The Empty Throne: A Novel (The Last Kingdom Book 8)

What more can hero Uhtred of Bebbanburg suffer? How many more Saxon lives can he save? How many more Danes will fall to his sword? Well, perhaps as this 9th century warrior has reached his mid-forties and is still recovering from the grievous wound he suffered from Cnut Cnutson’s sword Ice-Spite, we can expect his feet to move less swiftly, his sword to parry a bit more slowly, and his luck (wyrd bith ful arawd!) finally to run out. Yes, those things happen, and he even makes tactical mistakes now! (Double wyrd!) But after all, he still has Finan and company to ride with, and now his son Uhtred Uhtredson and daughter Stiorra give him a better chance of surviving the betrayals and schemes of the ‘Christian’ nobles, priests, and bishops out to exert their will over the kingdom (almost) of Mercia. Wessex’s King Edward, son of Alfred, wants to unite the two kingdoms over the reluctance of the Mercian nobles to yield any of their power to the men of Wessex, and the whole thing gets super-complicated as a Wessex noble attempts a scheme to discredit and kill Edward’s son Aethelstan, to kill Uhtred’s lover Aethelflaed (the wife of Mercia’s ruler Aethelred), and place his grandson, eventually, on the throne of Wessex. It’s complicated, but the solution involves hero Uhtred’s clever political savvy, as well as plenty of those excellent battles we found in the previous seven of Cornwell’s Saxon Tales.

This Saxon series is winding down, but apparently Bernard Cornwell doesn't realize it. The first couple of books (one of which has been adapted for TV and given new life to the series) were more straightforward and left the reader with a sense of reaching a goal. This latest addition just feels like filler to get us to the next book. There are fights, for sure, but honestly: nothing of consequence happens here that couldn't have been summed up in a few pages.

It has been a couple of years since I read the last installment, so to be honest, I had lost the thread of the narrative. The fact that several characters have names which are confusingly similar (male and female), or even identical, doesn't help the reader latch on. I would NEVER recommend this book to someone who hadn't read all the previous books, preferably recently. And as I complained in an earlier review, Uhtred's never-ending stream of invective against the Christian God is now just a predictable annoyance.

I just finished this the other night and all I remember distinctly is a couple of swords and lots of pus. Not a high recommendation. I should also mention my ongoing tirade against Cornwell's annoying quirk of ending every chapter and section with a short contrived sentence. Did he do it again in this book. Yes, he did.

Really disappointed in this installment. I've really liked this series up until this book, but this read more like a TV script. Situations throughout the story just felt so awkward and too many modern sensibilities are thrust into the story (to be frank, tired of all the Christian slandering... its a daily sport). What was really enjoyable with earlier books was the weaving of actual historical battles throughout which kept it grounded (we do get a glimpse into Wales in this one), but it seems we are now in some uncharted waters and maybe the author has lost his mooring. That's the only way I can think to describe it. This one has left a bad taste and I think I will have to wait a while before before I venture back to the tale of Uhtred. I'll wash the memory away with some other reading.

This is the eighth book in this series set during the period of the formation of the English nation. The protagonist is a Saxon warrior who has been displaced from his estate in the north and is now fighting various "invaders" of his new realms, the Danes, Vikings, Welsh, etc. The series is very interesting historically and well written, but seems to me to be running out of steam. There are still lots of battles and bloodshed, with plenty of plots, counterplots and intrigue, but the main character is getting older and his struggles less interesting (or maybe just too familiar). I think it is time to have him win back his home fortress and retire.

A Viking and Saxon Addiction that just won’t quit!

There is so many details to this series to explain and talk about so I just took notes to reflect back on. A new approach to starting out this installment. We start with the reason why Uhtred’s young son Osbert gets a new name.

“I was once named Osbert, but when my elder brother became a priest I was given his name.”

I really loved the insight Osbert, now Uhtred gives about his father. The author is great about keeping his readers memories refreshed with the reminders behind each character. Which by the way let’s just say right up front that the development of every one of these characters are extremely detailed to the point that it seems you’ve known them for a life time. Here is a refreshed insight about Uhtred’s father Uhtred:

“father was a pagan, a warlord”
“Many folk claim that our country would be called Daneland and we would all be worshipping Thor and Woden if it had not been for my father”
“True and strange because he hated the Christian god, calling him “the nailed god,” yet despite his hatred he spent the greatest part of his life fighting against the pagans.”
“The church will not admit that Englaland exists because of my father, claiming that it was made and won by Christian warriors”

Even after reading these 8 installments, it still amazes me that Uhtred still fights for the Christians. However, even Uhtred still doesn’t really understand it but understands what it means to take an oath.

"Saxon armies march still farther north, ever north until every man, woman, and child who spoke the Saxon tongue would be ruled by one of their own. That was Alfred’s dream, and it had become mine even though I loved the Danes and worshipped their gods and spoke their language. So why did I fight them? Because of the oaths I had taken to Æthelflaed."

I loved the descriptions of warriors and the meaning behind the swords. Here is the son Uhtred’s description of his sword.

"I called her Raven-Beak because Sigurd’s banner had shown a raven. She had been the sword Sigurd carried when he fought me and when my seax had ripped his belly open."

"I suppose she had another name before that because she had belonged to Sigurd Thorrson"

"At first I thought the sword was called Vlfberht because that strange name was inscribed on the blade in big letters."

"I carried Raven-Beak and my seax, Attor. Attor means venom and she was a short-sword, for the crowded work of a shield wall."

"I carried my round shield on which was painted the wolf’s head, the emblem of our family. I wore a helmet crested with a wolf’s head, and a coat of Frankish mail above a leather jerkin, and above it all a cloak of bear fur. I am Uhtred Uhtredson, "

"I led the war-band. I was just twenty-one years old"

"I was the son of Uhtred, a lord, and so I commanded."

It’s interesting to learn about the Viking and Saxon ancestry:

"I sent a silent prayer to Woden. I am half a pagan, maybe less than half, but even my father had been known to say a prayer to the Christian god.

“There are many gods,” he had told me so often, “and you never know which one of them is awake, so pray to them all.”
"So I prayed to Woden. I am of your blood, I told him, so protect me, and I was indeed of his blood because our family is descended from Woden. He had come to earth and slept with a human girl, but that was long before our people crossed the sea to take Britain."

It is always great to read about The lady Æthelflaed (in her mid-40s during this time), daughter of Alfred who had been King of Wessex. And most importantly, I couldn’t resist feeling thrilled about her husband dying – much like a Happy Dance.

"And Æthelred was dying. He had been struck by a spear on the back of the head at the battle of Teotanheale and the spear had pierced his helmet and broken through his skull."

Sad though that Uhtred (senior) had been wounded in the last battle. Cnut was dead and his army destroyed.

"Now, almost two months later, I could ride a horse and walk a mile or so, yet I had still not regained my old strength, and Serpent-Breath felt heavy in my hand"

"Cnut Longsword had near killed me with his blade Ice Spite and it was small consolation that Serpent Breath had sliced his throat in the same heartbeat that his sword had broken a rib and pierced my lung."

Throughout this whole series, I love the psychological thoughts that the author gives the reader to ponder on and an insight of how a pagan would think. However, I can totally relate to him and how he feels.

"We live in a world where the strongest win, and the strongest must expect to be disliked. Then I am a pagan, and though Christians teach that they must love their enemies, few do."

"Pride, I suppose, is the most treacherous of virtues. The Christians call it a sin, but no poet sings of men who have no pride."

"Christians say the meek will inherit the earth, but the meek inspire no songs."

Oh the deceptions and conniving Uhtred has to do in order to trick the dumb priest just to help The lady Æthelflaed out. The priest try to push The lady Æthelflaed out by stating she must go to a convent because her husband is dying which leaves the ruling of Mercia up for grabs, but Uhtred always comes to the rescue.

“Baptize you?” Father Penda managed to ask. “I have seen the wickedness of my ways,” I said humbly, “and I wish to return to God’s church.”
"Yet the priest was also hopeful. My conversion and baptism would make Penda famous.
So we took Penda to the river and there he ducked me, and that was the third time I had been baptized."

The baptizism gives Uhtred a Mercian claim as his mother was a Mercian and therefore a claim to become ruler of Mercian. Uhtred once gains the rulership then turns and puts The lady Æthelflaed on the Mercian throne as ruler.

Æthelflaed did succeed her husband as the ruler of Mercia, though she was never proclaimed queen of that country. She was known as the Lady of the Mercians."

The drama and actions of these characters keep the readers enchanted with their craziness. Here we have The lady Æthelflaed’s husband’s (Lord Æthelred) mistress Eadith helping Uhtred retrieve the stolen sword Ice-Spite and healing him.

"The ivory hilt of Ice-Spite was unmistakable. I bent down, wincing from the sudden pain, and pulled the blade free."

"Cnut had always claimed that the blade had been forged in a sorcerer’s fire that burned colder than ice in the frost caverns of Hel. He said she was a sword of the gods, she was the sword that had pierced me, and that Bishop Asser had charmed with Christian sorcery to torment me. "

“Is that the sword?” Eadith asked me.
"Yes.” “Give it to me,” she said.
“The sword will cure you, lord.”
“I know what to do, lord.”
“What?” I asked. “What do you do?” “I cure you.”
I looked down at Ice-Spite. I had wanted her so badly, I had traveled to the end of Britain to find her, yet I had no idea how the possession of her would help me.
“Lean against the ship,” Eadith ordered me and I obeyed her.
“Now show me the wound, lord,” Eadith said.
Eadith closed her eyes. “This sword almost killed you,” she said in a slow, singsong voice, “and now this blade will heal you.”

"and before Finan or any of my men could stop her, she stabbed me."

"I gasped, staggered against the ship’s bows, and saw Finan moving to snatch at Eadith’s arm,"

"she had already pulled the sword back. Now she was staring at my wound with a look of horror. And as the blade left me so the stench came."

"A foul stench, and I felt liquid pouring from my rib. “It’s the evil,” Eadith said, “coming out of him.”

"saw a mixture of blood and pus pulsing from the new wound,"

"It was bubbling, swelling, trickling away, and as I watched the filth erupt so the pain subsided."

"I looked up at Eadith in disbelief because the pain was flowing out of me, it was vanishing."
“There was evil inside you, lord,” she said slowly, “and it had to be let out.”
“Then why didn’t we use any sword?” “Because this was the sword that caused the evil, of course.”

A battle is fought and won and an enemy becomes an ally and a family member.

"The ship waited for Sigtryggr, but close to it, standing where the grass turned to the river bank’s mud, was Stiorra. Her maid, Hella, was already aboard the dragon-ship."

“I saw,” she said simply, “and I was stricken.”

“And so was he?” I asked, and she just nodded.

“And the last two nights,” I asked, “after the feasting was over?” I did not finish the question, but she answered it anyway by nodding again."

“You are your mother’s daughter,”

"I spoke louder as I stepped back, “is Eardwulf’s money.” I saw I had smeared her pale linen dress with Eardwulf’s blood. I looked at Sigtryggr. “I give her to you,” I said, “so don’t disappoint me.”

This whole series is just awesome and I seem to not be able to get enough of it. I am wearing thin though with the fact that Uhtred hasn’t won back his inheritance. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series to see where the journey takes Uhttred.

Excellent Read!

Blah, blah, blah. Just another masterpiece installment by the esteemed Mr. Cornwell. Although the main hero is becoming more than a bit long in the tooth, the fitful tales of the youthful throes of newborn England are still quite entertaining. Our Bebanburgian son is also growing into his role as a worthy successor and warrior chattel to Mercia's various royalty. A continuing subtheme concerns an evolving, burgeoning Christian church intertwined with a covert undercurrent of still extant Odin worship-- their knees may genuflect, but our guys still wear their tokens to Thor and dream of the Norns. Yep, blah, blah, blah. As with the music of Jethro Tull, there seems to be only one tune, constantly rearranged, reordered, switching introductions and choruses and barely altered lyrics. But it is a good tune.

I heave read all of the Uhtred of Bebbanburg books. I enjoy reading them because of the way that Cornwell makes historical eras come alive for a modern reader. The last few books have been rather formulaic, following a fairly predictable trajectory and rehashing the same themes. Cornwell throws in one twist at the beginning of this one, starting with a prologue that is told in first-person point of view, but you realize that it is the perspective of young Uhtred, the son of our Uhtred. It appears that Cornwell is handing the story over to the young heir, who will continue his father's legacy. However, after the prologue, the narrative shifts back to old Uhtred, and barely mentions young Uhtred the rest of the story, although he accompanies his father on every step of the journey. Old Uhtred seems strangely oblivious to his son's presence, although he is now a proven warrior, and Uhtred clearly feels that his ability to continue fighting his way across Britain is coming to an end. In this book, Uhtred is focused on ensuring the succession of Lady Aethelflaed to the Mercian throne, and securing Mercia from new threats originating in Norse-held Ireland. In his efforts to achieve these goals, he relies mostly on the counsel of his old companions, like Finan and Sihtric, not bothering to include his son. He is also concerned with passing on his lessons in statesmanship and political calculation, but the object of these lessons is young Aethelstan, King Edward of Wessex's supposedly illegitimate son, but whom Uhtred knows is legitimate, and schemes for him to become king of Wessex after Edward.

Like many, I have been concerned this series is going stale. After all, Uhtred has had decades of hard wear in a time when a man was middle aged at 30, and old at 45, so it is not realistic for him to be going toe to toe with men in their teens and twenties. The cycle of finding a new love interest, making the same mistakes and then beating the Danes in the last chapter has grown thin, and some of the prose has grown repetitious. By book 8, do we really need to be reminded of each character's personal history or told how much Uhtred loves his sword (that sounded awfully Fruedian as I was writing it) or is that just filler?

However, this book had some refreshing angles. The narration by young Uhtred in the first chaptper is a refreshing device. An aging Uhtred has different conflicts and concerns as a father of grown children. But, even if the book followed the same old formula, I wanted it. You wanted it. Should we really blame Cornwell for following a successful formula with his second-most successful character, and giving us what he knows we want? I may be concerned about the series getting stale, but I still devoured the book in two days. If you were disappointed with the last book in the series, just get it over with and read this one. We both know you will, and in my opinion you will enjoy it. This is better than the last two or three books in the series.

I hope Cornwell can write forever. I have read all the Saxon tales and loved them for their realism and knowledge of the times.

I would recommend this book and the whole series to anyone. Cornwell does the story justice. Now I'm ready for the next book in the series.