Book info

• Title The Lords of the North
• Author Bernard Cornwell
• Year 2007
• Genre Historical

Uhtred wants revenge. He wants the land and castle that is his. He wants his treacherous uncle to pay for taking them. Heading north with his lover, former nun Hild, he finds chaos as the Vikings battle among themselves to consolidate their hold on the region. At the heart of it are men from Uhtred’s past – Sven the One-Eyed and Kjartan the Cruel, men of vicious reputation. Still, he has matched such men before. Then Uhtred suffers a betrayal to rival the treachery that deprived him of his birthright. It will leave him trapped with no hope of escape... Uhtred of Bebbanburg’s mind is as sharp as his sword. A thorn in the side of the priests and nobles who shape his fate, this Saxon raised by Vikings is torn between the life he loves and the cause he has sworn to serve.​

Thoughts

Alongside powering through the Reacher series, I’ve decided to muscle through the Saxon Stories as well. This is the third in the series and it’s really getting interesting as these characters grow and develop, cross paths and diverge again, and keep popping up in each other’s lives. For an era where it seems like death is literally just around the corner, it’s impressive for the few survivors to keep cropping up again and again. This also had the intrigue of Uhtred falling from grace from a Lord to a slave and back again, with everything that entails in between. The machinations of loyalty and fighting for the right side are complex, but the characters are easy to follow and have respect for. I’ll be reading on!

Rating: 3 / 5