He is captured as a child and raised by a Danish warlord. The protagonist of the series is Uhtred of Bebbanburg, born to a Saxon lord in Northumbria. But he knows that if he deserts the King’s cause, Alfred’s dream – and indeed the very future of the English nation – will very likely vanish.ĭeath of Kings is an outstanding novel by a master storyteller of how England was made – and very nearly lost.The Saxon Stories (also known as Saxon Tales/ Saxon Chronicles in the US and The Warrior Chronicles and most recently as The Last Kingdom series) is a historical novel series written by Bernard Cornwell about the birth of England in the ninth and tenth centuries. Uhtred, the King’s warrior, Viking born but Saxon bred, wants more than anything else to go and fight to reclaim his stolen Northumbrian inheritance. The country Alfred has worked thirty years to build is about to disintegrate. Rivals for his succession are poised to tear the kingdom apart. A killer, a schemer with a dark power over men’s hearts: Skade.Īlfred, the great king, is said to be dying.

In so doing he meets a woman more dangerous than any warlord. Now Uthred will once again defend the Christian kingdom – in a battle which could smash the growing power of the deadly Danes. The ailing Alfred presses Uhtred to swear loyalty to his son and heir Edward, preventing the warrior lord from taking vengeance on those who stole his home at Bebbanburg. But Uhtred is dogged by betrayal and tragedy. He has gained riches, loyal men and a beloved wife. To King Alfred he is the ‘lord of battles’. A thorn in the side of the priests and nobles who shape his fate, this Saxon raised by Vikings is torn between the life he loves and those he has sworn to serve. Uhtred of Bebbanburg’s mind is as sharp as his sword. So when the king orders him to take London from the Danes and hand it to his foolish son-in-law Aethelred, Uhtred agrees despite his concerns.įor Aethelred’s wife is the king’s spirited daughter Aethelflaed and her fate is entwined with Uhtred’s.

And he gave it to King Alfred of Wessex, who dreams of an England free from Vikings. To serve a king or become one? Uhtred – warrior, pagan, scourge of the Vikings – faces a hard choice.ĭespite being offered a crown of his own, Uhtred is a man of his word. As seen on Netflix and BBC around the world.

Order of the last kingdom books