Arguably the most popular writer of historical fiction today, I first heard of Bernard Cornwell years ago, when George R.R. Martin said he was a fan. Soon after, I found myself reading The Winter King, the first novel in Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles trilogy, and it immediately became one of my favorite books of all time. Cornwell himself became one of my favorite authors, and I’ve been eagerly reading his work ever since.

As I’ve spent more time amongst fantasy writers and fans, I’ve come to realize my experience is by no means unique. Like I mentioned in my last post, it’s rare to find fans of the fantasy genre who aren’t interested in history as well, and I’ve lost count of how many of my fellow authors count him as an influence; I know I do. At this point, we’ve pretty much adopted Cornwell as an honorary fantasy writer, and I, for one, couldn’t be happier about it.

Cornwell’s novels are wonderful adventures. They’ll transport you to another era, spinning tales of heroes, rascals, and rascally heroes, sucking you into the epic, bloody battles that he’s famous for writing. I thought it was time to salute the godfather of rip-roaring historical fiction, and the enjoyment he’s given me and countless others over the years, by shouting out a few of his best works, particularly for those who haven’t had the pleasure of discovering them yet.

Cornwell himself cites his Warlord Chronicles trilogy as his favorite, and they’re the perfect place to start. A sweeping retelling of the King Arthur legend, it strips away the folklore and supernatural elements that have embroidered the Arthurian saga, placing it firmly in post-Roman Britain, and yet, it’s a world as brutal, alien, and fascinating as any you’ll find in a secondary-world fantasy, a place full of warriors, druids, tyrants, barbarians, and fanatics. There are no knights or castles here; rather, warriors fight in grim shield-walls, and the people huddle in hillforts to protect themselves from ever-present enemies. Making the series particularly interesting is the fact that while there’s no overt magic, the characters believe in its existence, making it, for all intents and purposes, a fantasy novel that so happens to be set in the real world. You know the broad strokes of the story: the Saxons are invading while the British kingdoms fight amongst themselves, and somehow Arthur, the illegitimate son of King Uther, has to hold it all together. And yet, this is a fresh take on the legend, as mystical and bewitching as myth, but as raw and rough and tumble as history, and it’s the perfect epic to sink your teeth into.

Then there’s The Last Kingdom series, probably his most recognizable at the moment due to the popular Netflix adaption. It stars Uhtred (son of Uhtred), a Saxon raised by Danish Vikings who eventually makes his way back to his own people and finds himself caught up in the wars that ultimately led to the creation of England. His loyalties are torn between both sides, and we follow him from a youth to an old man across thirteen books, each more or less standalone, but coming together to create a sweeping saga. Along the way kingdoms will rise and fall, characters will die, and we’ll meet heroes and villains on both sides, with Uhtred himself straddling the line on a number of occasions, him being basically the Dark Age equivalent of a loose-cannon cop who the department can’t fire because he’s the only one who can save the day when the chips are down. A number of real-life characters take the stage alongside the fictional ones, people like Alfred the Great, who aspired to unite the kingdoms of the Saxons, Aethelflaed, his daughter, destined for greatness in her own right, and of course, a rogue’s gallery of axe-hacking, village-plundering Vikings ripped from the pages of history, poorly documented figures who come to life under Cornwell’s pen. This is one of his skills, particularly on display here: he can take obscure events, and weave a story around them that makes them as significant and dramatic as they would have been for the people who really lived them.

Last but by no means least, is the Richard Sharpe series. Set primarily during the Napoleonic wars, it revolves around the titular rogue, who works his way up through the ranks of the British army and finds himself in seemingly every precarious situation of the war. They remind me a bit of classic sword and sorcery tales, albeit with Baker rifles replacing the sorcery. There are castles to storm, treasures to loot, and, as always, battles to fight, spectacular affairs written so vividly you can practically smell the gunpowder and hear the crackle of musketry. This is Cornwell’s longest-running series, currently consisting of twenty-three novels, with number twenty-four due out next year, so the reader is in for plenty of adventures with Sharpe (and his trusty sergeant Patrick Harper.) Cornwell, as I understand it, has intended to bring the series to a close in the past, but simply enjoys writing it too much to stop, and I can hardly blame him. These books are a hoot, as Sharpe swashbuckles his way from the jungles of India to the blood-soaked fields of Waterloo, careening from one peril to another along the way, facing them down with saber in hand. Cornwell skillfully finds gaps in the historical record to insert his hero into, and mayhem is guaranteed to ensue. Inevitably in such a long-running series, some volumes are stronger than others, but at their best, books simply don’t get much more exciting than this.

Cornwell is a prolific writer, having written scores of books over the past few decades, but these stand as his best. If you’re a fantasy fan looking to spread your wings a bit and find something outside your favorite genre that still scratches that fantasy itch, you could scarcely do better than Bernard Cornwell, a man who can make real life as vivid as Middle-Earth or Westeros.

About Daniel Meyer

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a reader, and for almost as long, I’ve had ideas for stories of my own. I wrote my first story at the age of six, about pirates who had their treasure stolen. I never finished it, but I would keep writing stories throughout my childhood (never finishing most of those, either.) I fell away from the habit in my early teens, but all through high school, college (where writing papers helped me find my own unique voice), and my befuddled attempts at job hunting, the ideas never stopped, coming from all kinds of sources, for books, movies, TV shows, comics. On some level, I felt I should be a writer, and yet, I never seriously considered that I would actually become one. 

Eventually, the ideas were coming faster and faster, and when I was twenty-five, I couldn’t resist the temptation anymore, and decided to take the plunge and actually bring those stories to life.  At first I just concentrated on getting my many ideas down on paper, then spent months waffling over which one of them I should write first, until finally landing on Sam Adams.

And that brings us, more or less, to the present day. One of my main goals as a writer is to write the kinds of stories I want to read, and hopefully they’re the kinds of stories others would want to read as well. Like I said, I have more than a few ideas waiting in the wings, and I intend to bash out all of them sooner or later. I can’t wait for all of you to read them.