The Sunday Salon – The Winter King, Bernard Cornwell

I haven’t been reading much this weekend because I spent it visiting friends instead.  I did, however, manage to finish off the last part of The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell, a re-inventing of the Arthurian myth.  Well, it’s sort of that.  I’ve read a great deal of the older Arthurian legends available and some of the new, but this one is totally different.  It places Arthur in a historical context – as a warlord, not as a king, which is probably what he was if he did exist – but also adds in some of the later characters, the most prominent example being Lancelot.  This makes sense, as if he was going off only the contemporary Welsh poems, he’d be confined to Arthur, Guinevere, and Mordred.  Even Merlin didn’t exist in those originals.  I liked this book because Cornwell knows his history and can really portray the period as we think it was, but with added in Arthurian elements.  His books are the best for making me feel like I’ve actually found myself in early medieval England.  Since I’m obsessed with the time period, I love them!  Anyway, I will have a proper review up within a few days, once I get along with the others I have waiting.

The other book I’ve started today since arriving home is The Pools by Bethan Roberts.  This is an unexpected surprise, because I’m really enjoying it.  It was part of a group of review copies sent to me by a publicist, and since I didn’t have any input regarding just what was in there, I’ve been a little wary of this one since it has very little description on the back, only praise.  Silly me, as it’s absolutely excellent and striking so far.  The book starts out with the death of a boy named Robert in the prologue, and then seems to be going back to examine his effect on the lives of others and then I would imagine the effect of his death on those same people.  I’m about a third through and it doesn’t even matter that there isn’t much plot or that the “ending” has been revealed.  It’s very much a character study and I love that.  Again, review will be coming up this week once I’ve finished, but so far, I think I may have found a hidden gem.

This week, I expect I’ll be reading The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell, The Richest Season by Maryann McFadden, and I’d like start with Marie-Therese, Child of Terror by Susan Nagel.

Lastly, don’t forget to enter my contest to win a free copy of The Streets of Babylon by Carina Burman!