Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
Format: Bargain Price
Label: HarperCollins
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: January 01, 2006
Publishing house: HarperCollins
Sale Popularity Level: 170905
Studio: HarperCollins
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Uhtred is a Saxon, adrift in a world of fire, sword and treachery. He has to make a choice -- fight for the Vikings who raised him, or for King Alfred the Great of Wessex who dislikes him.
Wessex, in the late 9th Century, was the last English kingdom. All the rest had fallen to the Danish Vikings. Now the Vikings want to finish England, and they assemble the Great Army which has only one ambition -- to conquer Wessex. Uhtred lives in Wessex, though he has small love for it and none for King Alfred. Yet fate, as Uhtred learns, has its own imperatives, and when the Vikings attack, Uhtred finds himself on Alfred's side.
The Pale Horseman, rooted in the real history of Anglo-Saxon England, tells the astonishing and true story of how Alfred fights back against his overwhelming enemies. Alfred and Uhtred make unlikely allies, yet the two forge an uneasy alliance that will lead them to where the last remaining Saxon army will fight for the very existence of England.
The Pale Horseman is enthralling as both a historical and a personal story, a novel of divided loyalties and desperate heroism. The Washington Post calls Bernard Cornwell 'perhaps the greatest writer of historical adventure novels today', and The Pale Horseman is yet another masterpiece of historical and battle fiction that gives life to one of the most important and exciting epochs in the history of the English people and culture.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I listened to the audio CD from the library. Tom Sellwood's narration is spellbinding. Each character's voice is so realistic the story comes to life. You can listen to a portion on the audible download link. I would recommend reading the series in order since character development begins with the very first book.
Rated by buyers 
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Since my ancestors were Viking invaders of England I thought a novel based on that historical era would be of interest. What I found in the book, however, was something in the line of the Conan the Barbarian movie I watched with a grandson - "superhero" fights dastardly villain. I think the author had no idea of plot, as the action wanders around pointlessly with awkward descriptions often carried out via retrospection by the characters. There is a little redemption in the occasional description of lifestyle of the times which may be fairly accurate. Though it might appeal to some teenage boys, the book was a real mismatch for me. If I had it to do over again I would certainly not buy it.
Rated by buyers -
Cornwell grabs the readers interest from the very beginning and doesn't let go until the last page! His books are so well written that the reader feels a pang of regret as he nears the end of each of his books.
Rated by buyers -
This is the second in Cornwell's Saxon series but you didn't have to read The Last Kingdom (the very first in the series) to enjoy this one.
Personally, I find it difficult not to enjoy a Cornwell novel. He has a gift of providing just enough history to satisfy the discerning while continuing the narrative at a nail-biting pace.
The Pale Horseman continues King Alfred's struggle to preserve Wessex from invading Viking hordes. The story is told from the viewpoint of the fictional Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a dispossessed young nobleman who has lived among the Danes and is contemptuous of Alfred's piety and caution. His actions at the critical battle of Cynuit in the previous novel should have made him a hero. Instead his thunder has been stolen by Odda the Younger who claims the honor for himself.
Bitter, Uhtred is tempted to join the Danes and he vaccilates between loyalty and defection throughout the novel. But blood ties prove stronger than disappointments and he overcomes them to stand beside Alfred in the fight to save the kingdom. Cornwell can't be equaled when it comes to depicting the horror of the battlefield and there's plenty of blood and guts as well as bawdy humour and romance as well.
The saga continues in Lords of the North, the subsequent in the series.
Rated by buyers 
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I have been a fan of Bernard Cornwell for years, and have always enjoyed the Sharpe novels. This new series set in Saxon England is interesting historically, and the story moves rapidly. I did have a couple of quibbles, and if Mr. Cornwell or his editor is checking his sales rank at Amazon and happens to read this,
know it is from a frequent reader. Please retire the words "sour" and "snarl". It must be tough with a couple of new books every year to keep the vocabulary fresh, but these words appear too frequently(sometimes more than once on the same page!). Also, although our protagonist is an unlettered pagan, he tosses off words like "inexorable". Perhaps that was a common word back in the ninth century.
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