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The Burning Land
A Novel (Saxon Tales)
542 pages
A mud-splattered, shield-splintering plunge into the brutal clash of loyalties and kingdoms in ninth-century Britain.
What it feels like
Reading this installment feels like standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a freezing, mud-slicked shield wall. It is a propulsive, fiercely visceral experience that immerses you in the smoke and slaughter of ninth-century Britain, where every victory is bought with staggering personal loss. The narrative is driven by a deeply cynical yet compellingly honorable voice, navigating a treacherous landscape of broken oaths, religious zealotry, and shifting allegiances. The prose is muscular and unsparing, stripping away romanticized notions of chivalry to reveal the terrifying, chaotic reality of medieval warfare. It will thoroughly delight readers who crave gritty, historically grounded epics where the clash of swords is matched only by the agonizing friction of a hero torn between two warring cultures.
- Mood
- blood-soaked
- turbulent
- mud-splattered
- tense
- Tone
- gritty
- cynical
- pragmatic
- martial
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- conflicting loyalties · the burden of oaths · religious friction · the brutality of war · grief and vengeance
- The writing
- Muscular, direct, and visceral, with a particular genius for rendering the chaotic, terrifying sensory overload of medieval combat.
- The arc
- The protagonist moves from devastating personal tragedy and bitter rebellion to a reluctant, blood-forged acceptance of his inescapable destiny.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave historically rigorous, action-heavy epics anchored by a cynical but fiercely honorable warrior.
Content notes
- graphic violence
- gore
- death of a spouse
- warfare
- religious bigotry
About the book
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.
Description from Open Library.
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