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A review by mqabbadbest
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really enjoyed this book's story and I liked the way Cornwell writes, specially his battle scenes!
I usually find it difficult to follow battle sequences in books and therefore I find them boring. But in this book, I was hooked from start to finish. How Cornwell describes and writes his battles is extremely entertaining and understandable for the reader.
I also loved how he interwove very slight hints of magic with the Briton religion. Also, the battle for religious supremacy between Christianity and the Briton religion was interesting to see it evolve throughout the book.
Why do I give this book a 3.75 then? Well because other than what I mentioned above the book is pretty lacking in anything else. The most egregious is the World Building. No effort was done on that front, Cornwell just spouted out village and city names and that's it. There is no differentiation between Briton or Saxon or Irish Kingdoms. Every kingdom is just the same with different religions.
Then there is characterisation, where, in my opinion, lies the biggest fault of this book. These characters are one-dimensional except 2. Arthur and Derfel have some different qualities other than there most prominent but other male characters are pretty much all the same - soldiers or cowards.
Women are all pretty much the same as well. There apparenly are only three types of women in Dark Ages Briton: Druids, Whores (the MOST prominent type of women, as it seems like every women in this book is a whore), and mothers, who most of them hate their children. Only very few women were shown to actually love their children.
I usually find it difficult to follow battle sequences in books and therefore I find them boring. But in this book, I was hooked from start to finish. How Cornwell describes and writes his battles is extremely entertaining and understandable for the reader.
I also loved how he interwove very slight hints of magic with the Briton religion. Also, the battle for religious supremacy between Christianity and the Briton religion was interesting to see it evolve throughout the book.
Why do I give this book a 3.75 then? Well because other than what I mentioned above the book is pretty lacking in anything else. The most egregious is the World Building. No effort was done on that front, Cornwell just spouted out village and city names and that's it. There is no differentiation between Briton or Saxon or Irish Kingdoms. Every kingdom is just the same with different religions.
Then there is characterisation, where, in my opinion, lies the biggest fault of this book. These characters are one-dimensional except 2. Arthur and Derfel have some different qualities other than there most prominent but other male characters are pretty much all the same - soldiers or cowards.
Women are all pretty much the same as well. There apparenly are only three types of women in Dark Ages Briton: Druids, Whores (the MOST prominent type of women, as it seems like every women in this book is a whore), and mothers, who most of them hate their children. Only very few women were shown to actually love their children.