Young Writers Society

I should say that I'm really not that good at book reviews. In fact, I'm downright terrible. But here goes nothing...

I'm the type of person that, for some reason, is attracted to destruction. I don't know why as I'm not a destructive type of person, and I certainly have an extremely optimistic view of life and how the future will turn out. So what I think it really is I'm attracted to is not the destruction, but the creation of things that come from it. For example, my favorite eras of history are those eras where one system was destroyed. But, what I like reading and learning about is not he destruction of that era, but the creation of the next. I like to learn how people survive through cataclysmic change and the type of choices they have to make to ensure that there is something for the next generation to cling to.

The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell follow one such era: the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England following the departure of the four Roman legions from Roman Britain. This is the time of the slow decay of a civilized way of life with marbled cities and paved roads, which would turn to thatched huts and dirt paths. It is also the time of King Arthur.

The legend of King Arthur is so shrouded in myth and legend that it's hard to make sense of what's truth and what's fiction. It is clear, though, that someone around 500 AD had united the British Kingdoms, for a time, and halted the Saxon advance for a generation. It's really of no consequence what the name of the man was, but he probably was the basis for King Arthur.

I've read many retellings of the Legend of King Arthur from "L'Morte d'Arthur" by Sir Thomas Mallory to the "Once and Future King" by T.H. White. Both though are clearly ficitional works with little basis in historical fact. The Warlord Chronicles, though, are firmly grounded in historical fact. Cornwell takes some liberty with the locations of British kingdoms and the description of the Saxon advance in the book is probably much bloodier than it really was, but the books shine in describing a decaying way of life. In the triology, people live in thatched huts, but alongside grand Roman ruins, marbled baths that still function, and impressive Roman style palaces. He even goes into detail of the dominant religions at the time, the Christian frenzy over the anticipated second coming of Jesus, and the renewed Druid faith.

The books themselves are told from the point of view of Derfel Carden, who in the first tellings of Arthur was Arthur's right hand man. Through Derfel, we learn of Arthur and his idealistic attempts to ban Britain together against the Saxons and return the land to clean government and justice. He talks of how Arthur not only triumphed in battle, but also how Arthur rebuilt roads, reestablished courts, and brought peace.

I've only read the first of the series, but thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a great lover of Cornwell's style -- down-to-earth, realistic, bloody. He definitely gives King Arthur a place in history and doesn't get too caught up in making everything romantic. In fact, all his books are pretty much anti-romantic.

This series is awesome. It's one of the first I read, as the first novel I ever read was King Arthur I'm highly interested in Arthurian stories and books. I loved Excalibur by Bernard Cornwall, in the same series. Brilliant.