excalibur

Excalibur

In a compelling finale, historical novelist Cornwell concludes his three-part retelling of the Arthurian legend (The Winter King, LJ 5/15/96; Enemy of God, LJ 7/97). Despite the rather misleading idealized jacket cover, Excalibur portrays not romantic Camelot but a nasty, brutal fifth-century Britain in which heads and other body parts literally pile up. Indeed, this novel is even more graphic than its predecessors in its depictions of gore and violence. Although Arthur temporarily halts the invading Saxons at the battle of Mynydd Baddon (during which Lancelot meets a coward's death and Guinevere is reconciled with her husband), his dream of a unified Celtic kingdom is doomed.
Thwarting him is the vicious Mordred who makes a pact with Nimue to bring back the old Druid gods and destroy the new Christian deity. Cornwell's attention to historical detail, his penchant for lively storytelling, and his vivid characters make this a good choice for all collections.--Wilda Williams, "Library Journal"

Reviews

"Excalibur does a perfect job of tying up all the plot threads from the previous two novels as well as providing its own unique
twists and turns. the charcters come alive so well that when reading this i almost felt cheated that I could never see it all happening with my own eyes. The charcters are supurbly presented: Arthur, Derfel, Merlin, Culwych, Aella to name but a few. In the moments when the saxons are finally defeated I was tempted to shout out my own celebration with Derfel. The line "The power of the Sais was broken" is particularly emotive. However I agree with the other reviewers in that it is a slight dissapointment that we do not know what happens to Derfel, Ceinwyn, Meurig and Sansum after Arthurs final battle. Perhaps the most accurate recomendation I can give of this novel and its prequals is that I live in hope that one day the legend will come true and Arthur will return to this world (In Cornwell's form of course!). In short it is a book to stir the heart, pride and honour of any reader"

"I haven't read any other books by Bernard Cornwell and only read these because I'm interested in this period of Britain's history. Absolutely magical, to compare it with Tolkein is perhaps irrelevant but it may help the prospective buyer so here goes... In a nutshell, where The Lord of The Rings is a fantasy story based in a 'realistic', but unfamiliar, history, the Warlord Chronicles are realistic stories based in a familiar period of history that conveniently leaves few written records. A number of the 'shock' moments in these three books simply wouldn't have happened either in LOLR or most other fiction. Excalibur ties up the story, giving it a reasonably satisfying ending but leaving you wondering what then happened in the years between the end of the book and Derfel's arrival at the monastery. These books are as near perfect as possible: pretty close to being my favourites of all time. Cornwell is a genius"

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