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Average Customer Rating:

Will Arthur ever find his peace? A great end to the trilogy

Customer Rating:

The third and final book of the Arthur/warlord trilogy is again a Bernard Cornwell classic. Not many authors have his ability for you to get into the heads of their characters in the same way he manages. You are so immersed in them, the story and the time period that it gives you an extra depth when you read his work. Our heroes think that maybe at last they have found a lasting peace for Britain..... of course that could never do! With twists, plots and power hungry rulers, there is still plenty for them left to fix. Cornwells interpretation of the Arthur legend is based on the stories from the time, rather than the much later Arthur legends which were written over 500 years later. This gives a much more believable Arthur legend than many others. He has included many of the later additions to the legend such as the round table, Camelot and alike so as not to make the story too different to the one we all grew up with, however still keeps the story in the dark ages as it was meant to be. An excellent end to the set and for me unfortunately only a couple more of his novels left to read.....

Cutting through the nonsense with Excalibur

Customer Rating:

Remembering first and foremost that this is myth wrapped into fiction, a dangerous mix at the best of times, this is far and away the best of the 3 books in the trilogy. However, the whole trilogy was spoiled for me by the incessant 'he spat' to the point when I began to believe that Southern England is a place of bogs and marshland due to the amount of saliva spat into it during Saxon times. Unfortunately an author does tend to fasten onto a word (with Martina Cole, for example, in Faces, it was 'sipped') and they do not realise they are overdoing it to an alarming degree. This is where the editor should be taking note and they aren't. Having said that, this trilogy far outweighs the Holy Grail books in both content and characterisation, even if Arthur is nowhere near the heroic figure he deserves to be and Lancelot is more cowardly than I presumed him to be. But that is entirely a matter of opinion. Enjoy the books. He won't write better than these.

Inspiring

Customer Rating:

These are the finest books that I have ever read. They tell the tale of King Arthur in the dark ages in a way that makes you believe in such men, or certainly hope they existed. The story is brilliantly told through the writings of the main character Derfel Cadarn and these books blend the myth of King Arthur with what little is known of those times. Derfel tells the tales with such heart that you can almost feel the landscapes and characters he describes, from the mischievous Merlin to the imperious Guinevere. Quite simply, buy these books and treasure them.

A magnificent ending to my all time favorite trilogy.

Customer Rating:

All the unanswered treads from the previous two books are sorted out here, the Battle of Mount Badon is proberbly the best described and gripping battle i have ever read. The last 100 pages ore amazing and the ending, as you would expect very sad. I only wish Bernard Cornwell would write about what happened to the surviving Charactors from between the end of the book and the start when Derfel is an old Monk re-telling the tale that only he and sly Bishop Sansum remember living through. Maybe he feels some stories should not be told and that we dont need all the answers? Overall the best book in what in my opinion is the Greatest trilogy ever written, highly recommended, now will someone make this series into a movie or tv series (without ruining it!)

The trilogy ends - but what an ending!

Customer Rating:

And three! Bernard Cornwell managed to finish his Warlord trilogy with another masterpiece - and this is not a small achievement. So many promising book and movies fail at the finish! So here we have a slow buildup leading us to the inavoidable wagnerian great finale! I just loved this book - and loved the whole trilogy. And I will not reveal anything - be surprised. And delighted, although it will be a sad delight.... as you can expect from the end of King Arthur story.