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    Excalibur
    Excalibur
    Excalibur
    Audiobook18 hours

    Excalibur

    Written by Bernard Cornwell

    Narrated by Jonathan Keeble

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    With Excalibur Bernard Cornwell draws his Arthurian trilogy to an exciting close that will have listners gripping their headphones.

    If Arthur existed (and I am quite certain he did) then he was probably the great British war leader who won the battle of Mount Badon. No one knows where it was fought, or how it was fought, but we do know that the battle took place and it was the one great defeat inflicted on the English invaders of Britain. In Excalibur we follow Arthur and Derfel to that enormous struggle and incredible victory. It not only throws the Saxons back, but reunites Arthur and Guinevere. He might hope now to be left alone, to have a time of peace after gaining a great victory, but new enemies arise to destroy all he has achieved. First is Mordred himself, the crippled king who owes everything to Arthur and now tries to kill his benefactor. Mordred's ally is Nimue who has come to hate her mentor, Merlin. And so the story ends as it has always ended, at Camlann . . . 'and so my lord was gone. And no one has seen him since.'

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateNov 18, 2014
    ISBN9780062393692
    Excalibur
    Author

    Bernard Cornwell

    BERNARD CORNWELL is the author of over fifty novels, including the acclaimed New York Times bestselling Saxon Tales, which serve as the basis for the hit Netflix series The Last Kingdom. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod and in Charleston, South Carolina.

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    Reviews for Excalibur

    4.5/5

    57 ratings16 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Wow, just wow. Rarely have I read a novel that truly makes me feel for a people, a land or a time. However, Bernard Cornwell’s “Excalibur” the third and final book in his warlord chronicles series brought out a plethora of emotion I haven’t experienced in quite some time. I can see why Mr. Cornwell reuses this template, of an old warrior remembering the sweeter days, in his Saxon series as well. Finishing this novel I am reminded of the line from the movie Excalibur (although the two are vastly different in every which way) “I have often thought that in the hereafter of our lives, when I owe no more to the future and can be just a man, that we may meet, and you will come to me and claim me as yours, and know that I am your husband. It is a dream I have...” Fate is inexorable.
    • 5/5
      The finale of Cornwell's Arthurian trilogy. For lovers of historical fiction, the character and plot development are unmatched. I read frequent complaints about the author's use of violence (in and out of battle) as excessive and off-putting, yet I can't disagree more. Dark Age Britain wasn't exactly a rosy place to be, and although this work is based upon myth, Cornwell injects realism into the series with battles, destruction, sadness, and death.

      This work would be better titled 'The Tragedy of Arthur', as even though it neatly ties a colossal story together in an original retelling, it leaves the reader depressed for the fate of Britain. Cornwell is a giant of historical fiction, and this work serves as the finale of his magnum opus.
    • 5/5
      The final part of the 'Warlord' trilogy is well up to the standard of the other two. In this concluding book the tone becomes distinctly darker as Arthur and his friend Derfel face their final battle. They have not only to contend with several enemy Kings and warriors,but also with Mordred and Nimue too.The star rating of 4½ is reflected in the fact that some passages could have been trimmed to good effect.A memorable end to this terrific trilogy however
    • 4/5
      First half was more of the same, then it got really cool. Magic almost for sure. Merlin dies.
    • 5/5
      The third book in the warlord trilogy, Excalibur follows Arthur to the end of his tale. Derfel, the narrator, is finishing the story for Queen Igraine of Powys, his patron, and reminiscing about a life lived and how the smallest things can change a life forever.In Excalibur, we find Arthur at peace with the world. He has helped to install Mordred as king, and while his reign is anything but just, Arthur has kept his oath to see him placed on the throne. During this time of hesitant peace --- Saxons are gathering and people are expecting another battle --- Merlin believes it is time to bring the gods back to the land. Everyone is gathered, Pagan and Christian alike, to watch Merlin summon gods of the old world. He fails and the blame falls on Arthur who would not allow his son, Gwydre, to be sacrificed for the gods. Soon after, the Saxons invade.The invasion is the largest yet and the Saxons have come not just to intimidate but to conquer. Past wars have been rather quick but this time Arthur guesses wrong about where the enemy will make its stand. He gets cut off from his forces and the Saxons mount an impressive siege, trapping Derfel and his men who were to meet with Arthur. Arthur does arrive with reinforcements and the ensuing battle is long and harsh. He prevails, driving the Saxons out once more. Mordred is left a king without powers but a king nonetheless. And against his wishes, Derfel is named to rule Dumnonia and Arthur, newly reunited with Guinevere, retreats to Siluria to live the quiet life he has always wanted. They all become content and this is when their enemies rise.Arthur and Derfel wanted peace and quiet, time with their wives, children, and grandchildren. When news comes of Mordred's approaching death after being wounded in battle far from home, they begin planning for Gwydre to become ruler of Dumnonia. Mordred, unfortunately, is far from death and returns with a warband intent on killing rivals and anyone who caused him pain in the past. He plans to take the power and rightful kingship he feels he was denied.While reading, there were times when I needed to remind myself this wasn't Derfel's story but Arthur's. Their lives, fortunes, and wars are so intertwined that you can almost see them as one story. Derfel, in his telling, reminds you that it is Arthur and intentionally leaves out information he isn't comfortable speculating on which sometimes can be annoying. For instance, Queen Igraine wants to know how Arthur and Guinevere were reunited and what happened. He tells her only what he knows --- that they spoke together after the battle of Mynydd Baddon where the Saxons were defeated. You want to know more too but he doesn't add that information, telling only the story he knows. This is one of the reasons why I liked this series so much, the character of Derfel. He was honest, true, credible, and so very likable even if he didn't tell you all you wanted to know. You trusted him to be true to the story and it made it all work in the end.The ending is true to Arthurian standards and while I won't disclose it here, it does feel satisfactory if a bit stunted but then again, that is how war and stories sometimes end.
    • 4/5
      This makes a lovely ending to the trilogy. The only thing I don't really like about the trilogy is the portrayal of Lancelot: he's a real slimeball, and you come to hate him. The rest of it is lovely, and well done for something that introduces a character that wasn't even the hint of a footnote in the legends, something entirely new, and then makes that character central.
    • 5/5
      Excellent conclusion to the trilogy. And an end that I didn't quite expect but does fit with the legend.
    • 5/5
      The finest Arthurian novel I have read, I think. Cornwell weaves a compelling tale that is not necessarily true to the legend, but explains the legend in a manner that is truthful and intriguing. At last the end has come, and we follow Derfel to the fate we knew would come. Yet Cornwell can make us mourn again for the fallen kingdom over which we have mourned in Malory, in T. H. White, in Stephen Lawhead, and in Mary Stewart. A worthy conclusion
    • 2/5
      I tried to read this. I am an Aurthurian legend fan but this is So a mans book. I guess it balances the Mists.
    • 2/5
      Slow and full of backfill. Love Cornwell but not his best for me I'm afraid.
    • 5/5
      Great end of a wonderful trilogy. The end is bittersweet and grim, and full of hope at the same time. I was scared when I read about Mynnydd Baddon and feared for Nimue's sanity. It all feels very real. Even the "modern" timeline, when Derfel is an old monk and Saxons once again threathen the British kingdoms.This really one of the better retellings about Arthur. A must read for anyone who liked [The crystal cave]
    • 4/5
      A wonderful take on the King Arthur story. This third and final book in the series finishes up Cornwell's version which he handles nicely with equal portions of realism and mystery. I imagine this whole series would be difficult for Cornwell because most of his other books are based on subjects with a great deal of historical documents to launch from. The post Roman Britain world is quite sparse when it comes to written documents so it was interesting to see where he took plots and stories. I much appreciated the extra notes in the back that elaborate his research methods and where he took liberties.
    • 4/5
      the ear-bending third part of Arthur’s story. i like to think of Derfel reading this out loud to Igraine and his hand moving over the parchment...

      more of the same from the first two books: believable characters who develop, vivid imagery of humans, landscapes, and possessions, history harmonizes with the fiction, etc.

      Cornwell’s take on Arthur is really something. in general, i have been non-plused by renditions of the Arthurian legends because they want to bring too much magic into it or they get the history absolutely wrong or they ignore the history altogether or it’s just poorly written. none of this is the case here. Cornwell sticks with the history and legendary sources to the best of my knowledge but writes interestingly and with only a suggestion of magic as seen through the eyes of people steeped in the religion and culture of the time although, by the end, there is a bit more than a “suggestion.” however, this is the memoirs of Derfel Gadarn which could be used to explain away the effectiveness of said magic as Derfel’s embellished memories of the events.

      i do wish that the ending was a bit more tied up. i wanted to know what happened to Derfel and his writings in the “present” rather than have it just end as it did with his tale of the past. i feel like even just a couple of more pages could have been written to conclude the story in the manner in which it had begun but Cornwell inexplicably left it truncated.
    • 4/5
      "The Matter of Britain" - that is, the story of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot - exerts a powerful fascination on both writers and readers. I was about to say that everyone knows what happened, but then I recalled Randall Jarrell's narrator in "Pictures from an Institution" saying "There is no book that all my students have read" and Dr Rosenbaum sadly replying "It is in such phrases that one realises the decline of the West". But at least we can say that many readers are familiar with the basic elements of the Arthurian legend, so the attraction for them can't be in finding out what happens. It has to be in how well the author describes why it happened, in the interactions of character and events which plausibly bring about the well-known consequences. Cornwell is strong on fighting, tactics, descriptions of people and places in an England for which there is little extant history. We know more about the Romans and the Greeks than about Dark Age Britain, and his version is well-written and persuasive.
    • 5/5
      The last of Cornwell's Arthur trilogy, Excalibur features epic battles, the death of nearly all protagonists (save the narrator of the story, our now-pious monk Derfel), and..well, magic. In the first two books, Cornwell was careful to maintain plausible denialability when it comes to Druidical magic, exemplified in the person of Merlin. In Excalibur, however, he gives in to temptation -- there are more than a few situations where Druidical magic (and the subsequent nullification through other magic) is just too cause-and-effect to be explainable in mundane terms (no matter how badly Arthur wants to not believe). The story ends with a wounded Arthur, fresh off his single-combat victory with his former charge, King Mordred, sailing off through the "mists of Avalon" never to be seen again. The series is a fine composition using characters from the Arthurian legend combined with historical events and places at the time (~500 CE). Cornwell certainly did his research, although most historians on the subject consider Arthur's existence to be speculative at best. Bernard Cornwell is the finest historical novelist of our time, and this series is another tribute to his skill and story-telling. And unlike the Sharpe stories, it's over, done, ended....there won't be 20 more books to come. Now when is that next Saxon Chronicles book going to come out?
    • 3/5
      As with the first two of Bernard Cornwell’s take on the Arthur legend, here we have a tale that uses little of the well-known legends, such as a magnificent Camelot or the Lady of the Lake. The famous characters of Guinevere, Merlin, Galahad, and Lancelot all appear, yet they all differ from the usual depictions in literature and film.Merlin is a famous druid here, thus in some respects he does fit in with the wizard character that he’s best known for. For a narrator we have Derfel, one of Arthur’s most trusted warlords. He makes a good lead character. He effectively replaces the role usually occupied by Lancelot.One of the biggest changes in this compared to other Arthurian retellings is Lancelot’s character. He’s portrayed as a self-obsessed coward, not as an infallible hero. I liked the characters, the author’s plotting skills, but – as with all Bernard Cornwell novels I’ve read to date – certain poor elements of style distract me from the narrative. Three style aspects in particular let this otherwise talented author down in my eyes. One is the amount of long-winded sentences. Most of these could’ve been reduced in length. Why Mr Cornwell feels the need to keep a sentence running with superfluous “ands”, other conjunctions, and commas I don’t know. The quote below isn’t long-winded, but it demonstrates a wasteful amount of words through needless repetition:>Mordred (…) was all in black. A black cloak, black breastplate, black trews, black boots and a black helmet.‘When you’re old, Gwydre,’ I said, ‘you can still tell men that you met Merlin.’