The Burning Land (The Saxon Stories #5) by Bernard Cornwell

The Burning Land (The Saxon Stories #5)

 by Bernard Cornwell 

BLURB:

In a clash of heroes, the kingdom is born. At the end of the ninth century, King Alfred of Wessex is in ill health; his heir, an untested youth. His enemy, the Danes, having failed to conquer Wessex, now see their chance for victory. Led by the sword of savage warrior Harald Bloodhair, the Viking hordes attack. But Uhtred, Alfred's reluctant warlord, proves his worth, outwitting Harald and handing the Vikings one of their greatest defeats. 

 For Uhtred, the sweetness of victory is soon overshadowed by tragedy. Breaking with Alfred, he joins the Vikings, swearing never again to serve the Saxon king. Instead, he will reclaim his ancestral fortress on the Northumbrian coast. Allied with his old friend Ragnar—and his old foe Haesten—he aims to invade and conquer Wessex itself. 

Yet fate has different plans. The Danes of East Anglia and the Vikings of Northumbria are plotting the conquest of all Britain. When Alfred's daughter pleads with Uhtred for help, he cannot refuse her request. In a desperate gamble, he takes command of a demoralized Mercian army, leading them in an unforgettable battle on a blood-soaked field beside the Thames. 

In The Burning Land, Bernard Cornwell, "the reigning king of historical fiction" (USA Today), delivers a rousing saga of Anglo-Saxon England—an irresistible new chapter in his thrilling Saxon Tales, the epic story of the birth of England and the legendary king who made it possible. 

MY REVIEW:  

Brilliant! 

Another great installment into this series, seriously – Just Brilliance. The drama and the war continues as the Danes try to take Wessex or plot to take over all of Britain over and over throughout this series. The only thing we can know for sure is that without Uhtred, Wessex wouldn’t have existed.

Which brings the thought into my mind why Uhtred continues to stay loyal to Alfred or Alfred’s daughter. It’s like he is trapped due to his oath keeping morals – UNTIL, Alfred and his monks take it too far with their goading and insulting of Uhtred. Well at least in this story we see some rebellion and I have to say that I would of loved to have read that Uhtred killed every monk in Alfred’s court. Sorry to say but Christianity totally made me sick to my stomach during this time period. I literally wish everyone of them Monks and their stupid ideologies would have been wiped out of existence.

VENT HERE: Jesus Freakn’ Christ! The drama and cruelty Uhtred endures will drive the reader crazy. I have a hate for Alfred like you wouldn’t believe. Uhtred loses his wife and Alfred allows a POS Monk to dishonor her with their blasphemy of witchery and hatred of her pagan ways in the Kings Court. After that, I don’t blame Uhtred for going Viking – I just wished he’d killed every one of those idiots before he left.

ANYWAY – LETS GET TO IT:

This amazing story shows the deceit and back stabbing of the Monks, the laziness of the Kings Son-in-law, the dedication from the Kings Daughter towards her father and his kingdom, and the ignorance of the King himself which makes you hate him even more for listening to the Christian Monks. Let’s not forget the explicit blood bath and gory detail of the war with Jarl Haesten and his sorceress Skade who curses Uhtred – brutally but beautifully described.

Here is Uhtred’s description of Jarl Haesten:

“Jarl Haesten,” 

"I had saved his life once, which was a bad day’s work, and ever since that day I had been trying to kill him, yet he always managed to slither away. He had escaped me five years before and, since then, I had heard how he had been raiding deep inside Frankia." 

I’m not gonna retell the story, no instead I’m gonna share with you some interesting points and admirable statements I found worthy of sharing.

“You can drill a man for a year, practice sword craft and spear skills forever, but he will learn more in just five minutes of battle.” 

“I was without a lord. I was outcast. I was free. I was going Viking.” 

“Making an oath is like steering a course, but if the winds and tides of fate are too strong, then the steering oar loses its power. So we make oaths, but we are helpless in the face of wyrd.” 

“Christianity is a disease that spreads like a plague. We have to stop it.” 

“We seek the future. We stare into its fog and hope to see a landmark that will make sense of fate.” 

When talking about Alfred, Uhtred’s opinion

“He wanted to improve the world, while I did not believe and never have believed that we can improve the world, just merely survive as it slides into chaos.” 

NOTEWORTHY CHARACTERS:
Some of my favorite characters in this series are Osferth (Alfred’s bastard son) and Finan (companion who survived their enslavement together), Ragnar the Fearless, and Rollo. I liked Uhtred’s take on his companions – here is one that describes two of them.

“Osferth had rebelled against that destiny, becoming one of my house-warriors instead. He was not a natural fighter, not like Finan, but he brought a keen intelligence to the business of war, and intelligence is a weapon that has a sharp edge and a long reach.”

Overall, this series is addicting and I couldn’t wait to jump from this book right into the next. I highly recommend reading this series in order. This series definitely gives you a good Viking Fix and highly recommend it to all those Viking lovers.

Excellent Read!