Title: Death of Kings         

Author: Bernard Cornwell       

Genre: Historical Fiction      

Publisher: HarperCollins      

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 335

Rating: 4/5 stars 

Synopsis (Goodreads):

The master of historical fiction presents the iconic story of King Alfred and the making of a nation. As the ninth century wanes, England appears about to be plunged into chaos once more. 

For the Viking-raised but Saxon-born warrior, Uhtred, whose life seems to shadow the making of England, this presents him with difficult choices. King Alfred is dying and his passing threatens the island of Britain to renewed warfare. Alfred wants his son, Edward, to succeed him but there are other Saxon claimants to the throne as well as ambitious pagan Vikings to the north. 

Uhtred’s loyalty – and his vows – were to Alfred, not to his son, and despite his long years of service to Alfred, he is still not committed to the Saxon cause. His own desire is to reclaim his long lost lands and castle to the north. But the challenge to him, as the king’s warrior, is that he knows that he will either be the means of making Alfred’s dream of a united and Christian England come to pass or be responsible for condemning it to oblivion. 

This novel is a dramatic story of the power of tribal commitment and the terrible difficulties of divided loyalties. This is the making of England magnificently brought to life.

Review:

I definitely read this book in preparation to watch the rest of the Netflix series, and the Netflix series is a bit different than the book! Haha so that kinda backfired, but always better to read the book before watching the show I say!

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There isn’t too much to say about this book, as it was action packed with lots of battles, feasting, and war parties! I love how strong the character Athelflaed is, and how her brother Edward really grows as a character in this one! But I will say that this was one of the slower books in the series, but looking forward to seeing how the series progresses! Definitely love reading about this time period in Anglo-Saxon history!

This is just a short review, so hopefully I do not keep you guys in the dark for too long, and actually get to the next book soon! 

Happy reading!