The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Chronicles Series #2)
by Bernard Cornwell
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Book Summary Information
Author: Bernard CornwellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-12-26
ISBN: 0061144835
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Reviews of The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Chronicles Series #2)
Book Review: Against All Odds
Summary: 5 Stars
"We tore Svein's men to bloody ruin, and we did it with passion, skill, and savagery." Not a bad summary of Bernard Cornwell's brilliant "The Pale Horseman," second in the swashbuckling tales of Uthred, a Saxon by birth raised largely by the invading Danes in 9th century England. When it comes to historical adventure, few can do it better than the prolific Bernard Cornwell, and "The Pale Horseman" represents the author at his best. This is a well-researched yarn of King Alfred of Wessex, the pious leader of the last remaining Saxon kingdom whose heroic stand against the fierce raiders from the north laid the foundations for what we now know as England, while earning him for all-time the moniker, "the Great."
But Alfred is an unlikely hero, sickly and scholarly, a devout Christian more comfortable with priests and bishops than warlords and warriors. The Saxon Kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglica are already under Danelaw, while Wessex operates under an uneasy truce with the Danish marauder Guthrum. But Guthrum breaks the truce, sacking Wessex stronghold Cippanhamm, and forcing Alfred and a band of stragglers into the vast marshlands of the southwest. Cornwell's fictitious protagonist, the now twenty-year old Uthred, shares a mutual dislike with King Alfred, exacerbated by Uthred's pagan ways and his sympathy towards the Danes, many long-friends from childhood. Cornwell paints a vividly unglamorous portrait of life in 9th century England, accurately casting huts of earth and thatch and damp, smoky halls of near Stone Age subsistence where less careful writers revel in Camelots of grand stone castles and cavernous amphitheatres. It is a place where corrupt and treacherous bishops and a "pagan shadow queen" co-exist, where tensions between church and state can stir more passion than those between defender and invader. And as expected, Cornwell's mastery of medieval battle is unparalleled, capturing not only the weaponry and tactics, but the physiology, fear, and horror across a bloody shield wall. In all its passion and fury, the author chronicles Alfred as he emerges from the swamps, rallying reluctant noblemen from neighboring shires to join him in pushing back a much larger and stronger Danish foe.
For sure, "The Pale Horseman's" Uthred may be over-spiced with romance and intrigue and valor that borders on sensation, but that what makes it so entertaining. If all history were written with Cornwell's flair and emotion, I suspect we'd all be reading a lot more of the past events that have shaped our present.
Summary of The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Chronicles Series #2)
The last unvanquished piece of England, Wessex is eyed hungrily by the fearsome Viking conquerors. A dispossessed young nobleman, Uhtred is tied to the imperiled land by birth and marriage but was raised by the Danish invaders?and he questions where his allegiance must lie. But blood is his destiny, and when the overwhelming Viking horde attacks out of a wintry darkness, Uhtred must put aside all hatred and distrust and stand beside his embattled country's staunch defender?the fugitive King Alfred.
The Pale Horseman is a gripping, monumental adventure that gives breathtaking life to one of the most important epochs in English history?yet another masterwork from New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell.
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