Enemy of God (The Arthur Books #2)

Enemy of God is the second book of a trilogy from Bernard Cornwall, and follows The Winter King. The trilogy presents the entire Arthurian Legend from a unique perspective. Erasing the images of a beautiful and pure Camelot, dashing, handsome knights gallant, and even the famous "Round Table", Cornwall tells the tale based on the reality of life in Medievil times. It's a gritty but fascinating revisitation of an ancient legend. I expected the Enemy of God would have the classic lull that many #2s in a trilogy suffer, but was pleased to find it as gripping as the first book. In the Winter King, the tale is told by a slave[] warrior,[] lord,[] monk: Derfel, who, in his old age, is retelling the tale of old to Queen Igraine. He picks up the tale in The Enemy of God, seamlessly weaving book one into book two. Igraine, who has been steeped in the glorious Arthurian Legend, is sometimes at odds with Derfel's retelling, which gives him the opportunity to break through the embellishments of the bards over the years and tell her what really happened. This was a fantastic tale, and a wonderful read. If you enjoy Arthurian tales, this book is highly recommended.

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 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!

Having read Caxton's Mallory's Morte d'Arthur, and a fair number of Middle English scraps of Arthurian lore, I had been looking forward to finding a good modern retelling for quite some time. Frankly, the originals are striking conceptually, but relatively unrewarding as literature -- one keeps thinking, while reading them, that they would make a good book. But it seemed to much to hope for -- too difficult a task for nearly any author to achieve an even partial success.Cornwell has succeeded fully.The characters are full and real and strikingly well conceived, even while being a fair reflection (in a broad sense) of the original texts with which I am familiar. The actions of the characters make perfect sense in context, and their actions are complex and difficult to foresee, as they should be. The story is firmly grounded in the realities 5th Century Britain, which gives it a feeling of, well, realism. The author clearly not only knows his history, but his strategy and his philosophy, yet he never comes across to the reader as overbearing or heavyhanded -- these essential items for an epic like this are kept in the background, where they should be.You get the idea. Cornwell has done it, and really done it right. It's a big story, and it hasn't been told very well for a long, long time -- and now Cornwell has retold it best of all.Please direct comment or flames to [email protected]

Being a long term fan of Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series didn't prepare me for how much I would enjoy the Warlord Trilogy - of which this is the second book. The main character, Derfel Cadarn, is a masterful achievement. This retelling of the 'King' Arthur story as gritty, though imagined 'history' rather than fairytale legend, creates a stunning human saga as gripping and emotionally satisfying as any piece of fiction I have ever read. Cornwell's use of language is superb and each sentence is so well crafted that I was tempted to read the book out loud. I loved the story, the characters, the sturcture of the book, the irony gained by having the book narrated by Derfel in his old age - as an unbelieving priest who is pretending to be writing a translation of the gospels while actually writing Arthur's story as an entertainment for the young queen.This is a fabulous book - as are the other two. Cornwell obviously just gets better and better. If you haven't read any of his many books, this is a great place to start. I highy recommend it.