A review by thebookwormsfeast
1356: Go with God, but Fight Like the Devil by Bernard Cornwell
5.0
Ok, so I have to preface this with I didn't realise it was part of a series (the fourth in fact), and I just dived right on in. But when I found out, I looked around the reviews and questions - and others said although old events are referenced, and you miss a lot of character building, this book does still work alone. So I ploughed on.
And I loved it!
It's been such a long time since I've read a book like this - as I've mainly been steeped in full-on fantasy. I adored having actual events and history interwoven with the fictional elements of Sir Thomas Hookton and the quest to find La Malice. Although missing some of the backstory (or near all the backstory), I still fell in love with the characters over this book.
The power and might of the English and Welsh longbowmen of the medieval era have always fascinated me - so "observing" the events leading up to and including the Battle of Poitiers from a band of them was amazing for me. There was a quote on the back of the book from George R. R. Martin that Cornwell writes some of the best battle scenes he's ever read, and I totally agree. It felt like we effortlessly and wholly moved around the battle - picking up on the main details (from what we know about what actually happened) without any feeling of choppiness.
This is my first Bernard Cornwall novel, and I certainly will be picking up more!
And I loved it!
It's been such a long time since I've read a book like this - as I've mainly been steeped in full-on fantasy. I adored having actual events and history interwoven with the fictional elements of Sir Thomas Hookton and the quest to find La Malice. Although missing some of the backstory (or near all the backstory), I still fell in love with the characters over this book.
The power and might of the English and Welsh longbowmen of the medieval era have always fascinated me - so "observing" the events leading up to and including the Battle of Poitiers from a band of them was amazing for me. There was a quote on the back of the book from George R. R. Martin that Cornwell writes some of the best battle scenes he's ever read, and I totally agree. It felt like we effortlessly and wholly moved around the battle - picking up on the main details (from what we know about what actually happened) without any feeling of choppiness.
This is my first Bernard Cornwall novel, and I certainly will be picking up more!