwell tells the story of Arthur, though not from the perspective of Arthur; he tells it from the point of view of one of his footman. An interesting take on the Arthurian myth Derfel is a spearman in the service of Arthur and he narrates Arthur’s story. I’m glad that we weren’t privy to Arthur’s thoughts and emotion because it helped to create an idea about him being an untouchable being. What I mean is that Arthur is better than the common man, and by telling the story like this it assumes a sense of distance between someone like Derfel, who in himself is honourable, and someone who is, in essence, a man beyond measure. It created an Arthur that was as enigmatic as he was courageous and noble. I think it was a great idea. This is an awakening change to what I thought would be the predictable route of a novel like this. We see the events, and people, that surround Arthur’s life from a different perspective. One that holds Arthur in high esteem, but in spite of this, we also see the mistakes Arthur makes as a commander. He takes the wrong bride in a moment of selfish passion and almost dooms himself in the process. I emphasise the word mistakes because this is not the usual Camelot fairy tale; this is a gritty realistic approach to the legend. More historical than legend This is a tale that has been told countless times, but to make it stand out Cornwell had to make his retelling unique. In his version Lancelot is a fraud and Guinevere is quite possibly a complete whore who entrapped Arthur for power, not love; thus, this is far from the usual fairy tale. The characters are realistic and not without their flaws, so they are human and fallible. This is a far shot form the knights of the round table and the pure virtuous that Arthur represents. This made this novel not remotely predictable or a simple regurgitation of a tale we already know. The movement of Christianity through the reduction of the druids is also apparent. It is intriguing to see the rivalries created by these religious differences. I like the way the Druid’s, though relying on and believing in magic, appear to have no magical abilities but are driven by what they perceive as their magic powers and knowledge. I think Cornwell has been very subtle here because without openly suggesting that their magic was impossible, he does show us that their magic is slowly fading. This gives the novel a more realistic setting, a more historical setting, rather than the usual fantastical nature of tales surrounding Arthur Pendragon. I enjoyed this novel, but not as much as those in the Saxon Stories. Derfel lacks the charisma and will of Uhtred. And for that reason I gave this a four star rating rather than the five it could have earnt.

I now have a YouTube channel that I run with my brother, called 'The Brothers Gwynne'. Check it out - The Brothers Gwynne “The bards sing of love, they celebrate slaughter, they extol kings and flatter queens, but were I a poet I would write in praise of friendship.”If you love stories consisting of memorable characters you love and despise, fantastic storytelling, stunning action sequences and moral lessons, then you will adore this historical telling of the chronicles of Arthur and the story of his life.The Winter King is the first book in The Warlord Chronicles which is a unique take on the story of Arthur during the dark ages. I have always loved the tales of Arthur and his warriors, and this is not an exception. It is the best book I have read which has the story of Arthur as its main concept.“Fate is inexorable."Cornwell chooses certain aspects and adapts others from the common stories so the reader cannot predetermine the events which shall occur, and so the story which is told is a new one. He produces this book in a masterful style overflowing with immersive action and fantastic characters.The sole point of view is Derfel, was born a Saxon but raised a Briton in the kingdom of Dumnonia, which is a kingdom residing in southern Briton. He features as the main character in the Winter King. He is a man who values loyalty and kindness, and proves it many times. It is hard not to fall in love with him as the stories progress and you witness his faults and virtues.The prose of Bernard Cornwell is superb as the description and storytelling flows brilliantly. It is fluid and smooth making it an easy job to continue reading this large book as the plot line constantly develops in a manner which disallowed me from being bored at any point.The Winter King is a definite five star rating in my opinion due to one of my favourite writing styles I have encountered and the way it captured many of my favourite aspects in stories.Impending exams are absorbing most of my leisure time, but almost every moment of freedom I have gained in the last few days consisted of me reading this. It took a serious level of self-control to resist devouring this novel with a few long sittings.This is one of, if not my favourite historical fiction novel I have had the pleasure to read and I shall be instantly be borrowing my father’s copy of Enemy of God, which is the second book of this series.My extended BookNest review:The Winter King - BookNest

This is my favorite Cornwell series (it's Cornwell's too), for it covers my favorite historical era--that mysterious gap in between the Roman departure and the Saxon Invasion. This retelling of Arthur works so well because it's divorced from Mallory. I love BC's ability to pull me into the muddy, primitive Dark Age Britain world. He's one of the very best at avoiding anachronisms, a skill which gets so little praise. None of his characters feel like modernistic men and women dressed up in 5th Century garb. They fear the powers of magic, gods, and fate. The majority of the people are ignorant, living in dirty hovels with no boots. The world is vast and mysterious. The line-by-line writing is excellent, as are the story arcs of this tale. Highly suggest this series, as well as most of BC's work.

Cornwell is best known for his Sharpe Napoleonic adventure stories and his Last Kingdom series, but it is his Warlord trilogy, of which this book is the first, that he is most proud. This is his take on the Arthurian legends, but do not expect a glossy fantasy. This is a gritty, realistic portrayal of Dark Age Britain. It is a land when the daily struggle for survival takes place amongst the crumbling ruins of Roman Britain; where Druids keep faith to the old gods in the face of growing Christianity; and where the remaining British Kingdoms squabble amongst themselves in the face of Saxon invaders from the east and Irish raiders from the west.The figures of legend, like Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere and Lancelot are present, but they are flawed, and believable. If Camelot existed, then in the Winter King it would be a hill fort with earth ditches and a thatched meeting hall at its heart. We see these troubled times through the eyes of Derfel Cadarn, a Saxon foundling who becomes a spearman in Arthur’s warband. Like all Cornwell’s work it has a pacy narrative, but every so often we catch a glimpse of a person or incident we can recognise will grow into one of the strands of the romanticised Arthurian legends we are so familiar with today. Thoroughly enjoyable stuff.

Primeira leitura: 2008Releitura: 02/2016Acho que essa é uma leitura muito recomendada para os fãs de As Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo. Com a vantagem q os livros são mais curtos e você só tem um ponto de vista, então a história anda bem mais rápido. Acho q os fãs das lendas Arturianas talvez amem ou odeiem, pois esse é um retrato muito mais cru e humano de Artur. Eu amo. Mas aqui toda a magia e romance medieval é substituído por um retrato muito mais provável do que realmente teria acontecido naquela época. O que pra mim é fascinante! No entanto, para alguns, pode ser um pouco chocante a forma como os personagens não são totalmente bons ou ruins (como fomos acostumados a ouvir). Nem Artur, nem o Merlin, nem Guinevere. A leitura é muito fluida e Derfel é um narrador que vc facilmente se apega. As batalhas são de roer todas as unhas e os cenários pulam da página. Quase 10 anos depois e continuo apaixonada.

The audiobook is fantastic.

An absolute masterpiece of characterization and story telling.Ok... Whoa... This is one of the best books I've read in a really long time. The tl,dr is that you should move this book up your queue immediately and get ready for some of the best story telling you'll ever experience. Cornwell pulls off a masterful balance of characterization, plot development, pacing, lore and world building. Cornwell achieves that coveted perfect balance of a story that is both driven by plot and characterization culminating in a breath-taking resolution.The Winter King is told from a first person perspective by an orphan raised within Merlin's estate. With our narrator, Derfel, you will experience not only his growth as an observer and actor in this Arthurian saga, but you'll see an entire cascade of character development among kings, druids, peasants, warriors and Arthur himself. There is beauty, sadness and growth that follows these characters, along with growth of medieval Britain. You'll learn to love and cherish Derfel not only as a narrator, but a man who grows through misery, loss, love, worship and war. You'll come away loving Derfel like he is a real person and not just a character on the page. The characterization of Arthur is truly something to behold. While seeing himself as a pragmatic peace-maker, Arthur tows a very thin line of would-be ruler versus protector of the realm. He is both virtuous and villainous as his peaceful idealism of brotherhood clashes with his unwillingness to give up peripheral power. He believes his actions to be inherently in the best interests of uniting Britain... only if that unity includes himself as a major player. He is heroic and likeable, but also foolish and naive. While he has maintained some civility with his countrymen, his very own foibles lead to the loss of the very men that he wishes to protect. Cornwell has taken the iconic figure of Arthur and molded him into the epic hero full of folly and misguided idealism. He is a truly dynamic character. To quote Arthur himself:"I wanted to do such great things, Derfel, such great things. And in the end it was I who betrayed them, wasn't it?"Just to make something clear: this book is brutal toward women. There is sexual assault, sex slavery, servitude and mass objectification of woman everywhere. This book is raw, gritty, violent and stomach churning. All of this brutality toward women is true to the world-building of the dark age era. I did not find it overtly gratuitous or indulgent. In fact, the constant misogyny served to beautifully contrast the incredible women in this book. I'm talking about Nimue. Nimue might be one of my favorite female characters I've ever read. A druid and apprentice of Merlin, this woman grows from a young sorceress into a powerful mage. She suffers every brutalization known to a woman including starving to death on a prison isle. She represents the endurance and adaptability of women living under the unfettered tyranny of male dominion. Salient is this exchange between Nimue and Arthur, emphasizing the misogyny of the man who is supposed to be the hero:"She was an ill-used woman," Arthur said."All women are," Nimue said."No,"Arthur insisted. "Maybe most people are, but not all women any more than all men."This is a story about changing culture, changing power and changing religions. It is a culture clash of the Britains, the Saxons and the Franks and the boiling over of their different power structures as manifested by their religions. At the forefront is the ever dueling exchange between the old world paganism versus the Christian upstarts. There is deep identity crisis happening over all of nascent England as these forces merge at the nexus of Britain, Arthur and Merlin himself. Is there a magic system in these pages? Perhaps. Or is sorcery just another power structure of the druids, keeping men in check by their superstitions and fear of the unknown?The battles are incredible. Tactics, strategy, bravery and cowardice are the story told with the battles over the heart of Britain. You'll find honer within foes and brotherhood with old enemies. Oath keeping is the fabric of civilization; the breaking of which causes alliances to topple. There's a lot more I can say about what made The Winter King such an incredible story. I highly, highly recommend this to anyone. I will be adding this to my masterpiece shelf and look forward to the sequels. Cornwell is a master.

King Arthur fans rejoice!!! When one of your favorite authors writes about one of your favorite subjects - Arthurian legend - you can only drool with anticipation about how good the book might be. There was certainly no let-down whatsoever with "The Winter King", first book in "The Warlord Chronicles", by Cornwell. I have read almost everything Cornwell has written, from "Sharpe", to the works he is perhaps most famous for, "The Last Kingdom" series, and I love watching the Netflix adaptation. But the entire "Warlord Chronicles" including "The Winter King" is something very special. No one brings the concept of what ancient Britain could be like to life the way Cornwell does. I loved the thrilling battle scene which occurs near the book's conclusion, and even though Cornwell is noted for being the king of battlefield description, this one is may be one of his best, and that means be ready to be awed! I was fascinated when Cornwell wrote Lancelot as a feckless, cowardly, and conniving bad-guy, and it was a great twist, as most of the legends paint him as a - albeit flawed - noble and righteous hero. Derfel, the protagonist, gives us a wonderful, well-rounded perspective on the great Arthur and all the legendary figures who surround him, making them seem vividly real. The perceived war of "Old Gods" magic versus the Christian God, which essentially is between Merlin and his acolytes versus the Christian clergy and followers is fascinating, and represents the "magical" elements of the story. Its all very subtle, believable, and extremely well-done. This book / series is a self-proclaimed favorite of the author, Cornwell, and I have to agree! "The Winter King" is one of the best books I have ever read. Only shame is that I can only give it a five star rating, and not more than that. Read the whole series, continuing with "Enemy of God" and concluding with "Excalibur". You will not be disappointed.

You know how they say the perfect book doesn’t exist… well I disagree this was beyond BRILLIANT!

“I learned that the joy and the fear are the exact same things, the one merely transformed into the other by action…”THE WINTER KINGTales of King Arthur have been told for over a thousand years. Everyone knows the tale. This last summer I tackled as many King Arthur stories as possible. All of them had an element of fantasy in them. Bernard Cornwell’s The Winter King takes on a more historical approach. The tale is told by Derfel, a man who served under Arthur. He desperately wants to write the truth and not the romance and tall tales that have spread over time. He begins with the reign of Uther after the Romans have abandoned Britain, Merlin has vanished, and Uther has banished Arthur for he blames him for his son’s death. Finally, he gets his heir, Mordred. When Uther dies, Mordred is just a baby. So allies come together to protect the future king. Arthur, being the strongest warrior takes the lead but swears to see Mordred to the throne. But lust and political intrigue will ignite war…No one and I mean no one can write battles and historical fiction like Bernard Cornwell. The research he puts into his novels is always fantastic. He takes us to the time of Britain when tribes were at war and fighting the Saxons and I was absolutely immersed. Not only does he bring to life the unforgettable characters like Arthur, Merlin, and Mordred, we also get to see real historical figures like Agricola. But the best part is the political intrigue of the time. The Romans brought with them Christianity, but many people still follow the Old Ways. These religious differences affect politics, just like they do today.Now, Arthur is pretty typical. He is honest, courageous, and his honor means a great deal to him. Merlin is batty and wise. Then, there are the women of the story. Morgana, Nimue, and Guinevere are the most fascinating characters in the story. Every woman in the story makes their life decisions for survival. Nimue is a force! I went back and forth with Guinevere. At one moment, I loved her, and then the next, I hated her. She could be so superficial. Many may hate her for how conniving she could be, but what choice did she really have? The women who went along with what they were told to do ended up miserable, tortured and killed. She went after what she wanted, to be Queen, yes, but also to survive and be comfortable in life. I couldn’t really blame her for that. I felt that the women were the true stars of this first installment. I can’t wait to see what book two, Enemy of God, and book three, Excalibur hold! This book gets 5 out of 5 stars. Nothing less for Bernard Cornwell!