Review of The Last Kingdom
Here is an interesting review of the first two episodes of The Last Kingdom. As for me, I am still watching, but still also waiting for that magic moment when it becomes Must See TV. So far it hasn’t happened for me. I think part of the problem is that this is not “my” Uhtred. For one thing, he does not resemble my mental image of the character. He is easy on the eye, which helps, so he may grow on me as the series continues. Uhtred is such a larger-than-life character that maybe there was bound to be some disappointment. What do the rest of you think? http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/1...
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I have to disagree with your last comment, Laurie. Have you read the novels? Uhtred is not a Christian and is rather hostile to Alfred's piety. Since this conflict was not just Saxons vs Danes but also Christianity vs the old Norse gods, this has to be taken into account.
Thanks for your comment Sharon, I'm a little star struck right now :DNo, I haven't read the novels yet but I'm very curious to learn more about this era.
I agree that the conflicting religions have to be taken into account and that this should absolutely be included in this series.
At the beginning of this episode or last episode the Christians were supremely confident and boldly asserted that God would give them a victory over the Danes, several times in fact.
But hello? The Danes had already conquered most of England by that point so obviously only an idiot would express such opinions. I don't think the Christians living during that era were idiots at all since they did ultimately prevail against the Danes.
I hope the fact that King Alfred was a good Christian doesn't mean he will be getting a poor edit as a religious fanatic of some sort, but this is the BBC so why would I expect otherwise?
I love the series, Laurie. I did not know a lot about English history in that period, so it was fun to find out more; Bernard Cornwell is a writer who takes his research very seriously, so he can be trustd.:-) I should warn you it is a violent series, but I find it easier to deal with violence in books as opposed to films, for with books we can control our own imaginations and needn't dwell upon the horrible things that men do to one another. I am a little squeamish about excessive violence, which may sound strange coming from a woman who spills so much blood in her own books! Arthur in the books is a very nuanced character; Uhtred does not like him, but reluctantly admires him.
I've read many of your books but do not recall excessive violence in any of them - but they were still very realistic. I always want to read Historical Fiction books that are true to the times.I've tried reading Cornwell's books but never managed to finish one; that's one reason I'm so excited about The Last Kingdom series. I do hope the ratings are good and the BBC will continue to bring Cornwell's books to the screen.
Thank goodness for The Game of Thrones making HF series so popular right now.
Any chance of your books being brought to the screen someday? Your book "The Sunne in Splendor" is one of my all time favorites; I was transported back in time when reading it.
No luck so far, Laurie. Over the years, there have been queries for Sunne in Splendour, Here be Dragons, Time and Chance, and even my first mystery, The Queen's Man, but they never got far. Funding is the rock that seems to sink most historical films. Thank you for the kind words about Sunne. Reader feedback like yours means so much to writers.
That's a shame Sharon, you have so many fans I'm sure ratings wouldn't be a problem. Maybe the History Channel would be open to bringing your books to the screen since "Vikings" has been a success story for them and the Plantagenets are popular right now. What are your plans for future books? Have you ever considered covering French history? Those naughty French Kings and Queens are oh so interesting to read about :D
Sharon: Take comfort in not having your wonderful books shredded into bits and pieces as this series The Last Kingdom is. Uhtred meant a great deal to me as I read the books, and I can only recommend that people who love historical fiction must read the books. There simply is no way it could be represented in video. I must admit, however, that I am now inspired to go back and read the series again to get the "real" Uhtred back in my heart. I will do that when it winds up.
I always prefer the book to the film, Kathy, even if the film is well done. In The Last Kingdom, Uhtred's relationship with his new Danish family was developed at a realistic pace, but in the TV show, it all had to be crammed into that first episode.
I have always found it fascinating that in medieval times, religion was the centre of the people's universe, and there was no chance for diversity. If a person did not agree with the teachings of the Catholic Church, they were considered heretics and burnt as such. A horrible fate.It is even harder when you consider how politically corrupt the Church was at that particular time. I always felt sorry for those who were born and lived during the time when Pope Innocent III placed England and its inhabitants under interdict which denied them a Christian burial. This move would have caused terrible torment to the peoples of that age...but it was a political manoeuvre used against King John.
And at a later period we have Pope Pius V issuing he Bull Regnans in Excelsis of Excommunication and Deposition against Elizabeth, which basically gave permission for any Catholic to murder the Queen....A really reprehensible move and one sanctioned by the Pope himself!
These are a few of the reasons why I love reading HF and watching television drama's based around these periods.
I haven't read much about Alfred nor the books by Cornwall...but I do hope the show represents the true nature of the Church at that time, because it is these details that I love.
In our own day and age we can't imagine that Pope Francis would order the death of Queen Elizabeth II...but centuries ago, they did.....Sorry to waffle on, I just love history.
But, one question Sharon.....would it be better to watch the show first or read the books?
Rebecca wrote: "I have always found it fascinating that in medieval times, religion was the centre of the people's universe, and there was no chance for diversity. If a person did not agree with the teachings of t..."If we had remained pagans do you think we would have ever reached this level of civilization? Let's not forget that Christians of that era were not as civilized as we are today and it took many centuries to reach our level of advancement.
I was referring to the historical Church which is vastly different from the Catholic Church we know today. So in my post above I am not criticizing the Catholic Church as it is today(I am Catholic). What I did was merely state what took place in the history of the Catholic Church, centuries ago. History is history, after all.
Oh yes Rebecca, I knew you were referring to events that happened centuries ago; I was wondering if it's really fair to blame uncivilized people for behaving in an uncivilized manner.After all, during medieval times the Christian populace had only recently been pagans sacrificing people to their gods; stealing, raping and rampaging at will. They didn't become civilized overnight; it was more of a gradual process. Of course there were a lot of Churchmen who were evil but I doubt the Christian religion would've lasted this long unless there were also good and capable Christians leading the way.
I was using the term "uncivilized" as a way to compare those living in medieval times to our more civilized times. Would the term "less civilized" have been better in this case? Please don't throw the baby out with the bathwater by focusing on this term only but instead take the whole content of my message into consideration instead of splitting hairs over the term uncivilized.During that period if a Viking pagan had decided to become, say, a Buddhist or Muslim I doubt the Viking's would have tolerated such heresy either so the Christians of that period should not be held to a different standard.
Why not? It makes perfect sense to me :D
One problem would be how we define "civilized" or "uncivilized." :-)
I did not use the word 'uncivilized' in my post. I was merely stating facts as to the historical Church of centuries ago.But if my facts are wrong as when England was under interdict by Pope Innocent III, then feel free to correct me. But my main point was that people were much like us, they loved, they lost, they grieved and they suffered. A big difference was that unlike us, their lives revolved around the Church, so it must have caused those who lived in this particular time much grief that they would not be given a Christian burial. My heart went out to the people's of those times, because the Church was their life.
I also stated that I have not read much about the time of King Alfred and that I look forward to learning more from Bernard Cornwall's books and watching the show based on his series of books.
But my hope is that in our civilized day we can agree to disagree without becoming disagreeable. :)
I guess I'm just not a very exacting person then Sharon as the term uncivilized seems to be an adequate way to compare those living centuries ago to modern day people :DThe same way as a 3 year old would not be expected to behaved the same as a 13 year old child since the 3 year old just doesn't know any better.
I'll have to check and see if you've written a new blog about last night's episode of The Last Kingdom.
Yay! Uhtred's (forgot her name) lady love has left the kingdom, since she was beyond irritating to watch.
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Would a female slave speak in such a disrespectful manner to Ragnar in real life?? I don't think so.
Not too pleased with all the Christian bashing either but this is the BBC so why would I expect otherwise?