Sword at Sunset

Rating:
Summary: a fresh look at King Arthur
Review: At first glance, there is nothing to distinguish "Sword at Sunset" from all the other reinterpretations of the Arthurian legend. However, the author's grasp of military tactics and painstaking research make this account more accurate than most. Rosemary Sutcliff's eloquent and lucid style, and her deep love of the English countryside combine to make this a book worth losing yourself in.

Rating:
Summary: best of RSutcliff's books
Review: excellen

Rating:
Summary: When I Was a Boy
Review: I accidentally found and read this book almost forty years ago.
It has never left my mind.
I must have been about twelve.
I loved all things Arthurian and had by that time read everything i could get from the library. All of the children's renditions as well as the classic versions. When I found this in a box of paperbacks I was thrilled but somewhat put off by the darkness of the cover art. It was my introduction to legend written as possible reality.
It was a revelation to read after so much of the idealized glory of chivalry that I had loved.
The story was told as the memories of a dying man.
Merlin was more of an engineer than a sorcerer.
Politics.
Dirt.
Bad people.
Because of this book, I was able to go on on to enjoy Mary Renault's versions of the Greek legends.
I am happy to find it here and i will read it again.


Rating:
Summary: One of the Best!!!!
Review: I am a lover of the Arthurian legend and have read many many versions and series that are written of the legend of King Arthur. Some have been exquisitely written and have been most memorable (Bernard Cornwell wrote one of my favorites). This book will fall under that category also. I love to read about the battles Arthur fought - his passion for protecting Britain from the enemy Saxons - and his further love for his trusted Companions and the anquished love for his Queen. While researching new titles I stumbled across this out-of-print book (consequently finding a used volume on auction) and after having read good reviews on it made the purchase. The review I read mentioned a prequel entitled "The Lantern Bearers" which is a children's book but I highly recommend it for good adult reading and a good background for the Sword at Sunset. The Sword at Sunset focused heavily on the battlefield - and less on matters of the heart. The battle scenes are vivid and unrelenting in detail. One can hear the rumble of calvary horse's hoofs, the clinking of knight's armor, the cry of battle and the anquish of death. One of the best I've read. I mourned it's end.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably accurate!
Review: I just finished both "Sword At Sunset" and its predecessor "The Lantern Bearers" and both books were absolutely magnificent works of Roman historical fiction. "Sword At Sunset" tells the tale of Artos the Bear, whom we know better as King Arthur, and his attempts to rally a polyglot conglomeration of Romans, Celts, and even native Britons (the Dark People) to repel the invasions of the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. Artos first becomes the Count of Britain, a title left over from Roman occupation, and eventually becomes Western "Emperor" of Britain as he battles his Saxon foes and their opportunistic Celtic allies to keep the darkness at bay. This book was one of the first to really tell the legendary tale of King Arthur in a manner that could have actually happened, and if there WAS a real King Arthur, his life and battles probably bore a great resemblance to these tales. Told with frightening accuracy and details regarding not only the epic, gripping battles but the day-to-day aspects of running an army, this book is an absolute treat for historical buffs. And the characterization is rich and believable--not just the main characters but ALL of the cast of this book are three-dimensional, believable human beings, with foibles and personalities. Anyone looking for knights in shining armor and chivalry of the medieval sort should keep on looking, but anyone who wants an utterly convincing and captivating tale of what the last days of Roman Britain was like should make the effort to track down a used copy of this book (its no longer in print unfortunately). This is one of two books--"Eagle In the Snow" by Wallace Breem is the other--that gives an unstintingly accurate protrayal of life at the end of the Roman Empire without sacrificing characterization, plot, or readability. Strongly strongly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably accurate!
Review: I just finished both "Sword At Sunset" and its predecessor "The Lantern Bearers" and both books were absolutely magnificent works of Roman historical fiction. "Sword At Sunset" tells the tale of Artos the Bear, whom we know better as King Arthur, and his attempts to rally a polyglot conglomeration of Romans, Celts, and even native Britons (the Dark People) to repel the invasions of the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. Artos first becomes the Count of Britain, a title left over from Roman occupation, and eventually becomes Western "Emperor" of Britain as he battles his Saxon foes and their opportunistic Celtic allies to keep the darkness at bay. This book was one of the first to really tell the legendary tale of King Arthur in a manner that could have actually happened, and if there WAS a real King Arthur, his life and battles probably bore a great resemblance to these tales. Told with frightening accuracy and details regarding not only the epic, gripping battles but the day-to-day aspects of running an army, this book is an absolute treat for historical buffs. And the characterization is rich and believable--not just the main characters but ALL of the cast of this book are three-dimensional, believable human beings, with foibles and personalities. Anyone looking for knights in shining armor and chivalry of the medieval sort should keep on looking, but anyone who wants an utterly convincing and captivating tale of what the last days of Roman Britain was like should make the effort to track down a used copy of this book (its no longer in print unfortunately). This is one of two books--"Eagle In the Snow" by Wallace Breem is the other--that gives an unstintingly accurate protrayal of life at the end of the Roman Empire without sacrificing characterization, plot, or readability. Strongly strongly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: My all-time favorite historical novel of Arthur
Review: I've treasured my copy of this novel for decades. Sutcliff specialized in Dark Age Britain, although this is the only novel she wrote for adults. She weaves a haunting portrait of a misty, troubled, ancient land where Roman civilization and Celtic pagan culture are threatened by the barbaric Saxon invaders. Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot (here shown as the original character of Bedivere--Lancelot is strictly an invention of the Middle Ages)are portrayed as the historical characters they surely were. Don't look for a fantasy Camelot, with banners and Round-Tables. Here, Arthur is a Romano-Celtic warlord, desperately working to stave off the inevitable invasion. There is a brooding quality of impending doom that pervades the entire book. No one has ever drawn a more convincing canvas of Romano-Celtic Britain, in my opinion, or a more realistic portrait of the kind of man that Arthur probably was. A treat to be savored and re-read.

Rating:
Summary: This is how it had to be
Review: If there ever was a "real" Arthur, if the story has a root in history and truth, this is how it had to have been.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly excellent.
Review: Rosemary Sutcliff has done a fabulous job of telling the story of the real Arthur. Arthur and his colleagues and enemies are drawn as actual people. With the possible exception of the blustering cavalry captain, Cei, there are no character types. Each individual, even the miniatures, are genuine and unique. There is a universality in the theme. Thus it must have been in many places and in many times when Folk wandered and peoples fought for survival. The Romano-British fought to preserve their civilization, and their lives. The Saxons fought for land and booty. There was an appeasement party, which suffered the usual fate of appeasers. There were people who tried to stay out of the way and called pox on all the combatants. I first read this book during the Cold War, when nuclear exchange threatened not to annihilate life but merely to barbarize the planet. Perhaps we, the readers, would be among the survivors, fighting behind leaders against roving murder bands. Sutcliff does a masterful job of connecting with what we know of Arthur (little) and what we know of the conflict of the time (a good deal)and bringing the story from a kind of swords and sorcery fiction in some strange land to actual history. Knowledge of the time and place adds a thrill of recognition. "Yes," we say, "that's how it must have been." As an example of her craft,Sutcliff has Arthur worrying about the supply of horses (a substantial subsidiary adventure describes a long trip to purchase breeding stock for the cavalry--the Romano-British preferred arm), reminding us of the old axiom that amateurs talk tactics and professionals talk logistics. This is how, we think, being a warrior king, a military leader, must have been. The book is more than battles and assignations. It's a whole war, a series of campaigns, a history lesson, and dozens of characters we come to know, and like, or most seriously dislike. I can't think of a more realistic way to portray the era and the issues and the people. A terrific book in all ways.

Rating:
Summary: How it really was, probably
Review: Rosemary Sutcliff has done a fabulous job of telling the story of the real Arthur. Arthur and his colleagues and enemies are drawn as actual people. With the possible exception of the blustering cavalry captain, Cei, there are no character types. Each individual, even the miniatures, are genuine and unique. There is a universality in the theme. Thus it must have been in many places and in many times when Folk wandered and peoples fought for survival. The Romano-British fought to preserve their civilization, and their lives. The Saxons fought for land and booty. There was an appeasement party, which suffered the usual fate of appeasers. There were people who tried to stay out of the way and called pox on all the combatants. I first read this book during the Cold War, when nuclear exchange threatened not to annihilate life but merely to barbarize the planet. Perhaps we, the readers, would be among the survivors, fighting behind leaders against roving murder bands. Sutcliff does a masterful job of connecting with what we know of Arthur (little) and what we know of the conflict of the time (a good deal)and bringing the story from a kind of swords and sorcery fiction in some strange land to actual history. Knowledge of the time and place adds a thrill of recognition. "Yes," we say, "that's how it must have been." As an example of her craft,Sutcliff has Arthur worrying about the supply of horses (a substantial subsidiary adventure describes a long trip to purchase breeding stock for the cavalry--the Romano-British preferred arm), reminding us of the old axiom that amateurs talk tactics and professionals talk logistics. This is how, we think, being a warrior king, a military leader, must have been. The book is more than battles and assignations. It's a whole war, a series of campaigns, a history lesson, and dozens of characters we come to know, and like, or most seriously dislike. I can't think of a more realistic way to portray the era and the issues and the people. A terrific book in all ways.