[Hardback – read aloud to Adelle]
Lords of the North [wikipedia] is a historical novel by Bernard Cornwell. We have previously read another of his books, I think one later in this series, War Lord, which I found myself bogged down in – that was just shy of a thousand pages. This was a much more spritely 300 pages, which I can cope better with.
The setting brings some history alive, with the action taking place in the late 800s mostly around the north of what is now England.
The protagonist having been ostracised from Bamburgh Castle finds himself in London seeking to return to Northumbria. There is enslavement, making of kings, relics, escape from nunneries, shadow walkers and raids on castles.
There are some fairly gruesome accounts of brutal acts which seem to correspond with the historical setting – I’m no expert on the times or locations but it gives the air of being reasonably well researched.
The writing style doesn’t sit well with me, there seems to be an attempt to use what we might consider archaic language, especially place names, but the majority of the writing is in modern English. I would prefer to drop the pretence of old language. I would respect the skill involved in writing the whole thing in words that originated in the language of the time, but I don’t believe that is the case. I also find the first person narration style a little inconsistent, there seem to be some sudden unpredictable surges of emotion.
This is not my style of fiction, there’s not enough future in it, but if you like history with a bit of (mostly fictional) detail in it, this wouldn’t be a bad read for you.