Fools and Mortals – Bernard Cornwell

Title – Fools and Mortals

Author – Bernard Cornwell

Published – 2016

Genre – Historical Fiction

If you follow my blog you’ll know that I’m a fan of Bernard Cornwell (with the exception of the Sharpe series) and a standalone novel is a huge treat when I don’t have to remember detail from a lot of preceding books in a series.

With this book the period is Elizabethan England and the location is London; it’s set around the rivalry between an established theatre company and a new company that needs good scripts to appeal to a large audience so they can recoup their costs. The main character is a young man who is part of the long-running theatre company, an impoverished actor, making ends meet through a combination of a pretty face and a side-line in petty theft. Used to playing female roles he wants to move on to take on male roles and disillusionment with his current company makes him a target for an offer that he may not be able to refuse. This isn’t the only thread and the backdrop to the story are the preparations for the performance of a new play for a courtier and the company’s rehearsals. This introduces an interesting take on the development of a very famous play.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book even though it had a lot less action than is usual in one of Cornwell’s books and it has a very ‘contained’ plot, which could even have been just a short story. However, despite these differences from  – I was really drawn in. The writing is evocative and I got a real sense of what Elizabethan London was like, from the smell of the streets to the political rivalries which affected people’s everyday lives.

I really liked the main character, the multiple threads kept my interest despite the more narrow plot and there were a few action sequences squeezed. It might feel as if it has a slow start as there’s lots of scene setting but I actually found all of the background – both the details and the broader setting – really interesting.

As with much of his historical fiction a number of the characters are based on real people and some of the events did take place. I enjoyed the fact this book didn’t have the memoir style of storytelling to it however it did have some aspects that the reader probably already knows about, so there is still an element of foreknowledge but it gives you a take on how these real life events may have panned out.

A different read from the other historical novels by Cornwell but nonetheless enjoyable.

Death of Kings – Bernard Cornwell

Title – Death of Kings

Author – Bernard Cornwell

Published – 2012

Genre – Historical Fiction

There isn’t much need for preamble to this review – I pressed straight on with this book after finishing The Burning Land. Feeling on a bit of a roll after getting caught up on the action in book 5 of The Saxon Stories I thought I would strike while the iron was hot.

As you might guess from the title this is the book which sees the death of King Alfred, a moment which he and Uhtred have believed would be a catalyst for action by the factions looking to secure the throne for themselves.  However, the book is mostly about more political shenanigans, partly as the new King needs to find his feet and figure out which of his many advisors he should trust. The rise of Christianity has been a theme in the series but it feels as if this book may have seen the tipping point in its importance.

Uhtred is frustrated by King Edward’s reluctance to attack the Danes and puzzled by the Danes lack of attack. The lack of action was a bit frustrating for me as a reader too. There are some small skirmishes but it felt like a lot less happened in this book than in its predecessor. The main action is saved until the very end of the book in what is a great set piece with a real feeling of tension.

Not as fast-paced as its predecessor and pleasingly (for me) there was less attention to the memoir aspect of the story – less foreshadowing of future events by Uhtred.

The Burning Land – Bernard Cornwell

Title – The Burning Land

Author – Bernard Cornwell

Published – 2009

Genre – Historical Fiction

I’ve been a fan of Bernard Cornwell’s for a long time (although oddly not the Sharpe series) but have fallen well and truly behind. He was writing (with the exception of Sharpe) standalones or trilogies but now some of the other series I was reading seem to be without end.

I bought this book in hardback when it was published so it’s been sitting around for a while but the longer I’ve left it the more difficult it’s been to pick it up. It’s bad enough coming back to an action series when it’s been a year between books but the longer I left it the more daunting it seemed. I should have remembered that I would be swept up in the action!

The Burning Land is the fifth historical novel in The Saxon Stories which follows Uhtred of Bebbanburg and his quest to return to his ancestral home. Told in the first person and narrated as a memoir this book is set around 892 and the opening starts quite slowly as, acting on Alfred’s behalf, Uhtred is in Kent to pay off a Dane to get him to leave. The action ramps up quite quickly as he then turns his hand to finding a way to remove Jarl Harald Bloodhair from Wessex. I was surprised to realise, and wonder if it’s always been the case, that the battles are as much about Uhtred’s ingenuity as they are about brute force. The story is what you expect from Cornwell – action-packed, fast-paced, spanning the length and breadth of the country and so full of detail that you can almost see, hear and smell the place for yourself.

There is one thing which I really dislike about Cornwell’s writing and this is something I should complain about less as I get further behind but it’s the fact that as a ‘memoir’ you know that the narrator survives to tell the tale. So while there may be some tension about how events will unfold you can be pretty certain that the main character isn’t going to perish in the middle of a shield wall. But not content with this Cornwell drops in remarks like “never to see xyz again” or “that was a decision I would regret” which tells me more than I want to know. I appreciate this supports the memoir style but it’s not an aspect I like.

Anyway my worries about picking the series up after so long were unfounded, either there’s an explanation of who people are and what their connection is or it doesn’t really matter, the action swept me along and I’ve even picked up book 6 to read already.

Score – 4/5

The Fort – Bernard Cornwell

Title – The Fort

Author – Bernard Cornwell

Published – 2011

Genre – Historical Fiction

I’ve been a huge fan of Bernard Cornwell’s for a long time, and although it can seem that reading his books have become a habit, he really doesn’t disappoint.  My initial introduction was through Redcoat and the Starbuck Chronicles – for some reason I am fascinated by the early conflicts in America, so I was delighted  to find that the latest book was centred around a confrontation between the Redcoats and the Patriots.

Summer 1779. Seven hundred and fifty British soldiers and three small ships of the Royal Navy. Their orders: to build a fort above a harbour to create a base from which to control the New England seaboard. Forty-one American ships and over nine hundred men. Their orders: to expel the British. The battle that followed was a classic example of how the best-laid plans can be disrupted by personality and politics, and of how warfare can bring out both the best and worst in men.

I have to confess that I usually spend the first chapter or two of one of Cornwell’s books in a state of confusion. They usually avoid too much scene setting and plunge you straight into the story where you have to try to figure out who the different characters are & what’s happening. The Fort is no different and I’ve also broadened my knowledge of sailing and military terms!

The book is based on actual events that took place in 1779 and the historical notes at the end are great supplement to the  story. But this is no weighty tome describing the events – Cornwell uses characters on both side of the conflict to put the reader in the midst of the action. Some of these characters – like Peleg Wadsworth and General McLean are true heroes – honourable, brave, patriotic, but there are others who are cowards, and malingerers. And Paul Revere – I don’t want to give too much away, but what a revelation.

As the assault by the Patriots on the newly constructed Fort George is by sea there is quite a mix of sea and land combat.  Cornwell could never be accused of glorifying war and whether it’s on the fields of Waterloo or Azincourt there is huge attention to detail and the gruesome results.  If anything I think that the skirmishes on the land let the book down a little –  I would have preferred a bit more time spent in the thick of the action, but that’s a small gripe.

 This was a fascinating story and a great read- made all the more remarkable because of the true story on which it is based.

Score – 4/5