Thursday Book Chat: Bernard Cornwell and the Warlord Chronicles

I first started reading Bernard Cornwell back around 2010. It was his novel Agincourt, which I had picked up in Waterstones at Picadilly, and was immediately hooked. I began to search him out and devour everything he wrote, catching up on all the Last Kingdom books especially.

I just finished his trilogy on the Arthurian legend, The Warlord Chronicles, and it was a bit of a tough slog, to be honest. These are some very early Cornwell books, and I can see his development as an author through to the present day Uhtred books. He uses some of the same techniques to keep us interested – for example, ending paragraphs or chapters with sentences like, “And then I went off to claim a kingdom where the enemies were waiting.” And you’re like, “seriously? You think I can stop reading now? What the hell! I need to go to sleep! I thought I was going to be able to stop at the end of this chapter, but of course I can’t because dammit, the enemy is waiting, and a kingdom is waiting to be conquered!”

The Warlord Chronicles takes place in the period about 300 years before the Last Kingdom stories, around the year 500. A generation or two after the Romans have left, the Britains are fending off attacks from the Saxons, and a charismatic leader, Arthur, is trying to unite the various kingdoms in what is now Cornwall, Wales, and western England from about Dorset, so that they can stop squabbling amongst themselves, and fight the invaders.

Cornwell tells the story through the eyes of Derfel, a confidant of Arthur, and part of his war-band. Like Uhtred who was born Saxon but raised by Vikings, Derfel is also conflicted – he was born to a Saxon mother, but was raised by Merlin amongst the Britains. Merlin is a Druid wizard, who seems to be busying himself gathering the mythological Treasures of Britain, and having ceremonies that will bring the Gods back to the island and drive out the Saxons.

There were a few reasons these books were difficult for me. First is that the place names are so very different than they are now. Even in the Last Kingdom, you can kind of get the names from the Saxon – Wintancaster is easy enough to see as Winchester. Contrawalburg is Canterbury. But Aqua Sulis as Bath?

The second reason is related. There were the constant naming of British kingdoms, and I had to keep looking back to the place names, and even looking up the kingdoms on Wikipedia to get a sense of where they were. Powys, for example, never appeared in the place names in the beginning, and I had to look it up on Wikipedia.

Finally, the series is very violent, which wouldn’t surprise you. But I found that much of this violence was a lot harder for me to take in than in the Last Kingdom. I can understand violence between the Danish invaders and the Saxons. But Druids sacrificing men and the full descriptions of those sacrifices, and the ceremonies? I can’t really get down with that.

Plus, a lot of recent research has shown that the Saxon “invasion” was actually much more peaceful than we’ve thought historically, so that was another reason it became difficult for me to follow.

Cornwell is a master storyteller – I don’t think there can be any doubt about that. But expect that this series will appeal more to those who already have knowledge about this period in British history, or are familiar with all the Arthurian legends. It certainly made me interested in learning more about it – the British History Podcast is a fantastic source for all things British history – and I love the way he wove the historical fiction with the stories and legends.

And look, even Bernard Cornwell books that aren’t my favorite are still pretty amazing.