'Alfred, the great King, is said t be dying. Rivals for his succession are poised to tear the kingdom apart - the country Alfred has worker thirty years to build is about to disintegrate. '

To be released at York bookcrossing meet up at Brigantes.

Picked up at the York BookCrossing meetup.

I've been greatly enjoying The Last Kingdom, which is a dramatisation of some of the earlier books in this series. So reading this has been a bit of a spoiler, as some of the characters who are still around in the show have died in the books, and others seem to have vanished but this particular volume doesn't explain why.

All that aside, I really liked finding out what happens next for Uhtred. Some prior knowledge of the characters is helpful - Uhtred is rather prickly and arrogant and difficult to like, and there are so many people whose names begin with Æthel or Æl that it could get confusing for the uninitiated.

There is a strong sense of time and place, and the playful pops at the early Christians are fun. However, the battle scenes can get boring and difficult to follow, and I think the series might be the poorer for the loss of King Alfred. I might now go back and fill in the gaps while I'm waiting for the next series...

I thought it would be fitting to leave Uhtred son of Uhtred in the Iron Age roundhouse at the folk museum.