Customer Reviews

Enemy Of God

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I immensely enjoyed book I of the Warlord Chronicles, and eagerly rushed to my local book store to pick up "Enemy of God" once I had finished it. I had heard some say it was better than "The Winter King," and some say it was worse. After finishing it, I think the truth falls somewhere in the middle, with it being both better in some ways, and weaker in others. I'll preface the rest of this review by stating there are some spoilers, so don't continue past this point if you haven't finished book I.

The tale begins with Derfel, Merlin, and Nimue heading north to Ynys Mon, an island shrouded in legend as the once holy site of the ancient druids, but now ruled by the half-mad Irish king Diwrnach. There, Merlin says, the Cauldron of Clyddno Eiddyn will be found. This entire "side-quest," I felt, went on for far too long, and ended up feeling as separate from the rest of the book. If it had have been edited down a little more, I feel it would have suited the rest of the story structure better, and would have helped get the novel off to a quicker start. As it is, however, we must wait until after the cauldron is retrieved before we get to Arthur and co. Thankfully, once this part is over, the book quickens its pace, and becomes thick with my favorite aspect of this trilogy: the ruins of the Roman Empire!

I love Romano-British history, and it's one of the reasons why I enjoy Cornwell's take on the Arthurian legend so much -- it's a story set in and around the last remnants of a once mighty empire, now mostly forgotten, but still embodied in Arthur. When Derfel heads east with Arthur's army, they come into Saxon lands that had once been thickly settled by the Romans, and we are exposed to Arthur's pain in seeing the knowledge and civilization that Britain once possessed slipping away to be replaced by barbarity. I found myself wishing for more of the story being set in and around these ruinous visages, but Cornwell only offered a tantalizing taste of it.

Derfel, the PoV character, has matured between the Winter King and Enemy of God. He is older, stronger, more experienced, and now leads a large band of warriors. Cornwell handles his character arc wonderfully, but I found myself unable to fully suspend my disbelief over the success of his affair with Ceinwyn. This is one of the areas I found myself most disappointed in. The innocent love Derfel held for Ceinwyn in book I was enchanting. She seemed unattainable, his love for her an unimaginably large obstacle to be able to ever overcome. I was eager to see how Cornwell resolved it in the books to come -- I was sure it would be the source of countless heartache for the young Dumnonian. Well, as it turns out, all it took to realize his love was to run away into the forest with the princess. On the night she was to be wed to Lancelot, she went instead into the watching crowd, fetched Derfel, and left, walked right out, and began a family in a little house in the woods. Just like that. It seemed a little anticlimactic, and decidedly lacking in my wished-for heartbreak. Ah well. They still make a strong couple, even if I do find her character a little one-dimensional.

Overall, book II excels in some areas, but falls short in others. I hope I didn't make this review seem too negative -- it's not meant to be. "Enemy of God" is still a very entertaining read. It's incredibly difficult to make the second part of a trilogy as strong as the parts that bookend it, but Cornwell does make a knightly effort. Lancelot is as slimey, two-faced, and backstabbing as I imagined him to be, and witnessing Arthur's heart-break and anger overtake him at the revelation of Guinever's moonlit activities was one of the best scenes yet in either book. I can't wait to discover the harsher, colder "King" Arthur I expect I will find in book III.

As an English teacher, I am always on the hunt for novels that will interest the young men in my classes. With its atmospheric historical setting and lively plot, the Warlord series fits the bill. Masterful storytelling, clever reworking of the Arthurian legends, and just the right mix of battle scenes, political intrigue, and plausible characters all come together in a compelling novel that will intrigue readers.

Great climax, great story, amazing characters. This is better then the first. There are still the long drawn out sometimes boring battles but there is more meat to this book then the first. I would recommend this book to anyone and envy those who are reading it for the first time. I will say some of the secondary characters aren't fully explored as much as they could be and sometimes the author writes things that you already know probably for people who had a hiatus between books but this is a really great read.

This book is Cornwell at the top of his form and that should be enough for anyone to rush to buy it. Careful, intricate plotting and good characters who are so good well balanced by the bad characters who are extremely bad. This unprettified version of Arthur and "Camelot" has the ring of veracity to it that so many others have been unable to bring forth. As is his hallmark, Cornwell lays out the weft of this tapestry at the end of the work and that bit of reality is a fine mint to end this sumptuous meal. I have already ordered Warlord III hoping to see the bad guys get their final comeuppance.

This is a well-written political thriller set in fourth-century Britain, not the Arthurian legend that everyone's familiar with. As such, it's a fitting sequel to "The Winter King". As in that book, Cornwell takes some Arthurian legends from different eras and mixes them together, adding his own touch of historical realism. The portrayal of Saxon-Celtic conflict as well as Christian-Pagan conflict is very well done. An excellent book, though one that will disappoint some by painting a vision of Arthur that clashes with their own. As always, Cornwell's storytelling is top-notch.

This is good stuff by a skillful writer. The characters are, for the most part, well endowed with humanity, driven and undermined by credible needs and flaws. Not content merely to retell the version of the legends popularized by "Camelot", Cornwell has researched, dissected, and then wholly reconstructed the legends leavened by his own contribution of historical plausibility and "de-romanticization". What comes through is a more human-dimensioned, but nonetheless still heroic epic. My only major complaint, and the reason for withholding a fifth star, is the author's treatment of his religious themes. With the exception of Galahad, his Christians are so odious that you wonder how the religion could have possibly spread. I realize his narrator is a pagan, but Christianity, especially that from Ireland, was not accepted in Britain at the point of a sword, but rather through the lure of its ideas. The Irish missionaries were well known for humility and simplicity (which is why they eventually lost out the organized Roman version in the 6th century). Since Cornwell uses 'pagan' vs. Christian as a major axis in his plot, I feel he missed an opportunity for a more balanced portrayal of the two belief systems in conflict and this nagged at me throughout. Otherwise, Cornwell casts a rollicking and passionate spell that would make even Merlin smile.

Excellent continuation to "The Winter King." Cornwell has done a really good job creating the characters for this series. They, in combination with the adventure and romance, make this book thoroughly enjoyable. I am not the fastest reader in the world and work quite a number of hours per day, but I finished this book in less than a week.

This book, as the first, is narrated by Derfel Cadarn (a forgotten personage in Arthurian legend) as a very old monk. He tells his stories of battle as one of Arthur's warlords in Arthurs quest to achieve a peaceful Britain. At the same time he tells the story of the other characters and their life goals, which aren't necessarily the same as Arthurs.

I loved the book. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I liked the other two even better. This is the best series I have ever read. If you are reading this review means that you are interested in this subject -- so go ahead and buy this series, you'll really enjoy it, I promise.

Enemy of God is the second book of three. The Winter King was the first book in the series. Everything I wrote in my review of The Winter King continues to apply here. Having brought peace to the contentious kindoms of the Britons, Arthur is now faced by hostile Saxons, as well as by factional strife among the Christian population and personal betrayal. The pagentry of mythical Camelot is not here. The reality is a squalid and brutal post-Roman Britain, sliding rapidly into the chaos of the Dark Ages. Fertile ground for an excellent tale. And Cornwell delivers. This book will hold your attention from beginning to end. Highly recommended.

This is my first encounter with Richard Cornwell. It has definitely piqued my interest to read the other two volumes in the trilogy and to investigate other books by this author.

If you are familiar with Grail literature and with such classics as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Le Morte d'Arthur, etc., you will have certain preconceptions about the major characters that are here transmorgrified by Cornwell. The chivalrous Arthur is transformed into a more human, too-trusting, well-meaning leader of a tribe. Guenivere is a scheming, conceited megalomaniac, who mellows somewhat as the story progesses. The narrator's (Derfel's) harshest judgment is reserved for Lancelot. He is definitely not the same Lancelot-du-lac that we have come to know from Mallory. He's more like the 5th century version of a matinee idol. He's all image, no substance. He's not someone to be counted on in the heat of battle. Merlin is a rascally magus whose main concern lies in stemming the tide of Cristianity that he views as an invasion of the old order. Cornwell is obviously making judgement calls here, but he's not doing it purely for the sake of novelty. This is a thoroughly-researched, as well as an eminently well-written work.

Tolkien fans who have been turned-off by the pale imitators that have attempted to emulate the master's style will no doubt find many parallels in Cornwell. That's not to imply that Cornwell is imitative by any means. He just handles prose almost as adroitly as his predecessor. If there were a worthy Tolkien successor writing today, though in a slightly different genre, it would have to be Cornwell. Cornwell has created a truly heroic saga, and has left this reader looking forward eagerly to the other two volumes in the trilogy. Enemy of God is definitely several cuts above the mass of historical fiction being churned out today. The man can write!

This serise makes you feel like you are right there with Derfel. I mean you knew how it ended, but it was still very good. The scences with Nimume and Merlin are especially realistic