Like many people, the story of The Last Kingdom drew me in completely. The setting, characters, and plot kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened. When ever that happens for me, I immediately look to see if the show is based on a book, and who wrote it. And that is how I discovered Bernard Cornwell.
Now I feel foolish because he had an immense catalog of books and was famous for another series, ‘Sharpe’, starting Sean Bean. Which is now on my ‘To Be Watched’ list. Then I saw he had written a retelling of the Arthurian legend and I had to get me hands on it.
The Warlord trilogy was published between 1995-1997. It sets the story of King Arthur in the same time period as The Last Kingdom. Presenting Arthur as a knight of Briton defending his lands against the Saxons of east England, while also dealing with the world left behind by the Romans.
Keeping the story grounded in a ‘real’ world, aspects of the story are presented in context of British history. The prime example would be Merlin, who is a druid and performs the ceremony and beliefs of that religion. He invokes magic through demanding actions of his gods and through the use of talismans, positions, and signs.
Currently, I have finished the first two books of the series and have begun book three. There are reports of the series being made into a series to be released in the next year or two, and I will be there when it is released.
Do you know of any other legendary stories that have retold in a ‘real world’ setting? It makes me wonder what stories could be done in such a way.
With that I’m heading back to Preptober. Putting the finishing touches on my plans for NaNoWriMo. If you are subscirbed to my Insider Updates, I will be making the announcement of thost plans next Friday.
Random Thoughts 