The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell (Books 4, 9, 10 & 13) Collection 4 Books Set - Fiction - Paperback

Description

• Sword Song A hero will be forged from this broken land. To serve a king or become one? Uhtred
• warrior, pagan, scourge of the Vikings
• faces a hard choice. Despite being offered a crown of his own, Uhtred is a man of his word. And he gave it to King Alfred of Wessex, who dreams of an England free from Vikings. So when the king orders him to take London from the Danes and hand it to his foolish son-in-law Aethelred, Uhtred agrees despite his concerns. For Aethelred’s wife is the king’s spirited daughter Aethelflaed and her fate is entwined with Uhtred’s. And fate will not be denied … Uhtred of Bebbanburg’s mind is as sharp as his sword. A thorn in the side of the priests and nobles who shape his fate, this Saxon raised by Vikings is torn between the life he loves and those he has sworn to serve. Warriors of the Storm A fragile peace is about to be broken… King Alfred’s son Edward and formidable daughter, Æthelflaed, rule Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia. But all around the restless Northmen, eyeing the rich lands and wealthy churches, are mounting raids. Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the kingdoms’ greatest warrior, controls northern Mercia from the strongly fortified city of Chester. But forces are rising up against him. Northmen allied to the Irish, led by the fierce warrior Ragnall Ivarson, are soon joined by the Northumbrians, and their strength could prove overwhelming. Despite the gathering threat, both Edward and Æthelflaed are reluctant to move out of the safety of their fortifications. But with Uhtred’s own daughter married to Ivarson’s brother, who can be trusted? The Flame Bearer From the day it was stolen from me I had dreamed of recapturing Bebbanburg. The great fort was built on a rock that was almost an island, it was massive, it could only be approached on land by a single narrow track
• and it was mine. Britain is in a state of uneasy peace. Northumbria’s Viking ruler, Sigtryggr, and Mercia’s Saxon Queen Aethelflaed have agreed a truce. And so England’s greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, at last has the chance to take back the home his traitorous uncle stole from him so many years ago
• and which his scheming cousin still occupies. But fate is inexorable and the enemies Uhtred has made and the oaths he has sworn combine to distract him from his dream of recapturing Bebbanburg. New enemies enter into the fight for England’s kingdoms: the redoubtable Constantin of Scotland seizes an opportunity for conquest and leads his armies south. Britain’s precarious peace threatens to turn into a war of annihilation. But Uhtred is determined that nothing, neither the new enemies nor the old foes who combine against him, will keep him from his birthright. He is the Lord of Bebbanburg, but he will need all the skills he has learned in a lifetime of war to make his dream come true. War Lord A divided kingdom An impossible choice The ultimate battle . . . After a lifetime of fighting, the great warrior Lord Uhtred is ready to hang up his sword. But as long as the kingdom remains divided, peace is fragile
• and Uhtred will never be safe in his Northumbrian fortress. As kings in the north and south grow more bloodthirsty for power, history marches inexorably towards war. And Uhtred has no choice but to throw himself into the fire. In the most terrible battle Britain has ever experienced, with the kingdom’s future resting on a knife edge, Uhtred takes his stand on one side of the shield wall. Only fate will decide the outcome…