The Pagan Lord

A Novel

By: Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by: Matt Bates

Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Bernard Cornwell returns to his epic Saxon Tales saga with The Pagan Lord, a dramatic story of divided loyalties, bloody battles, and the struggle to unite Britain.

At the onset of the tenth century, England is in turmoil. Alfred the Great is dead and Edward his son reigns as king. Wessex survives but peace cannot hold: the Danes in the north, led by Viking Cnut Longsword, stand ready to invade and will never rest until the emerald crown is theirs.

Uhtred, once Alfred’s great warrior but now out of favor with the new king, must lead a band of outcasts north to recapture his old family home, that great Northumbrian fortress, Bebbanburg.

In The Pagan Lord, loyalties will be divided and men will fall, as every Saxon kingdom is drawn into the bloodiest battle yet with the Danes; a war which will decide the fate of every king, and the entire English nation.

©2013 Bernard Cornwell (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

Maybe there'll be author's notes in the next book?

I've read ALL of the Saxon Stories available as of 7/6/2015 and have loved every one!

But, there are a few problems:

Cornwell includes notes in his books at the very end. For some reason, the author's notes aren't read on the recording at the end of the book or, at least, not consistently! Can you really call the book "unabridged" at that point?! :)

Also, if you sail into a "fjord", it's pronounced "fih-YORD", If you fight Kjartan The Cruel and refer to him as "kih-JAR-tin" then you've successfully distracted me from my listening pleasure. I then stop listening and choose a few select words for the reader/performer, his engineer, the producer...all of you!

The next book comes out soon. Maybe there will be a change??

I Love Uhtred Series

This series of books is excellent. I had read all of the previous books in print. This one was very good, but not at the level of the others in the series. Was it because of the audio format? Not sure. I didn't just commiserate quite as much with the travails of Uhtred in this one, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.

Uhtread of Bebenberg is back!

If you could sum up The Pagan Lord in three words, what would they be?

visceral, compelling, gritty

What did you like best about this story?

I like Uhtread and his straightforward approach to his warrior lifestyle. He is a great warrior and proud of that fact. He's clever, and I loved hearing his adventures.

What about Matt Bates’s performance did you like?

Bates is a good narrator, with a strong voice and he does a good job of voicing the different characters. He also is pretty decent at voicing the women in the story without making them sound too breathy.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes!

Any additional comments?

Cannot wait to find out what happens next!!!

Uhtred!!!!!

Dear heavens I love these books. Despite the change in narrator and mispronunciation of names. Thank you, Bernard Cornwell

Incredible Book, Perfect Narration

Matt Bates's narration is masterful, as good as Jonathan Keeble's was in the first two books of this series. Albeit Bernard's Saxon tales would stand high regardless of the reader, having the right performer really makes a world of difference.
I've missed Keeble's readings since the earlier books; no one came close to his performance until Matt Bates.
Classic Uhtred; Classic Cornwell.

Omg can’t stop listening

Was I the only one that was crying and proud beyond belief of Uhtred the younger? His battle against Sigurd was awesome!

Another well written book

Another great book by Bernard Cornwell. it makes it easy to listen to the early history of England and how it came to be. I just wish they didn't keep changing voice actors. And then at least if it was a different voice actor they kept the same pronunciation of names and places. other than that I'm really enjoying these books.

I Could Not Stop

Seriously, I listened to this book in 3 days. This series has been addicting from the start and continues to be one of my favorites.

Great book.

Hate to think of this series ending
Historical history at its best. Always engrossing and entertaining.

Great story of battles and personalities in the 10th century England

I really didn’t dislike anything but, the beginning of the story, the narrator was not as good as he was from the middle to the end. Overall a great story.