Book info

• Title War Lord
• Author Bernard Cornwell
• Year 2020
• Genre Historical

After a lifetime of fighting, the great warrior Lord Uhtred is ready to hang up his sword. But as long as the kingdom remains divided, peace is fragile – and Uhtred will never be safe in his Northumbrian fortress. As kings in the north and south grow more bloodthirsty for power, history marches inexorably towards war. And Uhtred has no choice but to throw himself into the fire. In the most terrible battle Britain has ever experienced, with the kingdom’s future resting on a knife edge, Uhtred takes his stand on one side of the shield wall. Only fate will decide the outcome...

Thoughts

Finally I’ve made it to the end of this series and I think this last book was a triumph. There’s one big final battle, with quite a lot of chess playing to get there, and our heroes face into their final fight with great class and honour. I like that they’re all really starting to feel their age now - even if they’re not old to modern eyes, they are in that historical sense. It’s been a rollercoaster following this journey with Uhtred but I’ve learnt a lot and enjoyed the majority of it along the way, so another great body of work from Cornwell.

Rating: 4 / 5