Hello everyone. Welcome back to Bibliophilia Book Reviews. Today I am reviewing Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell, the third installment of The Saxon Stories series. Read my review for The Last Kingdom, the first book of this series, here. My review for The Pale Horseman is found here. Like all my reviews, this review has spoilers.
“I hated Alfred. He was a miserable, pious, tight-fisted king who distrusted me because I was no Christian, because I was a northerner, and because I had given him his kingdom back at Ethandun. And as reward he had given me Fifhaden. Bastard.”
After having fulfilled his oath to Alfred by defeating Guthrum and his army at the Battle of Ethandun and thus giving Alfred his kingdom back, Uthred goes back to Northumbria both to settle his score with Kjartan (now known as Kjartan The Cruel) and his son Sven The One-Eyed, and to fulfill his promise to Ragnar The Younger of avenging the death of their family. Ragnar (and Brida), after having fought with Guthrum and lost, are now Alfred’s prisoners in Winchester. But fate decreed that Uthred go first to Cumbraland where he meets Guthred, the slave meant to become the king of Northumbria. Uthred frees him and becomes his friend and man. However, Guthred betrays Uthred and sells him as a slave in exchange for 200 swords from Bebbanburg. Ragnar learns of Uthred’s fate and sets out to look for him on Alfred’s behest. Here again, the TV show differs from the books in that Ragnar is forced to wait almost a year for Sverri’s return to Britain in the summer whereas in the books Ragnar pursues Sverri’s boat throughout the length of the ocean for months in the red ship that Alfred gives him to search for Uthred. Also, in the books, Uthred is the only one that is sold into slavery, whereas in the TV adaptation both him and Halig are sold. Halig only appears in the TV show, and I felt for him. He loved his lord. He did not deserve to die the way he did. It is during this time also that we meet Finan, the Irishman who becomes Uthred’s closest friend and his most loyal oath-man. He is the epitome of friendship, and their relationship is frankly one of the best things of the entire series.
“It was the year 878, I was twenty-one years old and believed my swords could win me the whole world. I was Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the man who had killed Ubba Lothbrokson beside the sea and who had spilled Svein of the White Horse from his saddle at Ethandun. I was the man who had given Alfred his kingdom back and I hated him. So I would leave him. My path was the sword-path, and it would take me home. I would go north.”
Once Ragnar recovers Uthred, Alfred sets Ragnar free and demands Uthred’s oath once again. And then sends him north to defeat Ivar and Kjartan, the two most powerful Danish lords there. Ivar Ivarson, the son of Ivar “The Boneless” Lothbrok and the man to whom Ragnar The Fearless was sworn to, an antagonist of The Last Kingdom, does not show up in the TV show. But Kjartan and Sven do, and both Uthred and Ragnar settle their blood-feud with them releasing Thyra, their sister, from her captivity in the process.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, despite it following the same structure as The Pale Horseman, where Uthred’s fate gives him ups and lows, the low in this book being him becoming a slave, and the book ending with a major battle, this time with the recovery of Dunholm, Kjartan’s stronghold. However, Cornwell is a master at keeping you invested in the character’s lives and he does that here too. Ragnar and Uthred’s blood-feud with Kjartan and his son is one of the main storylines of the entire series, and it is nice to see both these characters find closure. We also find out what happened to Thyra after she was captured by Sven and taken to Dunholm to become his woman. And I liked that she finally found her happy ending. After defeating Kjartan, Ragnar and Uthred part ways again. Ragnar stays in Dunholm while Uthred, now married to his second wife, goes back to Alfred. Because yes, Uthred falls in love in the interim. Iseult, Uthred’s shadow queen and lover, dies at Ethandun and though bereft from her loss, he finds love again with Gisela, Guthred’s sister. And this could be Uthred’s best relationship yet. I really liked them together.
I gave this book an I Really Liked It rating, and I will definitely be continuing with the series.
