A historical background makes the story of this novel strong and the Bernard Cornwell adds fiction in which he has a fame of his own. The last kingdom takes us to the era when the great British Empire came into being.
Bernard also brings to the notice of the reader people like King Alfred and his son who are long forgotten by history though they contributed well for England in the ninth and tenth century. It was a tough task that the author performs portraying the Danish Vikings and the era of the ninth century of which we now have very little evidence that could serve as a base.
There is a narrator as well who is also the main character of the novel; Uhtred the one who is captured by the Vikings at an early age and then raised as one of their own. The Vikings have been brain washing Uhtred so that they can use him in a fight against King Alfred who is considered a weak king by the Vikings.
But when the king turns the tables in the fight it is up to Uhtred to finally select whether he would serve those who have raised him as a weapon or it is time to go back to the palace. The fight is thus on for Uhtred on two levels one is physical and the other one is of course psychological.
Wonderful fighting scenes depicted well by Jonathan Keeble through narration and the novel forces us to read other books like Sword of Kings: A Novel and The Pale Horseman so that we can know more about history and adventures of the kings.
Reunion of the British Empire after the Viking invasion gives this series quite a status in historical books also though it is not written intentionally for that purpose.
I can’t say I really like the narrative style. The narrator is great, but the style is…I don’t know. Too much wax poetic going on.