The Pagan Lord

The Last Kingdom Series, Book 7

By: Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by: Matt Bates

Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

The seventh book in the epic and bestselling series that has gripped millions.

A hero will be forged from this broken land.

As seen on Netflix and BBC around the world.

Alfred the Great is dead and Edward his son reigns as king. Wessex survives but peace cannot hold. The Danes in the north, led by Viking Cnut Longsword, stand ready to invade and will never rest until the emerald crown is theirs.

Uhtred, once Alfred’s great warrior but now out of favour with the new king, must lead a band of outcasts north to recapture his old family home, that great Northumbrian fortress, Bebbanburg.

Loyalties will be divided and men will fall, as every Saxon kingdom is drawn into the bloodiest battle yet with the Danes; a war which will decide the fate of every king, and the entire English nation.

©2013 Bernard Cornwell (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"The best battle scenes of any writer I've ever read, past or present. Cornwell really makes history come alive" (George R.R. Martin)

"Cornwell draws a fascinating picture of England as it might have been before anything like England existed" (The Times)

"He's called a master storyteller. Really he's cleverer than that" (Telegraph)

It just gets better and better

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely... if you like bernard cornwell. He is wonderfully consistent. A great listen/read.

What did you like best about this story?

Fantastic characters, great dialogue...

Emotional and powerful

With The Pagan Lord the emotional depth and narrative cohesion of the series achieves a new level, with the story arc of Uhtred becoming more filled out and mature. It is also the first book from which the television series appears to substantially depart from the tone and meaning of the books. As good as the tv version is, The Pagan Lord version of the Saxon hero is darker, more purposeful, more empathetic and craftier. Thankfully he also spends considerably less time in “the slough of despair”….

Time & Place

Would you listen to The Pagan Lord again? Why?

Yes, I would, as in all of BC's books he captures time & place really well, you could almost smell the salt spray in the Northern seas & the smell of burning villages.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Pagan Lord?

The final battle

Which character – as performed by Matt Bates – was your favorite?

Uhtred

another gem

great writing, great story.. very glad I was introduced to this series.. if you haven't read them, you should...

Too bad the narrator changed!!

I love these books. It's a strange thing, however, when the narrator changes and suddenly everything is pronounced differently. For example, in this latest version, the narrator pronounces the "j" in "Kjartan". It made me cringe. Occasionally, it sounded like the narrator has a New York accent.

Still a great book.

Another great listen

This is another compelling listen in The Last Kingdom Series. The story is amazingly written, detailed, compelling, making the listener feel like he is part of the action. It's truly hard to stop listening.

Matt Bates narration is not the best in the series (Jonathan Keeble's narration in first 4 books is truly unrivaled), but it is not bad. It is a honest narration that doesn't harm the great story.

Highly recommended.

Better narrator

Better narrator than the last two books, but still preferred Jonathan Keeble. A few changes to some names but at least were back to Bebennberg not Bambera.

Another winner from Cornwell

If you've come this far in the series, you probably love Cornwell like I do. I don't enjoy the sympathetic bad guy (Knut Knutson). Cornwell's strength is in writing the loathsome bad guy character. The emergence of Uhtred the Younger made up for it. Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommended.

I don't like the new narrator.

I wish for the same narrator for all the books in a series. That consistency of narrator would make the story flow better.