Lords of the North

The Saxon Chronicles, Book 3

By: Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by: Tom Sellwood

Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

The year is 878, and the Saxons of Wessex, under King Alfred, have defeated the Danes to keep their kingdom free. Uhtred, the dispossessed son of a Northumbrian lord, helped Alfred win that victory, but now he is disgusted by Alfred's lack of generosity. Uhtred flees Wessex, going north to search for his stepsister in the formidable stronghold of Dunholm.

Uhtred arrives in the north to discover rebellion, chaos, and fear. His only ally is Hild, a West Saxon nun fleeing her calling, and his best hope is his sword. Needing other allies, he chooses Guthred, a seemingly deluded slave who believes he is a king. Together they cross the Pennines to where a desperate alliance of fanatical Christians and beleaguered Danes form a new army to confront the terrible Viking lords who rule Northumbria. Instead of victory, Uhtred finds betrayal. But he also discovers love and redemption as he is forced to turn once again to his reluctant ally, Alfred the Great.

A breathtaking adventure, Lords of the North is also the story of the creation of modern England, as the English and Danes gradually become one people, adopting each other's languages and fighting side by side.

Ready for battle? Don't miss the rest of the Saxon Chronicles Series, including The Last Kingdom (Book 1), The Pale Horseman (Book 2), and Sword Song (Book 4).

©2007 by Bernard Cornwell (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Cornwell...breathes life into ancient history with disarming ease, peppering it with humor and even innocence." (Publishers Weekly)

Performance distracts from story

So, I don't review very often, and I'm normally not very particular about narrator choice. But the performance for this book was very distracting. After listening to the first two books in the series, I had gotten used to his narration style. This narrator has both a higher-pitched voice and a much more dramatic storytelling style. The inflections he uses make it sound like he's trying way too hard. The way he voices Uhtred makes him come across as pretty unlikable. And although he does a good job of coming up with unique voices for different characters, they all make the character sound like a caricature. I think this narrator would be great for children or adolescent books, but he doesn't have the gravitas for a character like Uhtred or a book like this. I find myself rushing through the book so I can get it over with and move to the next one.

Narrator

This new narrator, Tom’s Sellwood, tries, but he’s just not as good as the narrator was in the first two books of the series. When you’re listening to a book, the narrator brings it alive and I feel plays a very important role. I haven’t looked into the next book in the series, but I really hope it goes back to the other narrator. Just my opinion.

bring back other trader

the stories are told from the point of Uhteed when he is older looking back and this guy just didn’t do it justice.

love the books

great books ID say the original narrator is the best hate when you have different narrators that give different voices to the characters

Narrator not as bad as others say

The book itself, like all in the series, is excellent

Sellwood is not as good of a narrator as Keeble, but he isn’t awful either. If you like the series, and like audio books, it won’t be so terrible.

Great story, so-so narration

Sellwood isn't the best at voicing support characters. Great for protagonist, but almost all of the other characters sound like irritating cartoon idiots. I was eventually able to get past this - thanks to Cornwell's craftsmanship - but it took a while.

Narrarator Change

After finishing the first two books of this series very rapidly, I anxiously dove into this one without concern. Having done this, I've no one to blame but myself for the shock I felt at the new voice I heard after downloading. The story was well written; a fluid and interesting continuation of previously developed characters. That being said, it was still tough to get through as an audiobook. Just a personal opinion, but a really poor choice for the narraration.

Love the Book, Not the Narrator

If you could sum up Lords of the North in three words, what would they be?

Awesome Bad Narrator

Who was your favorite character and why?

Utred. He's honest, fun, and vivacious. I loved the television series and love the books. This is one of my favorite authors!

Would you be willing to try another one of Tom Sellwood’s performances?

Never

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

I listened to the first 2 nonstop. I'm having to force myself to listen to Tom Sellwood. I'm just listening to get though the plot so I can move on to Book 4 and hope it's better. Mr. Sellwood my be better in other books, but he just didn't have the personality for this one.

Any additional comments?

Should never have changed narrators. They had a fantastic narrator. Changing was really disappointing. Love, love, love these books!!

Why?

Narrator is bad in distracting way. The first two books in the series had an exceptional story teller who brought the book to life but this guy was quite poor. It was very hard for me to get through this book. Every time he does the voice of a priest or other character is cringe and pulls you right out of the story.

I enjoyed this book but

this was a good read but the fact they switch nadri orders Midway through the series is ridiculous I almost stopped reading this book series because of that they really need to look into changing their priorities