As a 33 year old man, Bernard Cornwell has long been my favourite author. I came to his books in my mid teens purely by accident and have fallen in love with his writing style and his characters on numerous occasions.

I joined the Army for a variety of reasons but one of which was because of the way in which BC details his battles.

I’m finally using some leave at the end of the month to travel around the North of England to visit some of the famous landmarks that repeatedly crop up during my favourite series of his (The Saxon Stories). And I am re reading the entire series in the lead up.

This is purely an appreciation post for BC and his excellent historical fiction.

BC - if you ever see this, please keep up the good work for as long as possible. Your books helped this young lad to discover a love for the written word and has kept me coming back year after year. Thank you.

I’ve been searching around the internet with no success - only years published rather than years the books were set.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD * For all of those people who’d like to discuss this book, post questions and your favorite or least favorite part of the books! *

Wow. I just finished this series and it did not disappoint. At first it was a little tough to get into but boy did it become a page turner.

Thoughts:

• First, am I the only person who imagined the heros as the actors who were in the movie King Arthur (2004), the one with Clive Owen?

• Uther robbed Britain of a great future when he decided not to give Arthur the throne.

• Derfel is an amazing friend/person. He is everything you want in a friend. Loyal, strong, clever, passionate and caring. His rise to power was so fascinating to read through. I love reading about good men rising to power and doing everything they can to remain good.

• The most gut wrenching part for me was Tristan's death. To know how much trust he put into Arthur and to watch Arthur betray him was so tough to read. The sadness stuck with me for days and the pain was reflected so well in the book. Arthur's surprise to hear Derfel side with Tristan and his pain that Derfel no longer considered him a friend was awful. I almost cried when Arthur and Derfel made up.

• Arthur's coldness at the end of "Enemy of God" was so bad ass. Taking Caer Cadarn, killing the foreign soldiers/prision, and disowning his bastard son was thrilling.

• His cry to Derfel when that entire thing was going down was heart breaking. Arthur killing everyone in the order of Isis was crazzzzzy.

• Cunglas' death was sad and probably the biggest indirect blow against Arthur. Losing his most powerful supporter and his men made it possible for Arthur and Derfel to lose power. Cungles was a great King. Derfel should have killed Liofa when he first fought him.

• Issa's death stuck with me. Dying by betral. Without even Derfel supspecting anything.

• I think Lancelot and Mordred got off easy.

• Meurig was a stupid king and a coward.

• Merlin was magical, but it annoyed me he was so mean to Derfel. It did make me smile when he admitted to Derfel that he loved both him and Arthur. While also leaving Derfel Ynes Wydren.

• Nimue's betrayal was hurtful. She just went bat shit crazy. If she hadn't killed Merlin then Arthur could have kept the throne. I wish we read of a painful end for her.

• The ending made me feel sad and disappointed, not in the series, but in the way the story ended. The great men and women that we read about did not end happily. Gwydre was not able to reclaim the throne, Derfel lost his power and his best friend, Sagramore and Culhwch died, and the saxons were closing in. But i get it. Life doesn't always work that way. It doesn't end happily all of the time. I also like how the ending let you imagine what happend to the great Arthur and Galahad.

• I wish the ending was Derfel killing Samsun.

• I hope that Derfel died while fighting Saxons.

Next I plan on reading some books on the Peloponnesian war. Just so I don't go through Cornwell's work to fast. Then Agincourt. Then finally (once I find the books) the Saxon chronicles.

I'm in the UK and it isn't available here currently, has anyone been able to watch it yet, I'm not hearing good things this far?

I bought this books at a used books store here in Brazil, but they had only this ones, I would like to get the next ones but I can't find it anywhere, not even on amazon...

Hi, I'm new to Bernard's work. Got introduced from The Last Kingdom on Netflix and started reading the Saxon Stories.

Taking a break after the third book. I want to try the King Arthur stuff but I'm disappointed about what I hear about Lancelot. From what I've heard they made him a little shit. How bad is it? I want to know cause I would have loved to enjoy a warriors rivalry between the two even if they changed everything else about their popular dynamic.

This might even be a deal breaker for me. Please can someone tell me without spoiling major details. Is Lancelot any kind of Warrior?

I always imagine an cast of The Warlord Chronicles and never reach consensus. This time I reached a point where the appearance of the possible actors is what I more or less imagine of the characters and who can really act in a possible film or series. (Not everyone in the list, like Guinevere, Amhar and Loholt, Derfel's daughters... I couldn't decide)

Derfel - Ryan Hurst

Arthur - Aaron Eckhart

Merlin - Tobin Bell

Cenwyin - Leelee Sobieski

Cuneglas - Paul Dano

Nimue - Marion Cotillard

Sansun - Sam Rockwell

Morgana - Tilda Swinton

Sagramor - Djimon Hounsou

Mordred - Will Poulter

Lancelot - Henry Cavill

Galahad - Sam Claflin

Uther - Jeff Bridges

Culhwch - Jon Bernthal

Aelle - Brendan Gleeson

Cerdic - Cillian Murphy

Gorfydydd - Tim Roth

Tristan - Ben Barnes

Isolda - Mackenzie Foy

Dinas - Logan Marshall-Green

Lavaine - Tom Hardy

Issa - Jamie Bell

Have been interested for a while in the Saxon chronicles from Bernard Cornwell and it just seems to me that there have also been several other interactions as the Barbarian Invasion age started in Europe at about that time. Is there any other writer or historical novel set in different parts of Europe like today`s Portugal with Lusitanians and Visigoths or other similar interactions? I m aware of the scarce historical accuracy of it, would just be interested in finding something similar.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD * For all of those people who’d like to discuss this book, post questions and your favorite or least favorite part of the books! * I absolutely loved this series. This is the first book series I have ready since Harry Potter a good 17 years ago. I am so happy that I loved this book so much and it has gotten me back to reading. It has shown me reading can be fun if you find the right author and topic. That being said, I have no one to discuss this amazing series with (my friends and wife are too busy to join me). I have resorted to annoying my wife with the series that I finished in the past month. * Please join me in the discussion of this amazing series! I would love to hear about your favorite characters and moments, as well as the scenes that made your sad/mad. Initial thoughts:

1. My favorite relationship of the books were Robbie and Thomas’. Robbie was always confused with what was right and what the church asked of him and Thomas knew and understood Robbie’s confusion. It broke me to see the way Robbie’s story ended.

2. Thomas was obviously my favorite character, he was such a bad ass and a good man at the same time. I practically (for lack of better words) blew my load when he get his revenge on De Taillebourg (in Vagabond) then against Cardinal Bessieres and Father Marchant (guy who took Genevive’s eye).

3. My favorite supporting characters are Sir Guillaume and Sir Will Skeet. Thomas needed these great men to set an example for him. They helped him understand that everything isn’t black and white and that the only thing you can do is try and be a good person.

4. Will Skeet was ruthless and brilliant. Though his story ended early, I felt as though it had to be done. Having too many great people survive this type of warfare would be too unrealistic. I love that he was Thomas’ Father figure.

5. Sir Guillaume was a great friend and was someone I would absolutely HATE to see across the battlefield from me. I know that if I was one of his sworn men, that I would go through hell for him since I know he’d do the same for me (same with Will and Thomas).

6. The Plague. Absolutely heart breaking to hear the victims of the plague. But 100% realistic. I think Sir Guillaume deserved to die fighting rather than from contracting the plague, but totally understand Bernard’s decision to have him die from the plague. It makes the plague that much more real for the reader. Finding out that Jeannette and her son died from the plague crushed my heart, especially since Thomas didn’t find out until many years later.

7. Though many of my favorite characters died the death that stuck with me the most was Thomas’ friend Jake the archer. For those who don’t remember, he caught the plague at Castillon d’ Arbizon while Guy Vexille led his last charge to obtain what he thought was the holy grail. It was bad ass to know what even though he was suffering, he was fighting until the very end to help his friends.

8. Guy Vexille was an amazingly (and likeable) written villain. He seems to have his ups and downs as Thomas had, but still always thought he as doing the right thing. His last fight scene where Thomas ends up killing him was so satisfying, I was practically cheering as Thomas drove that last arrow through his chest.

9. The start of the Vagabond book was so good at changing my emotions that it was impossible to put down. I still find myself thinking about the sadness that I felt when Thomas had told Eleanor to go wait in the church where she’d be safe, and them both looking back at each other at different times (missing each other’s stare). It was haunting to read that Thomas wanted to hug her one last time, but thought he had more time to do so. Little did he know that he was so wrong.

10. I always loved archers, but never truly appreciated them until reading this series. I never realized how effective they were in warfare, and how long it actually took to master the long bow.

11. My favorite theme was showing how evil the church can be and showing that corruption exists in all levels of society no matter the year. People back then were just as gullible then as they are now. Thinking that you can buy your way into heaven and that you can be excommunicated just because someone doesn’t like you (or can’t have you in Genevive’s case) just shows the corruption. The men and women who Thomas came across that knew this were some of my favorite characters. That being said the series also made me appreciate the fact that there are people in the church who do want to do good, and realize how corrupt the church was. I was always prejudice against priests, but this series made me realize that some priests are truly good (though I will still never fully trust them).

12. My next series I plant to read is “The Warlord Chronicles”. If you have any other suggestions, please comment!