The Pale Horseman

Great descriptions of life back then.

This is an historical novel set in the southwest of ninth century England (Wessex). Few actual records survive from that time period as most records were in monasteries that were sacked and burned. Other records would have been in manor houses that met a similar fate. The author has revised a few points of history to match the story, but most of the main facts are correct enough, or as much as can be determined from the accounts which survived.The main story deals with King Alfred's battles with the Danes, culminating at Ethandun in 878 AD. While the actual historical details are not known, it is quite probably true that the Danes had the stronger army. It is known that the Saxons won the battle at Ethandun, and drove the Danes out of Wessex. The details of the battle found in this novel are fictional.The present story is told by the fictional warrior Uhtred, a pagan of mixed ancestry who could just as easily have fought fot the Danes, but finds himself pledged to fight for Alfred. He is with Alfred, hiding out on an island in the marshes when, as Uhtred puts it, the kingdom is reduced to the king, a bishop, four priests, two soldiers, the king's pregnant wife, two nursemaids, a tavern wench, the king's two young children, and a shadow queen that the priests regard as a witch. But, as Yogi Berra put it, "It's not over 'til it's over." West Saxons were still loyal to the king, and he could raise the fyrd to form an army. The army gathers slowly, a combination of trained soldiers, who are well equipped, and farmers who are armed with whatever.Some Saxons had allied themselves with the Danes, but others remain loyal to King Alfred, and there are some suprising loyalties. A former opponent of Uhtred becomes a loyal follower after being rescued. Uhtred also rescues a young nun who was ravished by the Danes, and he must deal with Alfred who wants to put himself in positions of danger (these were the days when kings led their armies into battle, none of the modern business of staying home while they sent others out to fight). When it comes down to the final battle, women show they can fight when they need to, but Uhtred loses his lover.The general attitudes (social, religious, etc.) and standards of living are probably fairly accurate. Religious attitudes have not changed much between the 9th century and the 21st century, i.e., people honor their own religion but everyone else is a heathen or infidel.It was common for armies to burn, rape, and pillage, and that continued into the 20th century. The only reason for taking prisoners was to obtain concubines, slaves, or hostages that could be held for ransom. Anyone who could not fit into one of those categories was killed. Genocide was a common practice. Armies were like a plague moving across the land.The attitude of allowing hostages to be killed was also fairly common. When one of my own ancestors was being held by a king who threatened to kill him, his father told the king that he had other sons. Family members could be sacrificed if it was to a person's advantage. Barbarian attitudes tended to prevail on both sides. Being a Christian did not make one a saint.Parallels can be found between the success of Alfred in raising the Saxons against the Danes, and the later success of Robert I (Robert the Bruce) in raising the Scots against the English. But that is another story. The Danes were finally defeated by Brian in Ireland, and the Saxons in England in the 11th century, and never seemed to be major players on the scene after that.

The Pale Horseman picks up immediately after the last moments of The Last Kingdom, with Uhtred racing from the battlefield to make sure of his wife's saftey. But Uhtred's decision to look for her is unwise--by doing so, he loses his opportunity to take credit for the victory he's just won and his rival, Odda, gets the honors. But despite this victory, King Alfred and the people of Wessex are still unsafe from the Danish threat, and as the novel progresses things grow increasingly worse for them. The Danes renege on a peace agreement and invade in the dead of winter, when Alfred's forces are at ease and unsuspecting.Alfred is forced into the marshes, where he hides among the bogs in tiny villages. This section of the novel--the sojourn in the wilderness--is perhaps the best part of the novel, second of course to the thrilling battle finale. Uhtred and Alfred form an unlikely team as they organize English resistance to the marauding Danes and prepare to take Wessex back.Cornwell, as usual, writes with energy and the many scenes of battle and combat are thrilling. He also shows a good attention to the period, with lots of small details--such as the constant wars with the Welsh--rounding out a mostly correct fictional experience of Anglo-Saxon England. I especially liked the long winter spent in the marshes and Alfred and Uhtred's mission to spy on the Danes.Only two things bothered me about the novel. First, Cornwell's obvious hatred for Christians is again evident. But as Uhtred frequently prays and invokes Thor (historically inappropriate, as Thor was a bit of a blue-collar god and warriors preferred to invoke Odin) and prayerfully touches his Thor's hammer amulet to ward off evil, it comes across as hypocritical in the extreme to mock Christians for praying for victory and making the sign of the cross. One wonders why Cornwell would bother writing about a person like Alfred the Great at all if he thinks him such a pious moron.Second, Uhtred is a bit of a sociopath. In his own eyes he never does any wrong and can always rationalize the many questionable choices he makes or the numerous hatreds he nurses toward people. And, harking back to the hypocritical attitude toward religion, he's often too willing to refuse to make a choice and just call it "destiny." While anger and sociopathy can be compelling traits in fictional characters, passivity is not.But these two flaws aside, The Pale Horseman is a rousing historical adventure with some great battle scenes and a--mostly--beautifully-evoked sense of the period. Upon putting this novel down, I felt as though I'd been with Alfred in the marshes and risen with him to the Danish challenge.Recommended.

After reading the last kingdom, I could not wait to get stuck into this second instalment of Uhtred and Alfred. Although the time line in this book and what I remember of the tv show still do not line up in my head, which could be wrong, I enjoyed every moment, just like I did with the tv show. Seeing Uhtred grow as a person and find a closer Danish love was wonderful, even if it drew him further from the church.Following on from book one, Uhtred clashed once again with the crown and seemed to almost come to a point of giving up on Wessex altogether, especially as Alfred once again made peace with guthram the unlucky, and was once again betrayed. Unlike previously, Wessex almost came to an end with the Danes taking a lot more land and sending the king into the swamps to pick his wounds. This is where the desperate king plans one final, desperate fight to take back his kingdom and his vision of a united England.The character development felt well thought out and progressed at a believable speed, while staying true to themselves throughout.The mix of fact and fiction blends seamlessly together in a way not many could pull off. This only went to increase my immersion into the tale and always leave me wanting mire. Book 3 has already been purchased and is waiting to be started.

Read this book in 2005, and its the 2nd volume of the impressive "Last Kingdom" series from Bernard Cornwell.This book is about Alfred the Great of Wessex is devastated after the defeat against the Vikings, and those Vikings now occupy now most of England.Still with him is Uhtred, pagan and raised by Vikings, and who is still pondering whether to remain with Alfred or return to the Vikings.Seeking refuge in the marshland around Athelney, Alfred and Uhtred try to rally the Saxons to fight back from this watery base and be victorious against these Vikings, and so survive for another day and live to life they want to live in a pious and peaceful Wessex.What is to follow is an action-packed adventure in which Uhtred and King Alfred fight for survival from the Danish Vikings onslaught, and they will do that cunningly and with a lot of courage.Highly recommended, for this is another astounding addition tho this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Tremendous Uhtred Sequel"!

I read book 1 - 8 of the Last Kingdom series back to back as if they were one omnibus through a wet and miserable January. I had seen the BBC 2 series which covered book 1 and book 2 and found The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman such good reads I was glad that I had not read them before seeing the series. I was impressed by the explanations of the internal struggle Uhtred has to establish his identity,, and the uniqueness into which he forges his experiences , philosophy and education into the warrior and man he grows into. I was also impressed by the historical integrity Conwell brought to the background of Uhtred's adventures. Definite page turners all the way through. Loved every minute spent reading 1-8.Although one should not bring 21st century thinking, morals and mores to 10th century life, one could not help thinking that 'everything changes and nothing changes.' Cornwell does encourage the reader to stop and think beyond the swashbuckling thoughout.I am not sure whether Uhtred's forewords are a good or bad thing - whether they telegraph the ultimate outcome of the scrapes and adventures or whether they enhance the enjoyment of the finer points of the tale...I was disappointed at the Kindle price of book 9- Warriors of the Storm, which at the present time is more than the hardback edition. Although I am hooked enough to want to read it very badly, principle prevents me following on at this time.

Read the first book recently and immediately decided to start on the second. I'm still reading it and look forward to picking it up at the end of the day. I've been a fan of Bernard Cornwall for years, since watching Sharpe as a teenager in the nineties.I would say this series seems closer in writing style to the Warlord trilogy than the Sharpe series, following the format of the hero being close to the king.It's a great book and I'll be happily working my way through this series as the year - and probably next - progresses.

The Pale Horseman is the second book in Sharpe author Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom (formerly known as the Saxon Stories) series. It picks up where The Last Kingdom leaves off and culminates with the Battle of Ethandun (modern-day Edington), the battle in which Alfred the Great defeated the Norsemen and saved Wessex. I won't go into too much detail and give the spoilers, suffice to say if you enjoyed the first book (or the well-worth-a-look TV adaptation on Netflix) then I highly reccomend The Pale Horseman.