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    Warriors of the Storm: A Novel
    Warriors of the Storm: A Novel
    Warriors of the Storm: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Warriors of the Storm: A Novel

    Written by Bernard Cornwell

    Narrated by Matt Bates

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The ninth installment of Bernard Cornwell’s bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England, “like Game of Thrones, but real” (The Observer, London)—the basis for The Last Kingdom, the hit BBC America television series.

    A fragile peace reigns in Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia. King Alfred’s son Edward and formidable daughter, Aethelflaed, rule the kingdoms. But all around the restless Northmen, eyeing the rich lands and wealthy churches, are mounting raids.

    Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the kingdoms’ greatest warrior, controls northern Mercia from the strongly fortified city of Chester. But forces are gathering against him. Northmen allied to the Irish, led by the fierce warrior Ragnall Ivarson, are soon joined by the Northumbrians, and their strength could prove overwhelming. Despite the gathering threat, both Edward and Aethelflaed are reluctant to move out of the safety of their fortifications. But with Uhtred’s own daughter married to Ivarson’s brother, who can be trusted?

    In the struggle between family and loyalty, between personal ambition and political commitment, there will be no easy path. But a man with a warrior’s courage may be able to find it. Such a man is Uhtred, and this may be his finest hour.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 19, 2016
    ISBN9780062443854
    Author

    Bernard Cornwell

    BERNARD CORNWELL is the author of over fifty novels, including the acclaimed New York Times bestselling Saxon Tales, which serve as the basis for the hit Netflix series The Last Kingdom. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod and in Charleston, South Carolina.

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    Reviews for Warriors of the Storm

    4.5/5

    293 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Another good book from Bernard Cornwell. The way the story ends I wonder if we will be hearing more about Uhtred and how he takes back Bebbanburg, I hope so. Mr. Cornwell's books never fail to entertain and use historical facts whenever possible. I will be waiting for the next book.
    • 5/5
      Bernard Cornwell is a very accomplished story teller. He takes history and myth, often together and writes tales worth reading. He creates characters; challenges and burnishes them by placing them in interesting times. This book continues the Warrior Chronicles; as Uhtred removes an obstacle, creates a kingdom, unites with his family and pursues his quest to return to Bebbanburg.
    • 5/5
      Can't see what is next for this band of warriors! What a great story. If you love Uhtred you will love this book.
    • 4/5
      A fragile peace reigns in Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia. King Alfred’s son Edward and formidable daughter Aethelflaed, rule the kingdoms. But all around the restless Northmen, eyeing the rich lands and wealthy churches, are mounting raids. Uhtred controls northern Mercia from strongly fortified city of Chester. Forces are gathering against him.
    • 4/5
      When I take a break from this series and return to it, I’m amazed at how much I enjoy it. The writing is clear and vivid enough to make me feel as if I am trailing around behind Uhtred as he lives his life. In this story, the Danes in Northumbria are brought together with Irish warriors by Ragnall Ivarson, brother to Uhtred’s son-in-law. We get to see the end of an old enemy who joined in with Ragnall and has plagued Uhtred for years. After years of helping Athelflaed fend off the Danes from swallowing up Mercia and having his advice to end the conflict for good and all, Uhtred once again holds off Ragnall’s invasion while awaiting Athelflaed’s reinforcements. At the end, she forbids him to sail to his daughter’s aid when Uhtred discovers Ragnall has left behind men in Ireland to beseige and kill his brother so he can have Stiorra. Uhtred does what Uhtred does, going to rescue his family. They return to finish the fight against Ragnall, which ends predictably with a shieldwall and a wonderfully written fight. We learn a bit more about Finan, Uhtred’s friend and liegeman from his days as a slave. Some family disagreements, if not mended, are at least benevolently ignored. And the fights — by Alfred’s line to unite England and by Uhtred to reclaim his birthright — continue.
    • 3/5
      Grumpy Uhtred of Bebbanburg once more tries to make people understand the wisdom of doing things his way. the survivors, anyway. This a quite bloody tale set in the gaps in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and good fun it is too. Uhtred tries to manage his unruly family, and in turn they try to support his efforts. There is an ugly picture of some of the grimmer aspects of Norse religion, and some education on the workings of the Norse and Saxon vassalage systems. As usual early British christianity gets some shade. and one of Uhtred's early love affairs concludes, along with the exit of a mid-range player of long standing..
    • 5/5
      This series has been so enjoyable, but the last book (before this one) was not my favorite. This one, however, was really well-done. Uhtred... my hero!
    • 4/5
      This is the ninth book in the seemingly interminable Uhtred of Bebbanburg series. The historical backdrop to this book is the struggle by Ethelfleda, Lady of the Mercians (and daughter of Alfred the Great) to recapture North Mercian towns like Chester from the Danes. This was the usual course of attacks, sieges, bloodshed, betrayal and the set piece battle at the end. Having placed his son in law Sigtryggr on the throne of Northumbria, Uhtred is heading north to recapture his ancestral home, currently occupied by his cousin. That hook will keep me reading, I am sure, despite my periodic weariness with the bloodshed.
    • 4/5
      After my disappointment with the previous instalment of the Saxon Stories I’m pleased to state that this is one of my favourites from the series. This is owing to a quicker pace featuring Uhtred, although older, being more in the thick of the action again.Uhtred is in my opinion Bernard Cornwell’s best character creation. I never tire of the scenes when some cocky youth fancies his chances in a duel, only for the “old man”to announce his identity, thus quashing any boldness from young challengers. In short, they pee themselves.Must own to taking a shine to Mus and enjoying the brief storylines based around her - battle chants included! - though being male I could hardly dislike her.The author’s depictions of battle scenes are vivid and believable in all his works, but more so in the Saxon tales because Uhtred’s personality helps the reader – this one at least – to feel part of this charismatic warlord’s fights. That said, I did feel a sense of anti-climax when we reached the final confrontation in this novel. It was good but lacked the usual excitement and dramatic outcome.What confrontation there is, be it physical or verbal, is expertly portrayed. The typical humour, especially Uhtred’s conversations with priests, is as entertaining as ever.In my view, what prevents Mr Cornwell from being an even better writer than he is already, is his dialogue attribution. The actual dialogue is excellent, but for 90+ per cent of the time he interrupts the flow by needlessly reminding the reader who’s speaking, more often than not inserting this pointless information – pointless because it’s obvious who’s speaking – in the middle of sentences.Mr Cornwell maybe doesn’t realise that the strength of his characters make it clear to the reader who’s talking, just as he fails to grasp how irritating it is to have his believable dialogue swamped with superfluous attribution, which sometimes includes unnecessary adverbs.Below is a quote between Uhtred and Æhelflaed, which serves as an example of needless attribution, because it’s plain who’s speaking:>‘I should make Eads Byrig a burh,’ Æhelflaed said.‘You should,’ I said, ‘but you won’t have time before Ragnall gets here.’‘I know that,’ she said impatiently.‘But without Eads Byrig,’ I said, ‘he’ll be in trouble.’‘And Beadwulf!’ I called, and he looked back. ‘Try to see what banners are on the ships,’ I told him, ‘and look for a red axe! If you see a red axe I want to know, fast!’The tide was ebbing fast, rippling the river with glittering new sunlight, and Finan shouted the rhythm, stamping his foot, and the sixty rowers pulled harder and I felt the ship coming alive, pulsing with the oar beats, the steering loom resisting me now, and I heard the sound of water sluicing along the hull and saw a wake spreading behind.
    • 4/5
      The ninth entry in Bernard Cornwell’s rousing Saxon Chronicles series, Warriors of the Storm does not disappoint. Of course featuring the heroics of Lord Uhtred and his hard-bitten band, this effort distinguishes itself with a quicker, more relentless pace than in some of the recent books in the series. In quick succession, Uhtred uses Mercian fighters to push Norseman Ragnall Ivarson and his superior numbers away from the walled city of Ceaster (present-day Chester), harries the invader into flight, steals across the Irish Sea to rescue his daughter and son-in-law, turns Ragnall’s army against him, and installs his son-in-law Sigtryggr as king of Northumbria.About the only thing Uhtred doesn’t get to is recapturing his ancestral seat, the fortress at Bebbanburg (currently call Bamburgh). At the end of the book, though, he’s gearing up to a run at that.So, we know at least one more chapter in the Lord Uhtred series is in the works over at Bernard Cornwell’s thrill works.I find the books in this series unputdownable. I read the just-under 300 pages in two sittings, and in my ridiculous schedule, that’s remarkable. Mr. Cornwell always places us in the midst of 10th-century Wessex, but also keeps us hanging on cliffs as the plot sneaks and snakes and rears up. I completely admit to escaping to a far-off time and place while reading this series; it’s effective, memorable, entertaining, and gratifying. I do, I love it.