The Eagle - Jack Whyte

The Eagle is the final book in Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles, a true historical fiction take on the Arthurian tales. It is also the second book that completes the story of Clothar of Gaul, legendarily known as Sir Lancelot.

The story begins after Clothar and Arthur have become close friends and military compatriots. Arthur is king and soon decides to send Clothar back to Gaul to engage trade and agreements with like-minded kingdoms across the channel.

Clothar, between Gaul and Britain, is instrumental in fighting many of the enemies found on the island and in modern-day Europe, including the forces of Attila the Hun.

His friend and king, Arthur, begins to show his vulnerability and matters in Britain begin to deteriorate and Arthur asks Clothar for one last request, which Clothar has difficulty in performing.

The Eagle is a fitting end to Whyte's tale of Arthur's Britain. There are some chapter's of battle but a majority of the book is spent on continuing to develop Clothar's character. The author also explains his opinion of some of the more juicy tales of the supposed love triangle between Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere.

The Lance Thrower - Jack Whyte

The Lance Thrower is the next-to-last book in the Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte, historical fiction writer. This book introduces Clothar the Frank, who mythically becomes known as Sir Lancelot.

This book begins with an aged Clothar, making one last visit to Brittania to make some things right by his old friend, Merlyn. He remembers his adventures...

...which start as a young boy in what today is France. The person he has always believed is his father, is Ban, king of Benwick. The story unfolds with Clothar learning of his true heritage and that he is to study under famed bishop Germanus, in Auxerre. Germanus has a school for boys, catering to the noble-born to learn high academics, leadership and warfare.

Once Clothar is finished with his school, he is on an errand back to his home when his world is turned upside down. His train is attacked and he finds himself alone in country. He eventually finds a mercenary that is willing to travel with him and guide him to Ban's army.

The middle portion of the book deals with the feuding that follows Ban's death. Ban's oldest son, Gunthar is an evil sociopath but Ban decreed that his second son, Samson is to be king. This causes what Clothar refers to as Gunthar's war, which ends abruptly and causes Clothar to reconsider his life, which has been war for many months.

Clothar decides that he is going back to see Germanus and serve his mentor. Germanus, who must soon leave for Italia to meet with the pope, sends messages to people in the far-off island of Brittania. One message is to be delivered to the bishop there, to have him orchestrate the crowning of a new high king. A young man named Arthur.

Clothar makes his way to Brittania, but his travels are not smooth and his initial months there frustrate him. He misses the coronation of Arthur and he has trouble finding Merlyn. But once he does, he delivers his messages and goes to find Arthur.

Most of this book is the building of Clothar's character. This is an excellent book with less narrative than some of the author's other books in the series. At times it is fast-paced but is also contemplative. As always, the historical background is full in Jack Whyte's books. This book leads into the final book in the series, The Eagle.

Uther - Jack Whyte

Uther is generally acknowledged as the seventh book in the Camulod Chronicles series, although it is a separate account, deviating from the point of view progression of the third book. It can be read anytime after the third book, The Eagle's Brood.

In the Foreward, the author states that he hesitated to publish this book, as it is an alternate account of the life of Uther Pendragon, father of Arthur. The previous incarnation of Uther's life in this series is told from Merlyn's perspective. But, having read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, parallel books from Ender's and then Bean's point of view, he decided to publish Uther, as it gave him the confidence that it would be well received.

The story begins when Uther is a young boy. He begins to understand who he is. He easily understands that his father and grandfather are powerful in the Pendragon tribe, but also that his mother is different. Of course, his mother, Veronica is the daughter of Publius and Luceiia Varrus of Camulod, making Uther central in the rebirth of Britain.

As Uther takes leadership, he makes strange friends, the strangest being a Cambrian of another tribe. Nemo is a short, squat, ugly and silent female that becomes Uther's celebate military subordinate....and much more.

If you've read the previous books, you know how the book is going to end, but the author fills in many gaps in the story as previously told. One large previous mystery is who killed Merlyn's wife, Deidre? That question is answered in this book.

This nine-hundred page book was full of long narrative. There was much more narrative than the previous books, it seemed, and less dialogue. At times, it was difficult to make it through a section, but much of the narrative, also, was full of information and history. Again, for the reader, it could be a slow read due to the fact that it's a parallel novel. But, the author did an excellent job at developing Uther's character along with Nemo, Garreth Whistler and Owain of the Caves. All interesting characters.

The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis - Jack Whyte

This is the book I've been waiting on.

In The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis, the reader finally gets to see the sword come out of the stone, Arthur crowned high king of Brittain and Merlyn become the famed sorcerer.

The story begins as Merlyn, Arthur and their companions leave back for Camulod. It is becoming time for Arthur to learn the ways of the cavalry and infantry so that he can become the Commander when his time comes.

The first half of the book moved somewhat slowly, the author putting all of his pieces in their spots. During the last third of the book, though, I could hardly put it down.

Merlyn loses many of his loved ones and, because of the madness this brings on, he turns to a collection of potions, poisons and weapons he has had for many years, since the invasion of Lot of Cornwall. His metamorphosis is rapid and complete.

This was an excellent book, despite occasionally feeling that I had to push through the first half. Even then, the author spends lots of time on historical facts of life in this Age.

The Fort at River's Bend - Jack Whyte

The Fort at River's Bend is the 5th book in the Arthurian saga called The Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte. The Fort, as the author has described it, is located at a place in northern England now called Hardknott Pass. The intent of this book is to have a setting where Arthur can learn in general solitude.

Caius Merlyn Brittanicus has decided to flee Camulod because he perceives a mole in the camp. A mole that he believes to be loyal to his enemy, Peter Ironhair, a man expelled from Camulod many years earlier for his contrary ways and who is trying to kill Arthur. Merlyn takes Arthur and his closest friends to Ravenglass, near River's Bend. King Derek of Ravenglass offers up Mediobogdum, as River's Bend is called in exchange for protection from that side of his kingdom.

Merlyn and company live in general peace during that time, as does Camulod. There are relatively few battle scenes in this book, compared to the others so far. It is a time of development, especially that of Arthur.

But, by the end of the book, Arthur is approching manhood and there are rumbling of Ironhair's influence in Cornwall to the southwest. So Merlyn makes the decision that Arthur's quiet instruction is finished. It is time to move back to Camulod and begin practical growth as a soldier in battle.

A lot of this book was slow,battlewise, but the author did a good job of piling on historical information and keeping mild things happening, keeping the reader's attention. I enjoyed this book and it was a quick read even though it wasn't full of action.

The Saxon Shore - Jack Whyte

Book four of The Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte continues the story of Camulod from the point of view of Caius Merlyn Brittanicus. Half Roman noble stock and half Celt of Brittain.

Merlyn has found Arthur, son of Uther, his cousin. Arthur is heir to the throne of the Eire (Irish) and also the rightful heir to the Celtic leadership also, in addition to his importance to Camulod (Camelot). Merlyn takes on the responsibility to be in charge of making sure Arthur is raised noble, educated and strong.

Merlyn is also beginning to seed his reputation as a sorcerer. There were a couple of situations in the previous book, The Eagle's Brood, where Merlyn does some simple trickery. He doesn't think much of it, but it lay the foundation for more seeming magic in The Saxon Shore. One thing that helps this along is his new-found half brother, Ambrose, who could be his identical twin brother, instead of a half-brother only a few months his younger. Ambrose is also instrumental in subtly fanning this growing reputation.

As the title suggests, the continuing Saxon invasion is always a subtext in this story, although, as he has done previously, the author doesn't usually focus his story on the subject of the title. In fact, very little words are wasted on the Saxons. There are many threats to the safety and growth of Camulod and to the general status of Brittain as a whole.

This was a really good book, a bit slow at times, but generally more wide sweeping than the previous book. We begin to see the legend of Merlyn beginning to take shape and Arthur begin to learn and grow to his coming legend.

The Eagle's Brood - Jack Whyte

The Eagle's Brood is the third book in the Camulod Chronicles (Camelot), leading up to the Arthur legend.

The story's point of view changes in this book to Caius Merlyn Brittanicus, son of Picus and grandson of his namesake, Caius, of the first two books. Merlyn is half Brittish-born Roman and half Celt, a product of cooperation between two peoples. He becomes a thoughtful leader of his people. His cousin, Uther, on the other hand, is a powerful warrior, often bloodthirsty and cruel. Because of his cruelty, his relationship with Merlyn is permanently damaged.

This book tells of life in the Brittain as the Colony at Camulod struggles to maintain against powerful foes that come seemingly in waves. The Saxons are a real and sometimes perceived threat but the biggest threat is from Lot of Cornwall, whom Merlyn and Uther hate from boyhood.

Another, new threat, is the threat of religious change. The author spends lots of paper on discussing historical moments in Christian history from the 5th century, regarding Pelagius and Augustine. I think that this subject will come up again in subsequent books, due to it being unresolved in Brood.

While I enjoy the author's craft of writing, I found some of the setting and content to be overly sexually graphic. The story could not have gone anywhere, as it was created, if not for the sexual situations involved, but I found that word choices, depth of the description of the scenes, and the amount of times that he mentions Uther's "manhood" to be too much. While I understand that a book about this subject and time period will have these situations, this book spent way too much time with graphic sexual scenes for good taste.

Overall, the story is a bridge between setting the environment of Brittain at that time and the coming of Arther. As such, there are many ideas thrown into the story, seemingly at random, although the reader probably knows that some of these ideas will come up again in later books.

The Singing Sword - Jack Whyte

With a title like The Singing Sword, you'd think that most of the story is a telling of the creation of the famed Arthurian sword, Excalibur. While it is true that Excalibur is forged in this book, it is a minor and later part of the book, although it plays a destructive role in the final battle scene.

The Singing Sword is the second book in the Camulod Chronicles and is told from the point of view of Publius Varrus, a Roman born in Britain, and his friend/commander, Caius Brittanicus, leader of the Colony, an irregular stronghold of Roman ideals and discipline in Britain where the Roman forces are steadily being withdrawn back home to defend the home turf, a historical fact that essentially began the Dark Ages.

Our main characters are neck deep in defending their Colony and making new laws that must cover the changing world that is Britain in the 4th century A.D. There are new threats coming in addition to the Saxons and Celts.

The feud between the Senecas and Varrus continues with a black hate in this book. Claudius Seneca, who we thought was dead toward the end of The Skystones is not! He survived Publius' humiliating plan of death for him. He has returned with power and Varrus and Brittanicus must find a way to keep Seneca from exacting revenge on them.

Both Varrus and Brittanicus become grandfathers in this book. Both of these births are results of marriages of state between the diminishing Roman presence in Britain and the Celts. These births are also forerunners of Arthur, as we find out in the blurbs on the back of the books.

I really enjoy Jack Whyte's writing style. While not blood-thirsty for battle scenes, he paints a realistic picture of the world as it begins to enter the Dark Ages. His large battle scenes are often short or even implied. He seems to want to spend more time with character than explaining the macro-ness of armies battling. He also makes efforts to be historically forthcoming regarding the Roman ways of society and military. He is educational along many subjects of technology of the time.

Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell

It's been a while since I've finished a book with the holidays being as busy as they are, but I finally finished this one tonight, so here goes.

Excalibur is the final book of the Warlord trilogy by Bernard Cornwell, a historical fiction look at the Arthur legend. Once again, we are led through story in the eyes of Derfel, friend and warlord of Arthur. Britain is in disarray as Mordred, the subject of the title of the first book (The Winter King), is now grown and is as vile aj young king as the imagination can conjure. The Saxons are temporarily beaten back by a furious battle from a mountaintop. Through the shield walls and sword battles, Derfel and his companions endure triumphs and tragedies of Dark Age political and military life.

The famed sword, Excalibur, is the title of this book and that is tied to it being one of the magical Druid artifacts that Merlin attempts to use to bring back the Druid gods to reclaim Britain from the Saxons and the invading Christian societies started by the monks.

One of the suspenses that builds to a climax in Excalibur is that of how Derfel loses his hand. As sections begin in the book, Derfel is a Christian monk writing his memoirs long after his friends and family are dead. It is mentioned that he has no left hand. So the reader is always wondering in the back of their mind how it happened. At least I did. At one point, past halfway in the book, Derfel is captured by a character that he had cut the hand off of in the second book. So the suspense really rose at that point. I'm occasionally squeamish with the blood and gore, so I had to put the book down for a couple of days to avoid that bit of unpleasantness, but once I resumed reading, I found that the reader was in for a surprise as to how he finally loses the hand.

Some authors just have "it". "It" is a talent for writing realism, a waxing and waning of tragedy and triumph, and weaving love, war, politics and real world issues into a fine work of art. Bernard Cornwell has done this with the Warlord trilogy. As in his first two books, after the story, he explains some of the documented history of the battles and some of the writings surrounding the myth/legend/history of Arthur. Historian cannot agree to much about this period due to lack of evidence. That is why it is called the Dark Ages. But Cornwell does a fantastic job of speculating for us in a way that is romantic and heart wrenching. I highly recommend this series.

Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell

Enemy of God is the second book in the Warlord trilogy by Bernard Cornwell. It continues with story of Arthur as written by Derfel, a Christian monk who was previously a Druid warrior in Arthur's employ.

The story continues where The Winter King left off. We follow southern Britain and the tragedies, successes, love and treacheries that occur to our main characters: Derfel, Arthur, Lancelot and others.

The author takes the reader through a wide range of emotions that completely immerse you into the story. I found myself in tears at one point, at a tragedy.

The title refers to Arthur, who, from the early legends, is thought to have been a follower of the Druid religion. In southern Britain, in the time of this story, the Druids were fighting very hard to maintain their religion against the Christian monks, who were heavily converting the British to Christianity. Again, in this book, much of the dynamic, contrast and even humor comes from the conflict between the two religions.

Again, I highly recommend this series to anyone. It is at times barbaric (because it is set in the Dark Ages) but is a wonderful tapestry of what the legend of Arthur may have been like.

Book three is called Excaliber, and I will be reading it next.

The Winter King - A Novel of Arthur by Bernard Cornwell

The legend of Arthur in during the Dark Ages in Britain is a tale that has never been proven to truly exist due to the sad lack of writings from that period, hence the name Dark Ages. In his Notes at the end of the book, Cornwell gives a synopsis of the historicity of the legend of Arthur some of the characters of his story.

The Winter King is a story written from the point of view of Derfel, a Christian monk who, in the guise of re-copying passages of the New Testament (for his Bishop cannot read), is writing the tales of Arthur as he experienced them as Arthur's warrior and friend. Derfel's story begins with the birth of Lord King Uther's son and heir to his throne. Mordred is born crippled and Uther is old. The rulers of the factions of southern Britain make pacts to ensure the prince's upbringing is safe.

But when Uther dies, we find how brittle the peace was during his reign is Lord King, for kings begin to fight amongst themselves and sweeping battles and barbaric executions commence.

Conspicuously missing so far are Arthur and the lordly Druid, Merlin.

Arthur soon arrives on the scene and he befriends Derfel, who is really the main character in this story. Derfel goes from being one of the outcasts of Tor, Merlin's lair, to being one of Arthur's battle commanders.

Merlin enters the scene in a most unexpected time and place but the Druid is an odd pagan in that he has no interest in the politics and war and skirmishes of Britain. His only interest is in the Knowledge of Britain, which are possession that will allow Britain to return to the pure Druid nature that existed before the Romans and Christians entered.

The main pivot for the story happens when, as a show of peace, Arthur is betrothed to the fair Ceinwyn, princess of a rival piece of a Britain. But at the the betrothal, Guinevere enters. Arthur is completely taken with her and abandons his betrothal to Ceinwin and goes off to marry Guinevere. What follows are years of bloody war between the factions of Britain, all caused by a broken betrothal.

Bernard Cornwell's vision of Arthurian Britain is a fantastic story filled with bravery, tragedy, love and gore and is an excellent read. He gives a gritty mural of life in the Dark Ages, a time of much death, superstition and violence.