Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Themes
Synopsis
The first installment of Bernard Cornwell’s bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England, “like Game of Thrones, but real” ( The Observer , London)—the basis for The Last Kingdom , the hit television series coming to Netflix in Fall 2016. This is the exciting—yet little known—story of the making of England in the 9th and 10th centuries, the years in which King Alfred the Great, his son and grandson defeated the Danish Vikings who had invaded and occupied three of England’s four kingdoms. The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them so that, by the time the Northmen begin their assault on Wessex (Alfred’s kingdom and the last territory in English hands) Uhtred almost thinks of himself as a Dane. He certainly has no love for Alfred, whom he considers a pious weakling and no match for Viking savagery, yet when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes themselves turn on Uhtred, he is finally forced to choose sides. By now he is a young man, in love, trained to fight and ready to take his place in the dreaded shield wall. Above all, though, he wishes to recover his father’s land, the enchanting fort of Bebbanburg by the wild northern sea. This thrilling adventure—based on existing records of Bernard Cornwell’s ancestors—depicts a time when law and order were ripped violently apart by a pagan assault on Christian England, an assault that came very close to destroying England.
Is The Last Kingdom appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This historical war novel features intense battlefield violence with shield wall combat, Viking raids, and medieval warfare. Contains mature themes of cultural conflict, captivity, and divided loyalty with some sexual content and period-appropriate language.
What to know going in
This book has strong violence, mild sexual content, and moderate language. Content notes include captivity, death, and war (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens who love historical fiction and Viking stories will be gripped by Uhtred's struggle to choose between his English birth and Danish upbringing during brutal 9th-century wars.