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The Winter King
- The Warlord Chronicles, Book 1
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Series: The Warlord Chronicles, Book 1
- Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
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The year is 1342. The English, led by Edward III, are laying waste to the French countryside. The army may be led by the King, but it is the archers, the common men, who are England's secret weapon. The French know them as Harlequins. Thomas of Hookton is one of these archers. But he is also on a personal mission: To avenge his father's death and retrieve a stolen relic.
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Give it a miss
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The eagerly anticipated follow-up to the best-selling Harlequin, this is the second installment in Bernard Cornwell's Grail Quest series. It is 1346. While King Edward III fights in France, England lies exposed to the threat of invasion. Thomas of Hookton, archer and hero of Crécy, finds himself back in the north just as the Scots invade on behalf of their French allies. Thomas is determined to pursue his personal quest: to discover whether a relic he is searching for is the Holy Grail.
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Very good history-based fiction
- By Kevin on 27-01-2020
Publisher's Summary
Uther, the High King of Britain, has died, leaving the infant Mordred as his only heir. His uncle, the loyal and gifted warlord Arthur, now rules as caretaker for a country which has fallen into chaos - threats emerge from within the British kingdoms while vicious Saxon armies stand ready to invade.
Uther, the High King of Britain, has died, leaving the infant Mordred as his only heir. His uncle, the loyal and gifted warlord Arthur, now rules as caretaker for a country which has fallen into chaos - threats emerge from within the British kingdoms while vicious Saxon armies stand ready to invade.
As he struggles to unite Britain and hold back the Saxon enemy, Arthur is embroiled in a doomed romance with beautiful Guinevere.
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What listeners say about The Winter King
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lee
- 30-07-2016
Another great book by Bernard Cornwell
I have to say I really enjoyed this book. Jonathan Keeble is by far one of the best narrators I have heard, and I'm nearing 200 audio books now. The book is a little slow to start while Bernard is building the characters. It has an interesting and different spin the the King Arthur and Lancelot tale. Well worth the listen.
4 people found this helpful
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- Colin mepham
- 15-03-2018
winter drone
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
not sure but you would like long winded tales of not much
What will your next listen be?
something better the wellington series was better will go for LG Ross books again
Would you be willing to try another one of Jonathan Keeble’s performances?
He is good in some books not so good in others
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Winter King?
i don,t think i would have edited it could not get passed first few chapters
2 people found this helpful
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- Clive Batchelor
- 19-09-2016
Great book
Fills the gap between Vikings and game of thrones with English class, historically written, epic and blood thirsty. Great narration as always.
2 people found this helpful
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- Claire Wallace
- 28-08-2019
Gripping
I just couldn’t stop listening! Bernard Cornwell is an expert story teller. I can’t wait to start the second book in the series. The narrator does a great job too.
1 person found this helpful
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- Helen Esdaile
- 06-01-2019
A long haul
I’ve wanted to read Bernard Cornwell for a while and just found this to be too hard going. It meanders without much point.
1 person found this helpful
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- David Green
- 22-09-2021
Interesting spin on the story
Before I started the title, I did see other reviews, and heeded the warning of it being a little slow to start while the characters and settings were drawn up., and that is certainly true. But once that is established, it was a great story, and quite engaging. Most a familiar with the Arthurian legend, and the direction this story goes is all the more interesting because it takes a slightly different path, although Merlin is still Merlin, and that is good, and I enjoyed the telling and the narration of that character. I am finding myself being quite the fan of Bernard Cornwall, having recently finished his "Warlord" saga, and this is leading up to being equally good.
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- 匿名
- 19-07-2021
Narration
I almost got turned off with the countless stupid imitations of voices of Jonathan, I did prefer Jonathan on the Last Kingdom series as Uhtred of Bebbanburg than Matt Bates, but the extra stupid imitations are the only down side of a great story
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- 匿名
- 13-07-2021
This is Excellent
The Warlord Chronicles is easily the best series written by Bernard Cornwall. I have the original abridged audio books read by Tim Piggot-Smith, which are a classic. When I saw this new unabridged reading (by a narrator I was not familiar with) I thought "this can only be a let-down". How wrong I was! Jonathan Keeble has done a superb job, and the full unabridged version brings much additional richness to the tale of Lord Derfel Cadarn and Arthur. For die-hard fans like me, you will find the different pronunciations of the names interesting, and the tempo of the unabridged version is very different.
All this said, Tim Piggot-Smith's characterization of both Merlin and King Aelle in the original are still the gold standard.
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- 匿名
- 24-05-2021
a good fictional story
The book is an easy listen, good battles with an interesting portrail of familiar characters
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- Victor
- 18-06-2017
Very slow start but finished very welll
Loving all of Bernard cornwells books I was excited to listen to this one.
For the first 6/20hours it was painfully slow with very few moments of excitement that kept me super engaged.
Once it got going it was good, as expected.
The later parts of the book were great and I really really enjoyed them.
The final chapter was epic and amazingly well written and worth waiting for.
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- Guy Selickter
- 07-09-2019
Breath Taking
loved it, what else can I say? need at least 15 words, well...Good book, very well narrated
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- Darren
- 31-07-2019
Long in the tooth...BUT!
Admirably done
A great take on an old story. Made you do some research on pre-Roman Briton. Takes the fictional literary yarn of Author much more human.
Twas a bit long but gripping in the end. Bernard Cornwell delivers for me.
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- Colm O'Connor
- 12-07-2019
Slow and boring
Story was so slow, i almost stopped in many occasions. The accents were poor and really annoying. I had high hopes as I love the sharpe series by Bernard Cornwall, but I will not be getting the second in the series.
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- Matt
- 29-08-2014
Simply Brilliant
Would you listen to The Winter King again? Why?
This is the kind of story you can enjoy over and over again. The Winter King boasts an engrossing, complex and compelling storyline rarely found in stories based on the Arthurian legends, which tend toward the tradition of chivalry, knights, round tables and simple good/evil battles against Mordred, Oberon and Morgan Le Fay. Bernard Cornwell has done a masterful job in The Warlord Chronicles of creating an Arthur that is believable, an Arthur desperately trying to hold post-Roman Britain together when the stabilising forces of the empire have gone and the chaotic forces of inter-kingdom warfare, religious conflict and Saxon invasions have come. This brilliant story is told by a brilliant narrator, Jonathan Keeble, whose voice and performance are absolutely perfect for this dark historical fantasy.
What did you like best about this story?
Perhaps the story's strongest aspect is Bernard Cornwell's careful maintenance of historical realism. It is easy to imagine a Britain in the grip of the early Dark Ages, unsure of itself and vulnerable in the aftermath of the departure of the Roman legions and the arrival of hordes of Saxons. It is all the more moving when you realise that history holds the eventual end of the story; we know that the Saxons succeeded in conquering much of Britain, and it doesn't matter how hard Arthur fights. The Saxons will win in the end.
Which character – as performed by Jonathan Keeble – was your favourite?
Jonathan Keeble's performances of all the characters in this audiobook are brilliant - he is the perfect narrator for this story. But perhaps his greatest success is in his portrayal of Arthur himself. The voice that Keeble uses for Arthur is only slightly different than the voice which he uses to portray the main character, Derfel, but it is enough. A slight tone in Arthur's voice immediately identifies him and carries across his humanity, compassion, ambition and altruism all at the same time.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
The only downside to this audiobook is its sheer length. At almost 20 hours, it is impossible to listen to the whole thing in one sitting - unless you are possessed of resolute determination, an iron will, and a lack of need for sleep. I would have liked to listen to all 20 hours without a break, as I found that when I had to turn it off to sleep and resumed it in the morning the story became a little disjointed. However, this is only a minor complaint and I would much rather have a long audiobook that takes multiple sittings than a short one that's over too soon.
Any additional comments?
This is an excellent example of historical fiction and of a legend being historicised. I cannot recommend this audiobook highly enough and eagerly await next month's credit so I can download the next instalment in the trilogy.
21 people found this helpful
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- Stuart Rees
- 14-09-2019
Great book, not so great narration
As far as the story goes, it's fantastic! This is one of my favourite books, and I've read it many times before. This trilogy is Cornwell's best work in my opinion. I did have some issues with the narration though...
To be clear, Jonathan Keeble has a terrific voice and gives a strong performance, but this book is choc full of Welsh words that are so consistently miss pronounced that it occasionally drove me, a welshman, to distraction! This complaint is somewhat specific to myself, but I also didn't like the voice he gave to Nimue (who's name is also mispronounced), which at times was so cartoonishly Irish that it weakened the character's gravitas.
I'd suggest trying an alternative reading of this great book if any of that sounds like an issue to you, but if not, this is a great listen!
8 people found this helpful
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- Chris Woods
- 15-12-2016
Great story, poor pronunciation
I have previously heard an abridged audiobook of this story, and it is a great story. Of course, there are many 'versions' of the Arthurian story available, and since there is little or no provable facts concerning Arthur, one is free to accept any one which appeals, or refuse them all. at the end of the day, we are dealing with a legendary warlord. I think that in post Roman Britain, he was the sort of figure Britain was desperate for, and was the subject of hope and desire, rather than a flesh and blood character.
This version of the Bernard Cornwell story is very good indeed, but in this recording, the pronunciation of many of the words, ( because I suspect, of their Welsh or Cornish origins), are wrong. however, for all that, it is quite an acceptable effort, and I found that after an hour or so, my brain was making the necessary adjustments, and so I ended up enjoying the production immensely. This complete edition is way superior to the abridged version. give it a go, - you owe it to yourself!
7 people found this helpful
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- Storm
- 20-11-2014
Classic
Would you listen to The Winter King again? Why?
The narrator was entertaining and brought the story - one of my favourites - to life.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Winter King?
The part where Gundlias comes to the Tor....
What does Jonathan Keeble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
I really liked his various voices for the male characters. The female characters were sometimes OTT and verging on the Monty Python, Life of Brian "He's not a naughty boy" kind of thing but, overall, Keeble was an excellent narrator.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I laughed out loud a few times, thanks to both Cornwell's understated writing and Keeble's acting.
Any additional comments?
I read this series when it first came out and thought the audiobook would be a good way to go through it again without actually reading it. I wasn't disappointed and look forward to listening to the next two books with my membership credits.
Steven A. McKay, author of WOLF'S HEAD.
6 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 17-04-2019
Good listen but
Been many years since I read the book and I did enjoy the audio book but for one thing the terrible impersonation of the Irish accents perhaps this is just cause I am from the blessed isle but it really did spoil an otherwise good telling of a tale
5 people found this helpful
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- Sam Allen
- 29-08-2019
As good an audio book as it is an epic read!!
I read this year's ago and loved it for it's different, more realistic, take on a legend. To listen to it again just reaffirms this awesome story!! I wish they would make it into a series
3 people found this helpful
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- Dr. J. S. Bray
- 03-08-2019
Great story but let down by pronunciation of names
This is a good story and generally well told but the Welsh names are poorly managed. A phoentic guide would have made all the difference.
3 people found this helpful
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- RJB1
- 08-01-2015
The start of a great trilogy
Any additional comments?
Another excellent series by Bernard Cornwell. In my opinion this is his second best series behind The Saxon Stories. His portrayal of magic is excellent such that it becomes believable in a historical fiction setting, rather than fantasy where magic usually belongs.
As always with Cornwell, the battles are marvelously described, seeming to put you in the middle of the shield wall with the protagonist, Derfel.
The narration is superb, Jonathan Keeble has a powerful orators voice and is able to do a wide variety of accents so you immediately know the character who is speaking.
If you enjoy historical fiction, fantasy or other novels by Bernard Cornwell you should definitely try this one.
4 people found this helpful
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- mr j m tattersall
- 28-10-2019
another excellent novel by B Cornwell
A little hard to get to grips with early on but what an exciting listen as the story unfolded.
Having listened to the remaining books in this series, I take back the first 11 words of my earlier comments.This is an excellent series. Couldn't stop listening to Excalibur.
1 person found this helpful
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- 匿名
- 13-08-2019
spectacular story
Awesome story again given a whole life of its own by the narration of Jonathan Keeble.
Will definitely read the other books in the trilogy.
1 person found this helpful
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