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The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell

4 reviews

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Review of The Pale Horseman

By: Bernard Cornwell

In the second book of The Saxon series Uhtred continues to serve Alfred though he doesn’t believe in Christianity and is still loyal to his Gods. Unfortunately, the Danes return, not to the surprise of Uhtred, who expected it, to take back their land. Alfred believes God will help him, but he realizes he needs Uhtred on his side, because he is a true warrior and knows how the Danes think.

Uhtred’s journey as a struggling young man who just wants his home back but is forced to ally himself with people who don’t have the same spiritual beliefs as he does. He is frustrated and exasperated with his situation and with Alfred, but he is given hope by Iseult, a woman excused of witchcraft because of her visions of the future, that Alfred could win. I still don’t like Mildrith, because she is forceful with her insistence that Uhtred convert, which comes from fear of Paganism being the devil’s work. At the same time, I felt sorry for her that she experiences a great grief. Iseult is an interesting woman with her dreams of the future and her good heart, but because of these visions she is called a shadow queen, evil. She can’t see her own future making her life unpredictable. The only other female character is Hild, a nun, who was attacked sexually. She is a good Christian, but full of rage from her assault. Rightfully so and determined to get her vengeance. I hate Asser because he is so judgmental and arrogant, but I like Pyrlig. He is friendly and doesn’t push Uhtred to convert and he understands being a warrior. Uhtred’s alliance with Svein is interesting, but they respect each other, though they’re enemies. The battle scenes are intense and exciting as I didn’t know if the Saxons or the Danes would win, and Cornwell shows what every significant character is doing on the battlefield. The pace is good, and I always wanted to know what comes next in the story.

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