Bernard Cornwell – Warlord Chronicles 03 – Excalibur

Cornwell's interpretation of the Arthurian mythos is compelling and superbly written. He breathes new life into the legends by presenting the well-known characters as realistic figures, neither saints nor demons. Few of his villains are without some kind of redeeming feature, and none of his heroes are without flaw. Arthur, a bastard by birth, is generous and kind but ruthless and vain; Gorfyddyd, a tyrannical ruler bent on overlordship of all Britain, is a loving and doting father and Merlin, the inveterate trickster, is never without some surprise up his sleeve but is ultimately human and filled with doubt in the gods and in himself.

Many of the integral parts of the mythos (the Grail quest, Merlin's magical prowess, the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere) are retold in an utterly plausible manner.

Cornwell's Britain is not a utopian Camelot but a patchwork quilt of loosely affiliated kingdoms warring with one another and fighting off Saxon marauders who themselves are divided into different warlords' followings. His description of religious conflict is one of two faiths, Christianity and Celtic paganism, at times vying for supremacy, at times seeking to co-exist, and always plagued by internacine rivalries and differences of doctrine and ideology.

We view all these people and conflicts through the eyes of Derfel, a Saxon-born slave who fights his way to the top of Post-Roman British society, allowing us to see the legend from a unique and rarely-explored perspective. The result is a spellbinding journey through war and peace, faith and folly, in a three volume work that, but for its recent publication, would no doubt be regarded as a great classic of Western literature.

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Bernard Cornwell - Warlord Chronicles 02 - Enemy of God

This is my first encounter with Bernard Cornwell. It has definitely piqued my interest to read the other two volumes in the trilogy and to investigate other books by this author.

If you are familiar with Grail literature and with such classics as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Le Morte d'Arthur, etc., you will have certain preconceptions about the major characters that are here transmorgrified by Cornwell. The chivalrous Arthur is transformed into a more human, too-trusting, well-meaning leader of a tribe. Guenivere is a scheming, conceited megalomaniac, who mellows somewhat as the story progesses. The narrator's (Derfel's) harshest judgment is reserved for Lancelot. He is definitely not the same Lancelot-du-lac that we have come to know from Mallory. He's more like the 5th century version of a matinee idol. He's all image, no substance. He's not someone to be counted on in the heat of battle. Merlin is a rascally magus whose main concern lies in stemming the tide of Cristianity that he views as an invasion of the old order. Cornwell is obviously making judgement calls here, but he's not doing it purely for the sake of novelty. This is a thoroughly-researched, as well as an eminently well-written work.

Tolkien fans who have been turned-off by the pale imitators that have attempted to emulate the master's style will no doubt find many parallels in Cornwell. That's not to imply that Cornwell is imitative by any means. He just handles prose almost as adroitly as his predecessor. If there were a worthy Tolkien successor writing today, though in a slightly different genre, it would have to be Cornwell. Cornwell has created a truly heroic saga, and has left this reader looking forward eagerly to the other two volumes in the trilogy. Enemy of God is definitely several cuts above the mass of historical fiction being churned out today. The man can write!

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Bernard Cornwell - Warlord Chronicles 01 - The Winter King

Forget knights in shining armor performing chivalrous deeds for damsels in distress; forget Camelot and massive castles with gleaming stone turrets and round tables. Bernard Cornwell's "The Winter King" rips a bleak and gritty tale of the legendary Arthur, a realistic rendering of life in Briton's 5th Century, a period of history described as "The Dark Ages" for good reason.

As always, Cornwell's fiction based-in-history is well researched and fast moving. And while the evidence of Arthur is inconclusive, his faithful depiction of Briton's warlords fighting each other, even while the dreaded Saxon's occupy the eastern half of the island, is fact. The ancient Pagan religion vies with the emerging Christianity for mind share of the populace, while Druids and Christian Priests intermingle with no love lost. It's been a couple of generations since the Roman's packed up and left, taking with them, it seems, any semblance of civilization, leaving the natives in awe of their knowledge. The once great Roman roads and cities have drifted into disrepair, and rival tribes raising armies and taxes to battle their brethren drain the land. In this war torn land, Cornwell's Arthur returns from service across the sea in Armorica (France). Arthur is not a king, but a noble and loyal leader sworn to protect the infant and crippled King Mordred, heir to the recently deceased Uther Pendragon, Briton's high king. While admittedly anachronisms, the author includes familiar figures from the legend: Merlin, Galahad, and Excalibur, but Lancelot is a cowardly fraud and Guinevere is a shallow and witchy seductress who inadvertently leads the courageous but naive Arthur into war that never should have been.

While it may take a few chapters to get into the swing of medieval people and place names, this is soon a rousing and bloody tale of politics and war told from the horror of hand-to-hand combat across a shield wall, of sorcerers, witches, priests, and wizards offering sacrifices, curses, and prayers to whichever Gods may be listening at the time. In short, a realistic first chapter in Cornwell's trilogy of a truly tragic hero and the legend that, nearly fifteen centuries later, continues to captivate and fascinate.