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Summary: Deus Ex Machina
Review: Cornwell is in danger of rising above his own reputation as an author of historical romances. This latest work is as violent (or more so) as any Cornwellian saga, but it features no swashbuckling heros like Richard Sharpe or Derfel.The story is an imaginative reconstruction of the raising of the great temple to the sun on Salisbury Plain. It's heros are the woodcutters, stone masons, and traders who build the temple and endear themselves to us by their scepticism about the good sense of their leaders. The villains of the story are the inspired visionaries, politicians and religious ecstatics who conceive the temple and turn it into a curse on the people who build it. The theme of the work is religion, and it almost might be an anti-religious work but for the fact that, for the sake of plot device, Cornwell can't resist fulfilling every prophecy that falls off the lips of every villainous witchdoctor in his tale. The temple is a machine built by men to manipulate the gods; the plot is a machine built by Cornwell to keep his readers happy. In this story both work, but only by a willing suspension of disbelief. And what is it that makes Cornwell's readers abandon their scepticism? Cornwell's characters. The characters in this story are recognizable and Cornwell's exposition of them keeps us going, page after page. His saints metamorpose into villains and vice versa, and the changes in these people, unlike the plot, are believable. The people are real, and Cornwell's ahistorical meditation on human nature in this book confirms for us that his talent can become a great one.
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Summary: The Ancient World Brought to Life
Review: Similar to Cornwell's Arthurian Saga (See Winter King) in plausible fiction, rich detail, and historical research, Stonehenge 2000 B.C. is a must read for any reader interested in Pre-English fiction. The relationships weaved together draw us into the reasons for building one of the most fascinating wonders of the world. Cornwell is not an easy read for everyone, but this book is well worth the effort.
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Summary: Great read!
Review: A mixture of ancient history and historical fiction that I found fascinating! The Plot is well developed and the writing tight. Most the characters seemed beliveable, though what people from this age would have been like is hard to say. I am no expert on this subject but the writer seems to know his stuff. I also Recomend: "A Tourist in the Yucatan" Set amoungst the Mayan ruins of the Yucatan, a good mystery!
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Summary: Tough going but worth the read
Review: Cornwell uses the construction of Stonehenge to weave an intricate fictional work exploring the people, motivation and politics that drove bronze age people to undertake such monumental feats of engineering. Because the story (as surely the construction) spans lifetimes, it can be slow at times but Cornwell is certainly expert in fashioning characters that you would believe to be true to the times. I particularly his depiction of the shamen as being man of intelligence and wisdom rather than mystical power who had the ability to manipulate the tribal mentality to their own ends. The only criticism I would have is that descriptive sequences of the actual construction are particularly hard to follow - it is as if the author has a very clear vision of what he wishes to describe but fails to convey this image successfully. Because of this, the monumental effort involved is somewhat diluted which takes away from what is quite an interesting exploration of the forces driving the construction. Whilst this is truly a work of fiction, it would certainly be interesting to hear what a bronze age historian felt about the tale. 4 stars if you are interested in Stonhenge and the bronze age - if you have no real interest in this area, I suspect you will find this extremely tough going.
Rating:
Summary: Immensely Enjoyable
Review: Readers who enjoyed Cornwell's Arthurian trilogy will also enjoy 'Stonehenge'. They're very similar in tone, both perhaps a little wordy at times, but in the end I feel better for the experience. I enjoyed this book immensely. It's a good piece of historical fiction, more fiction than historical.
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Summary: Grim, depressng
Review: I bought this book at Stonehenge on a recent visit. I found the book unrelentingly depressing...you come to care for characters who live out unheroic, hard, sad lives. I can accept that some of the historical details are a good reconstruction, but find that the narrative needn't have taken the turns it does to convey the information.
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Summary: A bit too stoneage?
Review: The name Bernard Cornwell attracts my attention immediately, but I was disappointed in my expectations here. The scene and the culture were less richly imagined than his Sharpe novels.
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Summary: Stonehenge The Novel
Review: The view of Stonehenge rising among the rolling hills of the Salisbury plains in Southern England is a moving experience for anyone interested in our Ancient past. Most people come away wondering how ancient people could have possibly erected such a monument without using modern tools or machinery. The most fascinating part of the riddle is the motive and the identity of the peole who spent their lives at the task. The novel by Bernard Cornwell is a fascinating story of the people and motivation which may have created Stonehenge. The blend of fact and fiction gives the reader appreciation of what it may have been like to live in the era when the monument was created. The novel has been carefully researched to provide an accurate picture of the remains as they stand today with a plausible theory as to why it was constructed. The description of the way of life of the ancient people is as interesting as the story of Stonehenge itself. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is curious about the lives of our ancestors and one of the mysteries they have left for us to ponder.
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Summary: Not worth the effort.
Review: I have finally hauled my way through to the end of Stonehenge. There were a number of times when I was close to not bothering, but I had hoped that in the end something interesting or significant would happen to make it worth while. It didn't. The problem with many of Bernard Cornwell's novels is the lack of depth of the characters, and this is even more noticeable here. It doesn't matter so much in books like the Sharpe series, as the recounting of historical events is fascinating. The "Sharpe" charaters have familiar sounding names and we know the world they inhabit. The problem with Stonehenge however is that the environment and culture are so foreign that it is impossible to relate to them. In a novel like this therefore, it is imperative that the characters are interesting, well developed, and important to the story. This is not the case with Stonehenge. By the end of the book we feel like we know no more about the main characters than we did at the beginning. Traumatic events (such as the death and rape of friends and relatives) happen to most of the characters, but they are recounted with all the emotion of a shopping list. Stonehenge may be an excellent work of historical fiction in the way it explains the construction of the stone circle and the philosophy behind it, but that could have been achieved in 100 pages. The rest of the book is devoted to the lives of characters with so little emotional depth that it is very difficult to care what happens to them.
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Summary: I Think I Have Found Cornwell's Worst Novel.
Review: "Stonehenge" by Bernard Cornwell is a complete departure for the author of the Sharpe series. Frankly, I didn't like it very much. Maybe it was the pacing, which was slow or the character development, which was shallow. I never got the sense or feel of the times. Luckily for me I picked the book up at a bargain otherwise I would have felt cheated. I finished it only because Cornwell is one of my favorite authors. Perhaps it is because I couldn't identify with the main characters. The lead characters are brothers, namely Saban, Camaban and Lengar. Saban the protagonist, is the perpetually young warrior, hero and builder. Saban's crippled brother Camaban, is the tribe's sorcerer, kook and priest. Saban's oldest brother Lengar, is the obligatory antagonist, villain and tribal chieftain. None of these characters are interesting, all of them seem merely to be props to tell the story. I can accept this type of fiction by some other authors, especially when used in short stories but here it seems shallow. I don't think Cornwell allowed the readers a chance to get into the heads of these people. I think most people knew it took Britain's Neolithic inhabitants years and years to build Stonehenge. After all they barely seem to master fire, metal tools and planting crops. But I thought the story could have been much more interesting and exciting. Cornwell paints a picture of people who were brutal war-like savages. They applied blue tattoo scars to their bodies to signify the number of people they have killed. Ordinarily Cornwell is the perfect author for this type of job, all of his other works are great but he never carries it off.
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