I am becoming a fervent fan of Bernard Cornwell’s historical fiction, having, as yet, found all of his novels absorbing and addicting. I first connected with him as the author of the “Sharpe” series; I still haven’t read any of those, although thoroughly enjoying the TV series which was based upon them.
The first of his works of the several I’ve enjoyed centered on the fifth century of merry OLD England when the Romans left and tribal conflict raged until the indigenous Celts were threatened by the invading Saxons; in his Arthur series, he gives us a semi-heroic figure that unites some of the conflicting forces.
His Saxon tales advances us, four hundred years later, to the time of the struggles between the Danes and the Saxons, with King Alfred as a secondary but highly influential character (the hero being a Dane/Saxon half breed who, reluctantly, is bound to the king through oath).
The novel under review advances the time line to the 15th century, in the reign of Henry V. In summary, here we have the story of the king’s invasion of France in order to cement his claim to sovereignty of that territory as well as his little island to the west.
The central figure, Nick Hook, is a low-born rural son of a deceased shepherd. His father has bestowed one great blessing upon him by forcing him under duress to become a remarkably strong and accurate archer. Through a labyrinth of plot twists, Hook becomes a part of the English force in the French invasion, and we see that campaign through Nick’s eyes.
Cornwell is Michener-like in his development of myriads of characters. Although most of them are rather one-dimensional, their flaws and virtues are well-mixed; abject malevolence is matched by occasions of compassion and brotherliness in the same person.
The Michener comparison is furthered by the author’s gift for descriptions of the physical, social, and psychological environment. We can almost feel the rain and the mud, smell the stench of offal and decaying corpses, hear the shrieks of the wounded and dying, and shudder from the concussion of stones from catapults and cannon. I had never thought much about the effect of archery in battle, being from the era of tanks, automatic weapons and high fire-power. However, Cornwell is able to bring home the horror of thousands of arrows from huge bows having the strength to puncture the chain mail and even the plate armor of oncoming forces.
And then we have the hand-to-hand combat. I’d thought that swords would be a major weapon, but apparently not so; pole axes, like super Swiss army knives, were used to trip an enemy, pry the armor or helmet away, and either batter the skull with the hammer/axe or impale the poor fellow through the eye, throat, or groin with the sharpened spike. All in all, a grisly business, with splattered brains, blood-gushing mouths, and shattered limbs enough to fill a Stallone movie, but certainly realistic.
Cornwell is given high praise for his realism, even to the extent of filling the novel with actual personages from the time. His research, for example, finds that a Nicholas Hook actually was part of the Agincourt battle, and most of the noblemen he names did exist.
If good, non chick-lit (there is one and only one ripped bodice in the whole novel) historical fiction is your taste, this is one to read. As for me, I’m ready to move up in time to the Napoleonic era and his “Sharpe” books.
Reviewed by Ken West
The first of his works of the several I’ve enjoyed centered on the fifth century of merry OLD England when the Romans left and tribal conflict raged until the indigenous Celts were threatened by the invading Saxons; in his Arthur series, he gives us a semi-heroic figure that unites some of the conflicting forces.
His Saxon tales advances us, four hundred years later, to the time of the struggles between the Danes and the Saxons, with King Alfred as a secondary but highly influential character (the hero being a Dane/Saxon half breed who, reluctantly, is bound to the king through oath).
The novel under review advances the time line to the 15th century, in the reign of Henry V. In summary, here we have the story of the king’s invasion of France in order to cement his claim to sovereignty of that territory as well as his little island to the west.
The central figure, Nick Hook, is a low-born rural son of a deceased shepherd. His father has bestowed one great blessing upon him by forcing him under duress to become a remarkably strong and accurate archer. Through a labyrinth of plot twists, Hook becomes a part of the English force in the French invasion, and we see that campaign through Nick’s eyes.
Cornwell is Michener-like in his development of myriads of characters. Although most of them are rather one-dimensional, their flaws and virtues are well-mixed; abject malevolence is matched by occasions of compassion and brotherliness in the same person.
The Michener comparison is furthered by the author’s gift for descriptions of the physical, social, and psychological environment. We can almost feel the rain and the mud, smell the stench of offal and decaying corpses, hear the shrieks of the wounded and dying, and shudder from the concussion of stones from catapults and cannon. I had never thought much about the effect of archery in battle, being from the era of tanks, automatic weapons and high fire-power. However, Cornwell is able to bring home the horror of thousands of arrows from huge bows having the strength to puncture the chain mail and even the plate armor of oncoming forces.
And then we have the hand-to-hand combat. I’d thought that swords would be a major weapon, but apparently not so; pole axes, like super Swiss army knives, were used to trip an enemy, pry the armor or helmet away, and either batter the skull with the hammer/axe or impale the poor fellow through the eye, throat, or groin with the sharpened spike. All in all, a grisly business, with splattered brains, blood-gushing mouths, and shattered limbs enough to fill a Stallone movie, but certainly realistic.
Cornwell is given high praise for his realism, even to the extent of filling the novel with actual personages from the time. His research, for example, finds that a Nicholas Hook actually was part of the Agincourt battle, and most of the noblemen he names did exist.
If good, non chick-lit (there is one and only one ripped bodice in the whole novel) historical fiction is your taste, this is one to read. As for me, I’m ready to move up in time to the Napoleonic era and his “Sharpe” books.
Reviewed by Ken West
1 comment:
A very interesting postscript to the novel citing scholarly works on Agincourt provided some good information on how to go about writing an historical novel.
I can't say I will purposely seek another book as unsparing of gory details, but I did stick it out to the end, gratified by Melisande's crossbow arrow to the groin of her would be rapist.
Post a Comment