Twelve books into his Saxon Tales series, Bernard Cornwall has delivered one of his best Uhtred tales yet in Sword of Kings. The novel combines the Game of Thrones-style politics of The Empty Throne with the desperate circumstances of The Pale Horseman. It’s a page-turner too, and I ripped through this book in a few sittings. It was that good.
Early in Sword of Kings, we learn that Edward, the self-styled King of the Angles and the Saxons, ruler of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia, is dying. His death promises to spark a war between two of his sons over the throne. The first is Æthelstan, Edward’s firstborn, whom Uhtred raised like a son. Uhtred knows that Æthelstan is the rightful heir, though, for years, he’s been dogged by rumors that he was bastard born, and thus unfit to be king. The second contender for the crown is Æthelstan’s half-brother, Ælfweard, a wicked young prince who happens to be the nephew of Uhtred’s longtime enemy, Æthelhelm the Younger.
Uhtred swore an oath to protect Æthelstan and kill Æthelhelm and Ælfweard upon King Edward’s death, so it’s no surprise that he quickly becomes embroiled in this brewing conflict. It begins when Uhtred discovers that Æthelhelm has sent men to kill him. They are led by Waormund, a brutal giant of a West Saxon who quickly becomes the novel’s primary antagonist.
Next, Uhtred receives a message from Lady Edgifu, King Edward’s estranged wife, whose young sons are also in line for the throne. Æthelhelm wants to kill the young princes, so Uhtred, his Irish sidekick Finan, and forty of his men go south to rescue Edgifu and her sons.
More so than any book in the series except Sword Song, much of this novel takes place in London—a city that I adore. After encountering Edgifu and her beautiful Italian maidservant, Benedetta, Uhtred and Finan become trapped in the city, and from there, the novel really takes off, with Uhtred’s situation becoming more harrowing and desperate as each chapter unfolds.
Overall, it is a riveting tale with all of the brilliantly scripted, action-packed battles that make the Uhtred books so much fun. The villains—all Saxons this time—are some of the best since The Empty Throne, and the story might be my favorite since that book, too. If you are a fan of Cornwell’s The Saxon Tales series, as I’ve been since the release of The Last Kingdom, you are going to love Sword of Kings.
Bill
April 18, 2021 - 4:41 pm ·I agree that it was a great story. I just finished Warlord, the surely final book, and found it even better. Cornwell freely admits little is known about the period he writes about, so that gives him a lot of artistic leeway while maintaining the core of historical fact.
Author Joseph Finley
April 19, 2021 - 7:49 am ·Thanks, Bill. I meant to start War Lord a few weeks ago but got sidetracked. I can appreciate Cornwell’scomment about the early 10th century. Fortunately for me, the late 10th century is similarly less documented, so I appreciate the leeway too. Some of the more well-documented events of that period were the scenes in Rome in “The Key to the Abyss” involving Otto III, Pope Gregory, and Crescentius. The Dorsetshire Viking raid happened too, but the Angle-Saxon Chronicle barely describes it. Ken Follett didn’t even mention it in “the Evening and the Morning.”
Bill
April 19, 2021 - 4:20 pm ·For an example that I don’t think is a spoiler, the details and even location of the crucial battle in Warlord are disputed, despite Cornwell considering it to be the true unification of England that would give William something to conquer a bit more than a century later.