Ammon Bradford

The final book is this series is the best possible finish. It could not be improved anywhere. Excalibur is exciting from beginning to end, and as with the first to books, it is so easy to get caught up and enveloped in Cornwell's story. Throughout all three books, I had to be careful reading it in the evening, because when I would finally put if down, I'd realize that four hours have past and I've got about another four to sleep for work the following day. Excalibur is just as unique a story as the first two books. The story is original all the way through. We are only familiar with the characters' names, but not with the characters' characters (or personalities, but I thought that was funny.) For example, Arthur is a pagan, not a king, and never once says the word "Grail." Lancelot, who we are used to seeing as a man to rival the goodness and skill of Arthur, is a deceitful worm, lying and cheating his way to power, and ends up betraying Arthur. I don't really know what I thought of Merlin before this, but now, he's a man just as magnanimous as Arthur, but much more a zealot (Merlin IS a Druid though.) To me, the ultimate test a book can face is whether or not it has me in tears by the end. Les Miserables did this to me, and that's one of the greatest works in history. The end of Excalibur put tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. It's finish was so fitting, so perfect, and still so disappointing. Not disappointing in the sense that the author failed in some way, but disappointing because we feel for the characters so much, we can't help but mourn with the characters with the great sadness thrust upon them in final chapters. Definitely the perfect finish to a perfect series. No book in the series is better than the other, but each one will feel like the best when you're reading it. I have two wishes with this series. One, to find some one else who's read it so I can discuss it (something I love to do with books), and two, personally tell Bernard Cornwell how good I thought these books were. I'd recommend them to anyone in an instant.

This book is just as good at the first one in the series, and just as unexpected. We are all familiar with the KING Arthur, the good Christian who goes out on a holy quest to find the Grail. In Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles, Arthur is never a king, and he his not Christian, but a believer of British druidism. This book is very well-written; it is very easy to empathize with the characters, the politics are easy to follow yet still complex, the superstitions of both the Christians and the pagans is both amusing to our 21st century minds and yet still understandable, and the conflict between the Britons and the Saxons is historically accurate and exciting to follow. There is not a boring moment in the entire series. The battle scenes are so well written that even a clod like me could see the battle through Derfel's (the narrator) eyes, and when the battle is over you feel like cheering Arthur's success as a soldier, but as you continue to read, you hope, like the characters in the series, that the battle you just read would be the last. The Warlord Chronicles are a war story, like it suggests in the name, but as you read you keep hoping there will be no more war. That's how well Cornwell wrote these books. When the characters are happy, living peacefully between wars with the Saxons, caught up in the simple things of common life, you are happy with them. When Derfel and Ceinwyn are married (well, they weren't REALLY married, but pretty much) I am smiling and cheering for them, and when a friend of Derfel and Arthur is killed in battle or a peaceful year shattered, I am in mourning just as much as them. Cornwell's characters feel so real, so much more real that a true historical character. For example, I can read up on Edward the Third and like him, but Derfel Cadarn I could be friends with.

Of all of the versions of the Arthurian legend, this is my favorite. It gives a unique view of the 5th and 6th centuries and the situation in Great Briton and Europe. We are all familiar with the names of the characters, but Cornwell presents them in an entirely new way. It is an interesting combination of history and legendary characters that is believable and lovable all the way through. I found this series after reading Cornwell's Grail Quest series, because I was impressed and wanted to read more of Cornwell's works. I have read most of Cornwell's books now, and they all are very good, but if some one were to ask me my favorites, I would immediately say the Warlord Chronicles. There are so many details in these books that it does feel like a work of true history—the frequent references to the past Roman rule, the friction between druidism and Christianity, the inner politics of the British kingdoms, and so many more things that contribute to the feel of reality. What I like the most about these books, however, is the goodness of Derfel and Arthur, the two main characters. As I read these books, I was struck by how good these characters were. Their greatness did not feel forced, either. Throughout the series, we see problem after problem flung at the narrator and Arthur, and they remain good men. So, I would recommend these books to anyone. You'd have to be old enough and mature enough to understand much of it, but this series is excellent, from the exciting beginning to the tear-jerking finish.