ModernChivalry.org
Main => The Library => Topic started by: Sir William on 2010-09-16, 20:17:47
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This is a trio of books by Bernard Cornwell; the man seems to be not only an aficionado of historical warfare but has an innate ability to transport the reader to the period and location in the books. Now, granted, this is historical fantasy/fiction if it is anything but you can't help but feel the fear, the tension the characters experience, the whirring of thousands of bowstrings, the slapping noise they make when they make contact with armor or flesh, the ringing of swords, the screams of dying horseflesh, the stench of unwashed bodies in enclosed spaces, the terror of being pursued relentlessly, hopelessly outnumbered...
Whew, I went back there (again) for a brief moment. Ok...if you love medieval anything, give these books a read. The timeframe is during Edward III's reign and his exploits in the Hundred Years' War, the Battle of Crecy heavily featured. The descriptions of the conditions of the field, the battle, the adversaries, strategies- all very engrossing.
They are as follows:
Harlequin (aka The Archer's Tale in the U.S.)
Vagabond
Heretic
I shouldn't be surprised if you go on to read his other works such as:
Azincourt (standalone novel set during Henry V's reign and his part in the Hundred Years' War, specifically with his march across France to get to Calais and the Battle of Agincourt)
Saxon Series (deals with the Kingdom of Wessex during Alfred the Great's reign)
Warlord Chronicles (another take on the Arthurian legend)
He's also the prolific writer of all the Richard Sharpe books- funny, I used to read them as a teen but never knew the author's name, or rather forgot it I suppose. LOL
Anyhow, after reading these books I almost wanted to become an archer!!! I know, I know...blasphemous thoughts for a knight to have, but I rooted for them nonetheless as they laid to waste the flower of French chivalry, and I suspect you will too. Enjoy, if you've a mind for it!
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thanks. i've been wanting to read some of these. i have a few of the Arthurian ones but never read them yet.
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I wouldn't crack them unless you had some real time on your hands to get into it...for my part, when I first got the Grail Quest I ended up reading all three of them over the course of a weekend, sleep was optional. The Arthurian and Saxon ones are on my list to acquire soon. Let me know what you think of'm.
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Cornwell is my absolute favorite historical fiction writer. I've read all his stuff but the last two Arthurian books (can't seem to find them at the store, and am too much of an immediate gratification type to wait for an order). The Saxon series is pretty good. It really gives you a feel for living in an age when you had no reasonable expectation of surviving through the day. Agincourt was a great one as well. There are errors here and there in his stuff, but all in all, it's a great way to get a good thumbnail sketch of the time periods he's writing about. I've found it makes the drier history books on the events much more accessible.
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He has since become one of mine...as you say, a great way to get a good thumbnail sketch of how life was at the time. Pure enjoyment, that's what I call'm...his books, that is. I like his characters, they seem to breathe on their own- I kept wanting to dig inside their heads, see what was in there.
You could almost smell the stench of woodsmoke, the hot acrid odor of spilled blood (and of course, the simultaneous voiding of the bladder and evacuation of the bowels, which they NEVER address in most books lol), the screams of the wounded and dying...
The battle scenes he paints are visceral yet engaging...you felt for every soldier that met his demise but you couldn't help wanting MORE. I must say that it was perhaps the only time I cheered (in my head) when those archers brought down the IDEA of the flower of all French chivalry with their twanging bows and whistling arrows.
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Cornwell does tend to take the pagentry out of war (something I think a lot of writers trying to go medieval miss the mark on). Not a lot of romance reading about someone getting his head stove in with a falconbeak!
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Exactly; the injuries, like what happened to Will Skeat were very realistic. It was particularly interesting because he would recognize you when you spoke, even if you had been in his presence for a while, until you spoke he didn't know you. I probably should've looked that one up as head trauma is something I've an interest in. Not for me, mind you. lol