The Winter King

By: Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

It takes a remarkable writer to make an old story as fresh and compelling as the first time we heard it. With The Winter King, the first volume of his magnificent Warlord Chronicles, Bernard Cornwell finally turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur.

The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.

As Arthur fights to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.

©1995 Bernard Cornwell (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

Exciting new take on a classic tale

A rather battle-heavy tale but I liked it. Cornwell's take on the Arthurian legend is enchanting from the vain foppish Lancelot to the devil-may-care Merlin. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Intriguing Recasting of the King Arthur Tale

Bernard Cornwell accomplishes an interesting recasting of the Arthurian legend in this first installment of the series. The historical context makes the traditional tale more realistic and gritty. For those that believe a true story underlies the folktale legend, this provides a plausible back story.

The narrator is not very good. He doesn't do female voices very well, and substantially diminishes the credibility of the villains in the story with his cackling portrait of their voices. Unfortunately, degrading the villains trend to undermine the strength of the heroes as well. I had to consciously imagine different voices for many of the characters so that the poor narration would not ruin the story.

Slow Start But Worth the Wait

Another great tale written by Cornwell and narrated by Keeble. The details Cornwell puts into the stories gives a thorough sense of unddrstanding these anciet people and their ways. While at the same time, Keeble weaves the tale with a voice and mastery as if he were the man who lived it.

Great story with a mix of the wonder and magic

It is a great book with a completely different yet adventurous take on the King Arthur story. Loved every minute of it.

Good, but he's done better.

I have been a fan of his books for years. While this series gets acclaim generally, I think he has written much more enjoyable books other historical time blocks. No one can doubt the research and skills supporting the text, it simply isn't as fun to read as the Sharpe series, for example. Good, but not the page-turner many of his other works are.

great read great listen

Narrator dies great service to incredible book...worth every penny and I will now also buy the remaining audiobooks in the trilogy.

Like The Last Kingdom, but with Arthurian setting

Very glad to be listening to Jonathan Keeble again. true to form, Cornwell gives tale in post-Roman occupied Britain and puts a lot of twists on the story of "King" Arthur and his "Knights" very much like The Last Kingdom, except Britain is mostly pagan and divided into dozens of kingdoms. the Saxons here are like the Danes some 500 years later. can't wait to listen to the rest of the Trilogy.

The Winter King

Even better than I was expecting. Jonathan Keeble is amazing as an actor in this story!

Spectacular!

From start to finish this story is an epic adventure of war, bloodlust, loyalty, and triumph. Bravo!

Not my favorite book by this author

The storyline was okay the narration was great. I prefers the Saxon saga series from this author and this book is to similar for me to enjoy without getting detracted.