The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

 

Title: The Winter King

Author: Bernard Cornwell

Publication: 5 October 1995/reprint: 15 April 1997

Format: paperback & Kindle ebook

Amazon Description: 

It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur.

The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.

As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

Be prepared to see an awful of Bernard Cornwell this week .... and probably next .... and, likely, off and on for eons to come. I actually started this in September and it got set aside because life got messy and then I got sidetracked with NetGalley and trying to finish the alphabet and whatever. Thought about picking it up again in December and then life got messier and I just couldn't.  

 

You know what? Screw the messiness. That's what books are for and Cornwell is sooooo amazingly good at pulling you in and not letting you go. He is, perhaps, the King of Escapism. At least for right now.  

 

So The Winter King is the first of The Warlord Chronicles (also referred to as "The Arthur Books"). Thanks to ThriftBooks I already have them all .... and lots of other Cornwells .... and there will probably be more on the way before long. The Winter King is divided into five parts and right now I'm thinking each part will get it's own post. Maybe. I finally got people to leave me along long enough to finish Part One and we haven't met Arthur in person yet. 

 

Bad Wolf is in the process of producing the first season of what will likely (hopefully) be several seasons based on the books. I'm already extremely excited based on the cast and what I've read so far. Heck, I knew I was going to love the books before I even bought them. After all, this is the man who brought The Last Kingdom and Uhtred son of Uhtred into my life. (I have yet to read those books as I'm still recovering from the last season of the show and there's still a movie supposedly on its way.) 

 

Anyway, back to the book .... errr .... the show based on the book. The cast? Huge ... but some highlights for me will be :

* Iain De Caestecker as Arthur ("Fitz" from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) 

* Stuart Campbell as Derfel, the narrator ("Bill Fraser" from Rogue Heroes -- another show that added a ton of books to my TBR) 

* my beloved Andrew Gower as Bishop Sansum (A lot of parts in a lot of shows, but I fell for him as "Nick Cutler" during the fourth season of Being Human. The real one, not the U.S shite remake.)

 

I know, not a lot about the book .... yet .... but I did say that we haven't met Arthur yet, didn't I? Go ahead and read the Intro and Teaser .... I have a feeling he'll get some blips on Friday.

 

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"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two

of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. 

"Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two
from anywhere in the book currently being read.