431 pages
English language
Published Dec. 16, 1996
The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.
As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.
A realist telling of the Arthurian legend. With the Romans gone, Britain is failing: its gods weak, its kingdoms squabbling, beset on both side by the conquering Irish and Saxons. Life is squalid & brutal, with Arthur a shining hope, but neither he, nor anyone else, is as perfect as he seems.
Reading time 4 days, 122 pages/day
As historical fiction that takes the legend and grounds it in reality, this semi-military fantasy novel takes a while to really build up to serious battles of consequence. It's really quite difficult to express what kind of story it is, aside from being the diaries of a person who is entirely too kind-hearted to live in a post-Roman Britain. Seriously, if you're a reader that doesn't like to read about people who are selfish assholes, or politicians who are clearly warping the system to get their way, then I would stay far away from this novel. Pretty much all major characters of note are selfish pricks, with Lancelot's characterization earning a special place in my heart because I truly hated everything about him and detested the parts of the story where he played a role.
That said, with its mix of nasty backstabbing politics, a realistic approach to magic that …
As historical fiction that takes the legend and grounds it in reality, this semi-military fantasy novel takes a while to really build up to serious battles of consequence. It's really quite difficult to express what kind of story it is, aside from being the diaries of a person who is entirely too kind-hearted to live in a post-Roman Britain. Seriously, if you're a reader that doesn't like to read about people who are selfish assholes, or politicians who are clearly warping the system to get their way, then I would stay far away from this novel. Pretty much all major characters of note are selfish pricks, with Lancelot's characterization earning a special place in my heart because I truly hated everything about him and detested the parts of the story where he played a role.
That said, with its mix of nasty backstabbing politics, a realistic approach to magic that makes you wonder if it's all superstition the entire time, small scale conflicts and a setting of a world falling apart after the fall of (Roman) civilization, I did find Winter King to be an engrossing read. There's nothing particularly great about the story or characters -- and the entire story is centred around an everyman archetype who occasionally interacts with characters of legend -- but the effort spent to flesh out this 5th century world makes it stand out from the crowd and is worth the effort spent.
I would say that the pacing of the book is its greatest flaw, with Arthur barely present for 50% of the book and entirely too much time spent on detailing how Uther tried to set up a system to constrain successors after his death. All the effort spent by Uther was rendered irrelevant within two scenes of Arthur showing up, and that was what, 33% of the way through the book? What was the point of all those scenes?
Throughout this time, we get to follow Dervel's tale of his rise -- from his humble roots to a Captain in Arthur's service. This is fun, but we are purposely removed from any actual battles (particularly in Benoic) because the author wanted to keep all the fighting for the final chapters. As such... I found the story meandering and underwhelming. It doesn't provide an effective arc, and even the actual enemy is non-obvious until the last half of the book after Dervel returns from Benoic. Even then, I thought Lancelot might be more of an antagonist than the annoying distraction he ended up being.
Seriously, while the story and characterization is mediocre, the problem is that I hate everyone; even Arthur is a complete prick. There's really a lack of exploration of what it meant for him to choose Guinevere. Yes, we get the political consequences. However, Arthur barely acknowledges the moral contradiction, forsakes an oath to King Ban that might have even prevented the Briton Civil War, and even at the end only demands peace if his enemy recants their "lies" about his wife. Given that he (and Dervel) are the only characters that are meant to have a noble character, I find myself rooting for everyone's death.
The setting is what makes this interesting, and I pray that the supporting characters become more likeable. It is very difficult to read a book where I hate everyone.
