Excalibur

 

Excalibur – Bernard Cornwell

The third book in the excellent “The Warlord Chronicles” trilogy. Before I write the review, I probably should go back and read what I wrote about the first two books as my sentiments are very similar. I don’t want to repeat myself. I’m too lazy, however, so let’s hope that if you’re reading this review along with the first two, you won’t find too many repetitious bits of information.

This series is based on the legend of King Arthur.  I’ve known bits about King Arthur for most of my life (Monty Python anyone?) but not really that much.  Heck, I don’t even know if these books follow the well-established stories that accurately. What I do know is that this was an excellent series. Rarely have I found an author so addictive, so compelling, and so interesting. What makes this even a more remarkable achievement is that the genre and type of story that the author is telling here really isn’t one that I find that intriguing.  I can’t help but be reminded somewhat of the “Game of Thrones” series.   I watched a lot of it on HBO, and found it overall to be a rewarding experience, but I never had the desire to watch the last season; probably because most fans were disappointed.

I bore you with my assessment of that show simply because I’m trying to give someone who may be reading this an indication of whether you would like this book as well as its predecessors.  If you loved “Game of Thrones”, I’m guessing you’ll love these books.  But, if you’re like me and simply ‘enjoyed’ the popular HBO series, well, you may end up loving these books too.

Since this isn’t actual ‘history’, there’s lots of fantasy involved.  No mythical beasts such as dragons, but an awful lot of wizards, enchanters, and magical items that those in the story desire to possess. The story is told firsthand by Derfel, a close associate of the legendary Arthur, and we magically move our way through several tales that usually involve kings, queens, wars, wizards, spells, and a lot of screaming as to which religion is the real one. (There is a constant battle between pagans and Christians, so at least that element is real.)

The only thing that I will add is that if you have Kindle Unlimited, this trilogy is free to borrow, so it should be real easy for you to tell if you might enjoy these books.  I loved them, and so I purchased another series of his that takes place over 13 books. (only a couple were free on Kindle Unlimited). I honestly can’t wait to read that series and others by this author.

This was a very surprising and rewarding read and I highly recommend.  If you’re a medieval nerd, I can’t imagine these books not vaulting their way all the way to the very top of your preferred reading list.  If you’re like everybody else, you may find yourself….er….uh…..enchanted by them as well.