Flame Bearer

Thetenth installment of Bernard CornwellsNew York Timesbestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England, like Game of Thrones, but real (The Observer, London)the basis forThe Last Kingdom, the hit television series.Britain is in a state of uneasy peace. Northumbrias Viking ruler, Sigtryggr, and Mercias Saxon Queen Aethelflaed have agreed a truce. And so Englands greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, at last has the chance to take back the home his traitorous uncle stole from him so many years agoand which his scheming cousin still occupies.But fate is inexorable, and the enemies Uhtred has made and the oaths he has sworn conspire to distract him from his dream of recapturing his home. New enemies enter into the fight for Englands kingdoms: the redoubtable Constantin of Scotland seizes an opportunity for conquest and leads his armies south. Britains precarious peace threatens to turn into a war of annihilation. Yet Uhtred is determined that nothingneither the new adversaries nor the old foes who combine against himwill keep him from his birthright. Historical novels stand or fall on detail, and Mr. Cornwell writes as if he has been to ninth-century Wessex and back.Wall Street Journal