Review by Booklist Review
The newest installments in two highly regarded Arthurian series. Cornwell continues his dynamic Warlord Chronicles retelling the Arthurian legends from the point of view of one of Arthur's trusted warlords, Derfel. Recounting events long after the king's death, Derfel portrays a reluctant leader driven by fate and his own sense of honor. This compelling volume follows Arthur through his final battles and reconciliation with his banished wife, Guinevere. Cornwell brings a modern religious sensibility to his vivid interpretation of the times, casting the conflict between the Britains and the Saxons as a war between the old gods and the Christian god played out through the powermongering of men. Not only is Cornwell keen on religious and political themes, he also has Derfel relate vivid accounts of the curiously courtly rituals and etiquette of this fabled war, fashioning an exciting, intelligent, and mythic novel of duty, betrayal, greed, and love. Whyte adds a fifth novel to his acclaimed Camulod Chronicles, a story of pre-Arthur Britain told from Merlin's perspective. The Britain of Merlin's youth is a collection of civilizations left over from the Pax Romana, and the government installed in Camulod operates as a shadow of the Roman republic. Merlin is a High Commander who possesses gifts of foresight through dreams, but he is no magician: his powers are based on his friend Lucanus' gift of medicine. He does intuit, however, that the bastard child Arthur is fated to be king, and commits his life to protecting him. Whyte spins a tale of loyalty and trust, fleshing out Merlin's character as one that is diametrically opposed to the usual portrayal of an infamously randy sorcerer. His saga concludes with Merlin spiriting Arthur away from his would-be assassins. As both Whyte, Cornwell, and the authors listed in the adjoining Read-alike column demonstrate, the Arthurian legends possess remarkably enduring allure and significance. --Grace Lee
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Readers of Mallory and other sources of Arthurian lore may be struck by their conflation of bloody savagery and Christian pieties. In his new Arthurian novel, Cornwell (The Winter King) dramatizes the confrontation of Christianityhere depicted as the political tool of self-righteous brutes, opportunists and hypocriteswith the old religion of the Druids. Chief among the Druids are Merlin and his nemesis, Nimue, who cast spells and preside over rituals of fire and human sacrifice in order to bring about a return of the old gods, saving Britain from the Saxons. Priestess Nimue wants to sacrifice Arthur's son Gwydre to this end, but Merlin resists, as do Arthur and his warrior friend Derfel: for this they suffer terribly. The tale is told by Derfel, now an old monk in the service of an illiterate and sadistic bishop who would punish Derfel if he knew what he were writing. This frame works well to flavor and deepen the whole. The book is a military talealliances, strategies, battles, betrayalsand is stirringly told as Arthur routs the treacherous Lancelot and his Saxon backers. It is also the tale of the reconciliation of Arthur, honest to a fault and tortured by his wife's betrayal, with Guinevere, extraordinary in her bravery, wisdom and forthrightness. Equally central is Derfel's devotion to his mate, Ceinwyn, for whose life he sacrifices his shield hand, averting Nimue's curse. The action is gripping and skillfully paced, cadenced by passages in which the characters reveal themselves in conversation and thought, convincingly evoking the spirit of the time. Ways of ancient ritual, battle and daily life are laid out in surprising detail. One feels the element of fantasy only in the incredible integrity of Derfel and Arthur, men who sacrifice all for a vowbut our reluctance to believe may be only a sign of our times. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In a compelling finale, historical novelist Cornwell concludes his three-part retelling of the Arthurian legend (The Winter King, LJ 5/15/96; Enemy of God, LJ 7/97). Despite the rather misleading idealized jacket cover, Excalibur portrays not romantic Camelot but a nasty, brutal fifth-century Britain in which heads and other body parts literally pile up. Indeed, this novel is even more graphic than its predecessors in its depictions of gore and violence. Although Arthur temporarily halts the invading Saxons at the battle of Mynydd Baddon (during which Lancelot meets a coward's death and Guinevere is reconciled with her husband), his dream of a unified Celtic kingdom is doomed. Thwarting him is the vicious Mordred who makes a pact with Nimue to bring back the old Druid gods and destroy the new Christian deity. Cornwell's attention to historical detail, his penchant for lively storytelling, and his vivid characters make this a good choice for all collections.Wilda Williams, "Library Journal" (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This completes Cornwell's well-received Warlord Chronicles, an Arthurian trilogy (The Winter King, 1996, and Enemy of God, 1997). And, yes, this is the same author who wrote the wonderfully entertaining Sharpe series of 18th-century military adventure. Here, a revisionist Cornwell moves away smartly from Malory's Morte dArtur (not to mention John Boorman's magnificent film Excalibur), which is all Frenchified romance and not sixth-century British history, which itself is very sketchy. Cornwell's Guinevere has betrayed and left Arthur, while Lancelot too departs as both coward and traitor. In this last of the series, Arthur strives to unite Britain under one throne, while Merlin and Mordred bring down upon him the Druidic gods, who can be stopped only by Arthur's baptism into Christianity. Splendid, white-hot storytelling.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
