As I said in a previous post, I have rediscovered my love of reading. I belong to a writing group and it was encourage to read books for the genre that you would write for. Well, I couldn't find any interesting personal stories of special needs kids. My husband is currently reading the Short Bus and as soon as he's finished then I will read it.
In browsing books at the library, I stumbled across a historical fiction book called the "The Last Kingdom" by Bernard Cromwell. Its the 3rd book in the series regarding King Alfred The Great. The only king to be called "The Great". This takes place in 860 ad before England is formed and the continent is divided into different fiefdoms. The Danes who are land hungry and worship Thor, Odin and the other pagan gods come to conquer. King Alfred was a christian king who womanized when he was younger and scholars now believed that he developed Crohn's disease and due to the disease the womanizing stop. He also expected that his Chief Warriors could read so they would be able to read his orders and not depend on word of mouth which is a very astute way of thinking during that century.
The story is told by the protagonist's point of view, Uhtred Ragnarsson. He was born in Northumbria (a fiefdom England). His father and mother died and his Uncle assumed the Lord position of Bebbanburg. The Uncle then tried to have Uhtred murdered at the age of 10 so he could have Bebbanburg unchallenged. The Danes save Uhtred and he is raised in the Danish way of life. At the age of 20 (which is considered to be getting old and when you are 40, you are considered ancient), he is "rescued" by priests and given to King Alfred of Wessex. Now, he must fight for King Alfred. Uhtred is torn between the love of the Danes and the patriotism of being Saxon.
Its beautifully written. All of the characters are multi dimensional. The story is fast in action. The details of the fights are great but not gory. Nothing in the book is salacious. The best part of the book is that after you read this great story, he has a historic note section where he explains to you where everything is in comparison to what we know now as England and he reveals the more interesting parts of his research regarding the names of the characters which a lot are actual people.
If you love a good read and historical fiction, I highly recommend the King Alfred Series: Book 1 - The Lord's of the North; Book 2 - The Pale Horseman, Book 3 - The Last Kingdom and Book 4 will be released in January 2008 (I can't wait) Sword's Song.
Here's to reading and writing.
Beamer 319
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