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| Date first published | 5 October 1995 |  |
| ISBN Number | 0 140 23186 2 | |
| Page Count | 489 p/b | |
| h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback | ||
The Winter King
Storyline
Derfel (pronounced Dervel), is a monk working in a small monastery, secretly writing the history of Arthur, his Lord who he served in times of war and peace. The story starts with Derfel as a young boy, living in Merlins Tor, for everyone believes that he has been touched by the Gods. Derfel helps defend the young would be King Mordred, who is just a baby, as Gorfyddyd makes his bid for the British throne.Just as all seems lost and Derfel faces certain death, Arthur, returns to defend the Prince who he is sworn to protect until he comes of age.
Derfel is rewarded for his bravery by being put into one of Arthurs war bands, to learn the trade and grow strong for the whole of Britain is under threat, not just from internal strife, but also the Saxons, who raid ever deeper into the British countryside. Can Arthur unite the British tribes long enough to wage war against the Saxons?
In the midst of this one man remains absent. Merlin. Merlin the greatest and most feared Druid in Britain. He has been missing many a year, and it is only by chance that Derfel comes across the great Druid, at Ynys Trebes, just as the city is sacked and its great library sacked and destroyed. But Merlin has returned to Britain.
Review
Britain is in flux. There Roman rulers have retreated, and the old world is falling apart. The dark ages are just that, a huge blank canvas in British history where literally nothing exists to tell us what happened or who the men that ruled.
If you are looking for the Medieval version of Arthur, or the Disney version of stone castles, then this is not the story that you get. As Bernard states in his notes at the end of the book, he has tried to strip out all of the fantasy to leave a gritty history of the period. Is he right? I don't know, but what I do know is he has written an excellent story, of one mans struggle to unite the various factions to fight the Saxon horde.
We have a story written shortly after the events, by an eye witness, one of Arthurs Warlords. Derfel, is an excellent character, by turn boastful, yet full of honour, and of course a fighter!
The book follows the usual course of a Cornwell novel, an event to introduce some of the characters, a quite period to bed in the characters, and learn something of the social status, before heading off to battle, and the earning of spurs. In fact Arthur does not appear until the second third of the book, Merlin until about half way through. These though are not characters out of a Disney film, but hard bitten men who face a huge task, in an unforgiving world.
Looking at Amazon, the reviews are overwhelming in there love of this book, of those that hate the book (4 out of 63 reviews), they seem to want the Arthurian mythical legend. Yet this story is much more grounded in reality, and people who could have existed. It puts a different slant on the story, and I have to admit I liked it a lot. Good solid characters, wonderful descriptions of how Cornwell imagines life at the time, all interwoven with folk lore, and the beliefs of the people. At times you can almost smell the stench of battle or of the latrines.
Whether Cornwells interpretation of events and the people involved is right is not for me to say, but what he does is create a utterly believable world of life and death, where the Old Gods are being replaced by the new God and Christianity.
If you want Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and Merlin conjuring demons, then this is not the book for you. if you want and exciting story, and a different interpretation of the Legend then read and enjoy. I most certainly did.
The book probably benefits from the lack of fact, as it allow the author to let his imagination roam, and conjure up a world where Arthur rules, but only by the skin of his teeth, and strong band of warriors.
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