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Cornwell has his protagonist observe: "The gods are not kind to us, any more than children are kind to their toys. We are here to amuse the gods, and at times it amuses them to be unkind....Perhaps my conviction that I was cursed was false, but there were not birds in the winter sky, and that omen told me I was the plaything of cruel gods."
It is set in 10th-century England and continues to follow the fortunes of the fictional Uhtred of Bebbanburg. In this novel Uhtred is finally secure in his childhood home, Bebbanburg. It is the next stage in a long story that has many fans. [3] Plot [ edit ] battle scenes bettered in their excitement levels only by those of Wilbur Smith, yet generally without the tongue-in-cheek elements meaning Bernard' s work delivers more credibility to the reader. Osferth was not invited to Tamweorthin. “King Edward,” he had told me stiffly, “would prefer I did not attend.” That the Easter meeting of the Witan was to be held at Tamweorthin was proof that the rebellion in Mercia was over. Sword of Kings is the twelfth historical novel in The Saxon Stories series by Bernard Cornwell. It was first published in October 2019.Cornwell draws a fascinating picture of England as it might have been before anything like England existed’ THE TIMES I have fought many battles. I have stood in shield walls and heard the sound of axes biting willow boards, I have heard men howling, heard them screaming, I have heard the butcher’s sound of blades cleaving flesh, the heart-wrenching sound of grown men weeping for heir mothers’ comfort. I have heard the grating breath of the dying and the lament of the living, and in all those fights I have fought for one thing above all others. To take and to keep Bebbanburg.”
Uhtred, now older, wants nothing more than to enjoy retirement at Bebbanburg, but pressures on Northumbria from Edward to the south and the Scots to the North are stretching their small armies to the max and making for an uneasy peace.
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When disassembled, the weapon would fill 30 wagons in parts. [ citation needed] It reportedly took five master carpenters and forty-nine other labourers at least three months to complete. [3] I don’t know how Uthred is still crushing at 60 something years old, but he’s an absolute LEGEND and one of my favorite characters of all time, and Finan of course. 11 down 2 more to go ! I’m going to have the worst book hangover . Christians like to dream of the perfect world, a place where there is no fighting, where sword-blades are hammered into plowshares, and where the lion, whatever that is, sleeps with the lamb. It is a dream. There has always been war and there will always be war. So long as one man wants another man’s wife, or another man’s land, or another man’s cattle, or another man’s silver, so long will there be war. And so long as one priest preaches that his god is the only god or the better god there will be war.”
His “enemies,” the Danes, are led by the fearsome Sköll, who numbers among his army the úlfhéðnar — the wolf warriors — ferocious killers with superior fighting skills who are seemingly impervious to pain.
By Stephanie Kuehn
Uhtred finds himself more than once at the wrong place, and at the wrong time. This is what engenders his thoughts of being cursed by the gods (those being the Norse gods).
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