War Lord

Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg is an old man now, and all he’d really like to do is spend his remaining days with his family at his home, but, unfortunately, there are still battles to be fought, and now he finds approaching armies from all sides of his beloved Northumbria. To the south, King Æthelstan arrives with his mighty army, with his three united kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia. One kingdom remains, and to the north there is King Constantine of Scotland, along with the leader of Ireland, looking to make a play. Uhtred with have to choose his allegiance and see if all kingdoms can be united in one country known as Englaland, the dream of King Alfred.

In this concluding thirteenth book of the Saxon Tales, Cornwell delivers history and battle with these characters we have come to love, and while things seem to get solved a little too easy compared to some of the other books in the series, it is nevertheless a satisfying finale. When I got to interview Cornwell over a decade ago, asking him how long the series would be, he said he didn’t know, and now thirteen books later it comes to a close.