Warriors of the Storm

Title: Warriors of the Storm

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2015
Pages: 296
Series: The Last Kingdom/ The Saxon Stories #9
Genre: Historical Fiction

Reading Time: 16 - 20 July

Binding: Kindle
Goodreads

Stars:
★★★★★

Blurb:

 A fragile peace is about to be broken...

 King Alfred's son Edward and formidable daughter, Aethelflaed, rule Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia. But all around the restless Northmen, eyeing rich lands and wealthy churches are mounting raids.

 Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the kingdoms' greatest warrior, controls northern Mercia from the strongly fortified city of Chester. But forces are rising up against him. Northemen allied to the Irish, led by the fierce warrior Ragnall Ivarson, are soon joined by the Northumbrians, and their strength could prove overwhelming. Despite the gathering threat, both Edward and Aethelflaed are reluctant to move out of the safety of their fortifications. But with Uhtred's own daughter married to Ivarson's brother, who can be trusted?

 In the struggle between family and loyalty, between personal ambition and political commitment, there will be no easy path. But a man with a warrior's courage may be able to find it. Such a man is Uhtred, and this may be his finest hour.

Review:

 I'm continuing with testing a new review format, when reviewing a long running series it's difficult to keep comments going so this should be a bit lengthier than my previous review! Spoilers if you haven't yet read the previous eight books, obviously.

 Characters

 Uhtred continues to amaze, he's getting old but his mind is still sharp. He has a warrior's mind and his loyalties straight. He's come so very far from the beginning of this series and I continue to enjoy the retrospective narrative that gives you a different flavour for the situation every now and then.

 Finan. We learn SO MUCH about Finan in this one. Some of the history comes out and it's heartbreaking. I've always rooted for Uhtred's return to Bebbanburg but now I want to follow Finan back to Ireland as well, he would deserve it after all he has been through. Naughty little Irishman.

 Aethelflaed is getting on my nerves. I used to find her quirky, witty and brave and now my view is switching to stubborn, naive and irritating. She's so changed from the girl she began as in the series as well. She's a powerful ruler but only due to the support of Uhtred and so when she constantly orders his obedience or ignores him for the view of priests it really riles me up and I'm surprised that Uhtred has not yet abandoned her. She seems like an ungrateful cow about now. No matter, Uhtred knows when she's being made a fool of but will fix it all and have the poets sing her praises anyway. What a man.

 Uhtred's children are all about for us in this one. Uhtred I feel takes a small step back from the last one and is continuing to prove himself as a warrior. Stiorra appears a little later and she has only grown stronger away from the father, she's fantastic. We even get a short time with Father Judas now calling himself Osbert. That was definitely interesting.

 Ragnall is a very good foe for this book having only been introduced to his brother in the previous book. I think it keeps the actions timely and more intriguing than just bringing in another Dane from across the sea. He's fed up of fighting the Irish and has come for easier pickings. He's clever, but is he clever enough?

 An old foe that continues to plague us is Haesten, the little weasel just shows up everywhere and anywhere he's not wanted.

 Another even older character from the very first book comes back to play with us. I'd been missing them and had searched to see if they would reappear and spoiled myself but that didn't make any of it less satisfying. So good.

 Edward is blissfully absent as are most of our Wessex based characters in this one. We have too much action in the north for anything else!

 Setting

 As an English person, I'm probably biased here. . .

 Cornwell continues to help us immerse in the history of England's making, referencing history of Roman buildings is a little nod to their recent history which I feel helps. Immersing in the religious views and reminders of the beliefs at the time is also quite immersive. I find any scene on a ship certainly reminds me of how perilous travel was in history.

 Plot

 This one was action packed and I loved it. We've gotten used to a certain formula of story telling by this point. A beginning battle and build up to an end battle. A little boring for some that like more of a surprise but it hasn't slowed me down and I loved this one. I think love for the characters is what pushes me forwards. The pacing is good, constantly moving and there was a lot going on in the book. I didn't feel it went stagnant at any point. In terms of where this fits in the series, I feel this is also an important development for the books which only happens for a few of them.

 Writing

 I'm still in love with the retrospective narrative. Seeing from Uhtred's side means a slightly one sided story but there's no one else that I'd rather follow. I think I fear historical fiction and that it will be written in a way that's difficult to read and these books are very easy to read through.

 I never expected these books to be funny but little interactions are always making me laugh. Whether it be current interactions or flashbacks it's usually to do with mocking priests whom I find as tedious as Uhtred does.

 I'm not far off the end of this series now. I'm loving that I'm racing towards the end but also wanting to slow down and make it last longer. The Flame Bearer is next!