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The Burning Land: A Novel (Saxon Tales) |  | Author: Bernard Cornwell
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy Used: $4.75
as of 9/3/2010 05:49 CDT details
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Seller: gwspokanebooks
Rating:  reviews
Sales Rank: 21391
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition first Printing
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0060888741
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780060888749
ASIN: 0060888741
Publication Date: January 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9780060888749 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In a clash of heroes, the kingdom is born. At the end of the ninth century, King Alfred of Wessex is in ill health; his heir, an untested youth. His enemy, the Danes, having failed to conquer Wessex, now see their chance for victory. Led by the sword of savage warrior Harald Bloodhair, the Viking hordes attack. But Uhtred, Alfred's reluctant warlord, proves his worth, outwitting Harald and handing the Vikings one of their greatest defeats. For Uhtred, the sweetness of victory is soon overshadowed by tragedy. Breaking with Alfred, he joins the Vikings, swearing never again to serve the Saxon king. Instead, he will reclaim his ancestral fortress on the Northumbrian coast. Allied with his old friend Ragnar—and his old foe Haesten—he aims to invade and conquer Wessex itself. Yet fate has different plans. The Danes of East Anglia and the Vikings of Northumbria are plotting the conquest of all Britain. When Alfred's daughter pleads with Uhtred for help, he cannot refuse her request. In a desperate gamble, he takes command of a demoralized Mercian army, leading them in an unforgettable battle on a blood-soaked field beside the Thames. In The Burning Land, Bernard Cornwell, "the reigning king of historical fiction" (USA Today), delivers a rousing saga of Anglo-Saxon England—an irresistible new chapter in his thrilling Saxon Tales, the epic story of the birth of England and the legendary king who made it possible.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Uhtred progresses August 26, 2010
T. Kalamaras (Midwest USA)
Sword Song was a hard act to follow. This book does the job but doesn't top it. If you compare the preceeding books in the series this might actually be the weakest. An excellent book by comparison to the genre, but not to the author's own works. It does stand on the shoulders of the others so it's a strong, entertaining, and satisfying read; but it does not reach as far forward as the others.
I recommend anybody starting this series begin with the first book "the Last Kingdom." You deprive yourself of many hours of reading enjoyment by jumping into the middle. The books can stand alone but work best together.
Now I want to go into one specific about this book. The heathen ruminations of the hero narrator about religion, both his own and the Christian faith, make this an especially interesting type of historic fiction for anyone interested in paganism or the liminal phases of European conversion to Christianity. I've studied Christian apologetics and I've studied European New Right neo-paganism from Alain De Benoist, I've studied Asastro, and the Hellenic cults and myths. I've read about Julian the Apostate and his interloctuors. With this depth of familiarity with the topic of pagan versus Christian, I have been most pleased with the depth and genuineness of how Uhtred speaks his inner thoughts on the gods. This brings an emotional authenticity to the conversation whcih apologetic texts, both pagan and Christian, often fail to capture.
One might think it odd perhaps that a viking-action historical fiction series would become a field for religious critique and appreciation. Rather perhaps it is odd that much fiction lacks any reference to religion, as if religion had no place in the life of a character. Cornwwell's books-- this one and those of other series as well- do not suffer this lack and it makes his characterization much more real and human.
 Uhtred must change sides, and then again, to follow his heart and honor his oath August 16, 2010
Daniel Berger (Atlanta, GA USA)
Uhtred, after winning Alfred a signal victory against the Danes at Fearnhamme, must flee north after a run-in with a monk gets ugly. With him goes the beautiful but dangerous Skade, mistress of the Danish lord Ragnar vanquished, and now thinking Ragnar her path to wealth, power and glory.
They find haven with Ragnar and Brida in the north. Uhtred needs money to raise the men to help him retake his ancestral home of Bebbanburg. Skade tells him where a large hoard of gold lurks, but after a complicated mission and long journey to take it, they find it's disappointingly small.
Brida now prods Ragnar to invade Wessex to halt the relentless Christian incursion into the pagan north. Uhtred helps the Danes plot their invasion, but when he receives a distress message from Alfred's daughter Aethelflaed, he realizes he must honor his oath to her and change sides once again. Skade has meanwhile defected to the Danish warlord Haesten.
Aethelflaed is locked into her loveless marriage to Athelred, who plots against her so that he can remarry and firm his claim to the Mercian throne. Uhtred is faced with defending Wessex and Mercia - the leaders of which don't trust him - against what seems to be a final and overwhelming Danish thrust to victory.
The fires of religious conflict are fanned in this one. Uhtred can't bear to see his own children raised as Christians in the South while he's a fugitive in the north. Brida sees the Danes' way of life threatened by Christianity. Alfred's Christian advisors loathe Uhtred, despite his having made himself militarily indispensable to Alfred, and they torment him whenever they can.
Uhtred, for his part, cannot comprehend Christianity's dedication to its "nailed god", one creating a joyless existence in comparison to the lustier and freer one the Vikings enjoy. Alfred and Uhtred have an interesting religious discussion:
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"We're not puppets in God's hands," (Alfred) said testily. "We are his instruments. We earn our fate." He looked at me with some bitterness for he had never forgiven me for abandoning Christianity in favor of the older religion. "Don't your gods reward you for good behavior?"
"My gods are capricious, lord." I had learned that word from Bishop Erkenwald who had intended it as an insult, but once I had learned its meaning I liked it. My gods are capricious.
"How can you serve a capricious god?" Alfred asked.
"I don't."
"But you said . . . "
"They are capricious," I interrupted him, "but that's their pleasure. My task is not to serve them, but to amuse them, and if I do then they will reward me in the life to come."
"Amuse them?" He sounded shocked.
"Why not?" I demanded. "We have cats, dogs, and falcons for our pleasure, the gods made us for the same reason. Why did your god make you?"
"To be His servant," he said firmly. "If I'm God's cat then I must catch the devil's mice. That is duty, Lord Uhtred, duty."
"While my duty," I said, "is to catch Harald and slice his head off. That, I think, will amuse my gods."
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One has the feeling of great foreboding, as Uhtred's siding once more with the Saxons strains his relations with Ragnar and Brida, his childhood friend and first lover, to the point of no return. But meanwhile sparks fly between him and Aethelflaed - the only person who can really inspire the Mercians to fight back against the Danes.
Another great read for the Saxon series July 27, 2010
Incorporeal (Lexington, KY)
Once again Bernard Cornwell does a good job with telling the story of Uthred in this fourth book of the Saxon series. Since there is about a year or so between when the new book comes out, I like the fact that the author explains some of the lesser characters role from the previous book. You start to forget minor details in a series and by taking a small paragraph to explain how they came into the story, it helps avoid any confusion. I am excited to see how this series ends and if Lord Uthred will finally ever get to go home to Bebbanburg.
the burning land July 18, 2010
Patricia L. Symes
i thought the book was very good and had alot of action seens and always made you want to read on. i think that if anyone who is looking for a good book to read that they will love this one.
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