War of the Wolf (The Last Kingdom Series, Book 11)

Product Information

Uhtred, now older, wants nothing more than to enjoy retirement at Bebbanburg, but pressures on Northumbria from Edward to the south and the Scots to the North are stretching their small armies to the max and making for an uneasy peace. There is a very odd series of passages towards the end of WAR OF THE WOLF, the 11th entry in Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Tales. The great warrior Uhtred pauses in his recollection of the mighty battle he fought against a nefarious Norse intruder to correct the bard who is writing a song about it. So what you have is a fictional character, telling the story of what is essentially a fictional battle, being interrupted by another fictional character, telling the story of the same battle. But it’s a different story, and the two stories disagree with each other. It is set in 10th-century England and continues to follow the fortunes of the fictional Uhtred of Bebbanburg. In this novel Uhtred is finally secure in his childhood home, Bebbanburg. It is the next stage in a long story that has many fans. [3] Plot [ edit ] His “enemies,” the Danes, are led by the fearsome Sköll, who numbers among his army the úlfhéðnar — the wolf warriors — ferocious killers with superior fighting skills who are seemingly impervious to pain.

I’m honestly so impressed. I didn’t have a clue how Cornwell would follow the last book The Flame Bearer but The War of the Wolf was one of the best in the series. But like how?! What sorcery is this?? He did not disappoint. This felt like the beginning almost again in a new way and was very character driven.When tragedy strikes after Uhtred is lured away from Bebbanburg with a false summons, the stage is set for an epic journey of revenge.

The Flores Historiarum claims that the Warwolf sent a single stone through two of the castle's walls in the course of the siege, "like an arrow flying through cloth". [4] Other sources, however, report that the weapon was only finished after the Scots had surrendered. [3] Edward decided to use it anyway, refusing to let anyone enter or leave the castle until it had been tested. [5] In the original records [ edit ]There are several surviving references to the War Wolf in some of the original parchment rolls of the accounts of King Edward. Two , in Latin read: Nevertheless, Uhtred is bound by his word, so once again, he must strap on Serpent’s Breath — his great killing sword — and fight England’s foes. For the Danes are threatening England again and they want Uhtred dead.

Then on the other hand, the contents of War of the Wolf are familiar, evocative and unfortunately somewhat stale. Northumbria is under threat. The kings of Wessex struggle to hold together Alfred's dream of England. New Vikings show up to ravage the land. The hero loses something important and requires vengeance. It is more of the same, and of course it's fun reading despite the advanced years of our protagonist, but it does not carry the same thrill as it once did.

Customer reviews

Lady Æthelflaed, Uhtred's on-again, off-again lover and ruler of Mercia, dies. Edward, King of Wessex, seizes the opportunity to take over the kingdom from his niece Ælfwynn. Uhtred ignores Edward's summons to swear fealty to him, and his Mercian lands are forfeited, but Uhtred is content with his beloved Bebbanburg. Constant philosophical battle between paganism and Christianity that depicts given period precisely. Thome de Viridi Campo, valleto regine, de dono regis in recompensacionem laboris quem sustenit circa facturem Lupus Guerre quem rex fieri ordinavit pro insultu castri de Stryvelyn, …, xl li. Cornwell has his protagonist observe: "The gods are not kind to us, any more than children are kind to their toys. We are here to amuse the gods, and at times it amuses them to be unkind....Perhaps my conviction that I was cursed was false, but there were not birds in the winter sky, and that omen told me I was the plaything of cruel gods." There is a very sad death in this book and I appreciated in the author's notes on how he lamented the death but had to do it to make it match history. Darn, I hate it when facts get in the way of what I want to happen. I love how well researched these books are and how much I have learned just from reading them. Frankly I knew next to nothing about King Alfred until I read this series.

War is bitter. The poets give battle a splendor, extolling the brave and exulting in victory, and bravery is worth their praise. Victory too, I suppose, but the poems, chanted in mead halls at night, give boys and young men their ambition to be warriors. Reputation! It is the one thing that outlives us. Men die, women die, all die, but reputation lives on like the echo of a song, and men crave reputation” Uhtred, after years of fighting and planning revenge on his hated uncle is once again lord of his ancestral home, Bebbanberg. It isn’t just Uhtred who finds himself in a tight spot. His son-in-law, Sigtryggr, is King of Northumbria. [For those not familiar with this Kingdom, it was one of the four eventually melded into England. At this time, it is the only remaining non-Christian kingdom of any significance on the Island that now contains England, Scotland and Wales.] “If I fight Thurferth and his followers,” Sigtryggr went on, “I’m fighting King Edward. And I’ll get no help from the west, will I?” He meant Cumbraland, which was supposedly a part of Northumbria. Yet he still feels bound by an oath he took to protect Æthelstan, his friend, protege and Edward's oldest son. So when there is a Mercian revolt against Edward, he rides with Finan and about 90 veteran warriors to relieve the Siege of Ceaster. When he gets there, he realises he has been lied to; the besieged, led by Æthelstan, were in no real danger, and the enemy are soon defeated. Be that as it may but when a Norse chieftain gathers a formidable army with the intention of taking Bebbanburg and calling himself ‘King of Northumbria’ Uhtred is the first to gather his horse, shield and sword in preparation for war.

stars for another rousing historical fiction book by Bernard Cornwell. This is the 51st book that I have read by Cornwell and I enjoyed all of them. I recommend that you start this series with book 1, The Last Kingdom. It is the story of Uhtred of Bebbanburg. In this book, Uhtred faces a new enemy, Skoll, a Norseman, defeated by Celtic warriors in Ireland and now living in Northumbria. He kills one of Uhtred's family and Uhtred swears revenge. I think that Cornwell writes the best battle scenes of this period--about 9th to 10th century. They are so vivid that you can imagine yourself watching the battle in real life. And if this is not enough to contend with, King Edward, the late King Alfred’s son and the now would be king of all England, is nearing his death. This situation has Edward’s family at each others throats and when the kingdom is indulging in a deal of blood letting who you gonna call? Uhtred of Bebbanburg of course. So the poor buggers got a lot on his plate. At the opening of War of the Wolf, Uhtred has grown old — he’s now over 60 — but is still a formidable warrior. King Alfred is dead, as is his daughter, Æthelflaed, ruler of Mercia, as well as Uhtred’s lover and best friend. Alfred’s son, King Edward, rules England and pursues his father’s dream of bringing Northumbria under his rule. But first he must confront the Danes, who roam the untamed lands of northern England.