Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell - Available

The Last Kingdom

#1 in series

by Bernard Cornwell
Jonathan Keeble
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Uhtred is an English boy, born into the aristocracy of ninth-century Northumbria. Orphaned at ten, he is captured and adopted by a Dane and taught the Viking ways. Yet Uhtred's fate is indissolubly bound up with Alfred, King of Wessex, who rules over the only English kingdom to survive the Danish assault. He is left uncertain of his loyalties but soon he is driven to face the greatest of the Viking chieftains in a battle beside the sea.

  • Creators

  • Series

    The Last Kingdom

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 1, 2016

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780007593125
      • File size: 388127 KB
      • Duration: 13:28:35

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Uhtred, an English nobleman's son, is raised by Danish chieftain Ragnar after being captured in battle. He learns the ways of the Danes and bonds with Ragnar. Then a turn in battle forces Uhtred to decide between the two sides of himself. The story is full of bloody action, yet narrator Jamie Glover keeps the emphasis on Uhtred's struggles with conflicting loyalties, shaping the characters to show both their sympathetic and violent natures. Narrating as Uhtred, Glover brings alive both the boy and the wiser man, foreshadowing without giving too much away and showing the war through the eyes of a character who sees the views of both sides. The novel might be too bloody for some, but its take on loyalty and its historical detail are fascinating. J.A.S. 2006 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 6, 2004
      Bestseller Cornwell leaps back a millennium from his Richard Sharpe series to tell of the consolidation of England in the late ninth century and the role played by a young (fictional) warrior-in-training who's at the center of the war between Christian Englishmen and the pagan Danes. (Most of the other principal characters—Ubba, Guthrum, Ivar the Boneless and the like—are real historical figures.) Young Uhtred, who's English, falls under the control of Viking über-warrior Ragnar the Fearless when the Dane wipes out Uhtred's Northumberland family. Cornwell liberally feeds readers history and nuggets of battle data and customs, with Uhtred's first-person wonderment spinning all into a colorful journey of (self-)discovery. In a series of episodes, Ragnar conquers three of England's four kingdoms. The juiciest segment has King Edmund of East Anglia rebuking the Viking pagans and demanding that they convert to Christianity if they intend to remain in England. After Edmund cites the example of St. Sebastian, the Danes oblige him by turning him into a latter-day Sebastian and sending him off to heaven. Uhtred's affection for Ragnar as a surrogate father grows, and he surpasses the conqueror's blood sons in valor. When father and adopted son arrive at the fourth and last kingdom, however, the Danes meet unexpected resistance and Uhtred faces personal and familial challenges, as well as a crisis of national allegiance. This is a solid adventure by a crackling good storyteller. Agent, Toby Eady. (Feb.)

      Forecast:
      Cornwell's own life served as inspiration for this novel: he, too, was orphaned (and adopted by members of a strict fundamentalist sect). Readers who followed the story of his reunion with his birth father in 2003 (while he was on tour with
      Sharpe's Havoc) will take special interest in the personal angle here. Four-city author tour.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In Northumbria in the ninth century, 10-year-old Uhtred is adopted by the victorious Danes after they kill his father. He is trained to be a warrior by King Alfred. Uhtred fights first on the side of the Danes, but eventually he must choose where his loyalties lie as he grows to adulthood. Tom Sellwood is outstanding in this performance, not only in his rendering of the myriad character voices, but also in his ability to re-create the atmosphere of the time period. The battle scenes are so realistic that listeners will feel themselves part of the "shield wall," the preferred military formation of that period. With lots of blood and guts, raping and pillaging, the authenticity is hard to deny. Fortunately, this is the start of a series by Cornwell, and if we're lucky, Sellwood will narrate them all. S.S.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award 2006 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading
ESCC accessibility