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Hereward #1
Hereward
1062, a time many fear is the End of Days. With the English King Edward heirless and ailing, across the grey seas in Normandy the brutal William the Bastard waits for the moment when he can drown England in a tide of blood.
The ravens of war are gathering. But as the king's closest advisors scheme and squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the naked ambition of the Norman duke come to rest with just one man: Hereward...
To some a brilliant warrior, to others a devil in human form, Hereward is as adept in the art of slaughter as the enemies that gather to claim England's throne. But in his country's hour of greatest need, he has been declared an outlaw. To stay alive - and a freeman - he must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to Flanders' fields and the fenlands of East Anglia.
The tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of legend, this is also the story of two mis-matched allies: Hereward the man of war, and Alric, a monk and a man of peace. One will risk everything to save the land he loves, the other to save his friend's soul...
The ravens of war are gathering. But as the king's closest advisors scheme and squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the naked ambition of the Norman duke come to rest with just one man: Hereward...
To some a brilliant warrior, to others a devil in human form, Hereward is as adept in the art of slaughter as the enemies that gather to claim England's throne. But in his country's hour of greatest need, he has been declared an outlaw. To stay alive - and a freeman - he must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to Flanders' fields and the fenlands of East Anglia.
The tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of legend, this is also the story of two mis-matched allies: Hereward the man of war, and Alric, a monk and a man of peace. One will risk everything to save the land he loves, the other to save his friend's soul...
474 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2011
182 people are currently reading
2247 people want to read
About the author
James Wilde
20 books118 followersJames Wilde is a Man of Mercia. Raised in a world of books, the author studied economic history at university before travelling the world in search of adventure. Unable to forget a childhood encounter - in the pages of a comic - with the great English warrior, Hereward, Wilde returned to the haunted fenlands of Eastern England, Hereward’s ancestral home, where he became convinced that this legendary hero should be the subject of his first novel. Wilde now indulges his love of history and the high life in the home his family have owned for several generations in the heart of a Mercian forest.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
June 24, 2017
Didn’t quite pan out as I expected...... I read the date involved & thought excellent a story about a Saxon Huscarl who goes against them Normans at the Battle of Hastings ......
What we get though is a different recount of the “good guys” and the “bad guys” amongst the Saxon court & Thegns as Harold Godwinson is portrayed as very different to how my history was taught to me, his brother Tostig too had a different character than I recognised through my history lessons. It’s an interesting take on the events & persona of the time & one which I enjoyed reading about as it’s very plausible in it’s retelling & fits around our hero Hereward’s motivations.
Yes........ all roads eventually lead to 1066
Both the major battles are covered albeit swiftly as we all know the history involved with them & the final outcomes so I’m not too miffed at that if i’m honest even though I expected a little more in the build-up to both in terms of strategy & politics.
By no means a perfect book for the time as some of the history felt (very) abridged which Harold Godwinson’s & Tostig’s story was....... In reality they played (minor) roles alongside that of our hero Hereward & his companions who come & go along the way. It felt a little patchy at times with our hero seeming to overstay his welcome jus about everywhere he stops & tries to settle in before..... the red mist descends & we’re off again..... there’s more in the series so I’m intrigued enough by it all & will read on
At the back of the book there’s also a little history about the man who was a real character but for me I’d not heard of him, many haven’t, says the author but he’s spoken of in the same mythical terms as Arthur of The Britons & Robin Hood although there is a lot more reality written about him in history.
Easy enough read, likeable characters & not too taxing on the noodle in the summer heat so ideal for me.
As to the score, a four by virtue of a round-up
What we get though is a different recount of the “good guys” and the “bad guys” amongst the Saxon court & Thegns as Harold Godwinson is portrayed as very different to how my history was taught to me, his brother Tostig too had a different character than I recognised through my history lessons. It’s an interesting take on the events & persona of the time & one which I enjoyed reading about as it’s very plausible in it’s retelling & fits around our hero Hereward’s motivations.
Yes........ all roads eventually lead to 1066
Both the major battles are covered albeit swiftly as we all know the history involved with them & the final outcomes so I’m not too miffed at that if i’m honest even though I expected a little more in the build-up to both in terms of strategy & politics.
By no means a perfect book for the time as some of the history felt (very) abridged which Harold Godwinson’s & Tostig’s story was....... In reality they played (minor) roles alongside that of our hero Hereward & his companions who come & go along the way. It felt a little patchy at times with our hero seeming to overstay his welcome jus about everywhere he stops & tries to settle in before..... the red mist descends & we’re off again..... there’s more in the series so I’m intrigued enough by it all & will read on
At the back of the book there’s also a little history about the man who was a real character but for me I’d not heard of him, many haven’t, says the author but he’s spoken of in the same mythical terms as Arthur of The Britons & Robin Hood although there is a lot more reality written about him in history.
Easy enough read, likeable characters & not too taxing on the noodle in the summer heat so ideal for me.
As to the score, a four by virtue of a round-up
February 4, 2022
Read this book in 2011, and its the 1st volume of the amazing "Hereward" series.
This book starts off in the year AD 1062, and Hereward, a legendary but forgotten English hero of resistance, in action first during the last years of the reign of the heirless King Edward, but later on even more fiercely against William the Conqueror.
With Hereward as a man of action and now pronounced outlaw who tries to save his land, and he's allied with the wonderful and peaceful monk, Alric, who tries very hard to save Hereward's soul.
From the frozen hill of Northumbria, to Flanders and ending up in the Fenlands of East Anglia, Hereward will fight like the devil for his country, and by using every tactic in the book, he can confuse and subsequently defeat his enemies.
This tale of a forgotten English legendary hero wil bring to life not only Hereward as a person and warrior, but also the treacherous times at the court of the dying King Edward, and so all enemies Hereward has to face at home and abroad.
What is to follow is an extraordinary English historical adventure, in which the forgotten hero Hereward will come to glory in his actions for the poor and his country, against the evil that will await them that will come from across the channel, in the form of Willam the Conqueror.
Highly recommended, for this is a wonderful begin to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Marvellous Hereward Opener"!
This book starts off in the year AD 1062, and Hereward, a legendary but forgotten English hero of resistance, in action first during the last years of the reign of the heirless King Edward, but later on even more fiercely against William the Conqueror.
With Hereward as a man of action and now pronounced outlaw who tries to save his land, and he's allied with the wonderful and peaceful monk, Alric, who tries very hard to save Hereward's soul.
From the frozen hill of Northumbria, to Flanders and ending up in the Fenlands of East Anglia, Hereward will fight like the devil for his country, and by using every tactic in the book, he can confuse and subsequently defeat his enemies.
This tale of a forgotten English legendary hero wil bring to life not only Hereward as a person and warrior, but also the treacherous times at the court of the dying King Edward, and so all enemies Hereward has to face at home and abroad.
What is to follow is an extraordinary English historical adventure, in which the forgotten hero Hereward will come to glory in his actions for the poor and his country, against the evil that will await them that will come from across the channel, in the form of Willam the Conqueror.
Highly recommended, for this is a wonderful begin to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Marvellous Hereward Opener"!
April 28, 2017
This is a fictionalized account of Hereward the Wake, dubbed the last Englishman and one of the local leaders who openly resisted the Norman invasion of England in the 11th century. Normally this time period is a page-turner for me, but maybe it was just unfortunate that I read this book when I was sick with the flu and my mind wasn’t on a full-on reading mood these past weeks. It also didn’t help to find Hereward’s character a little angsty and too self-absorbed for a legendary hero, and I really, really dislike how Harold Godwinson was depicted here as a cruel and scheming scoundrel. This is not how I want the last Anglo-Saxon king of England to be epitomized.
June 7, 2013
Okay. I finished it, but this book did not blow me away.
Here's the plot of the story: Two wrongly accused men, one moral and one amoral, develop a friendship as they attempt to clear their names during the period leading up to (and immediately following) the Norman Invasion.
It took my 150 page to realize what this book was about. Until that point, the book was a series of violent escapes during which violent men try to violently murder other violent men. Hereward violently violences the violent men while his monkish friend tries to save his soul only to be warned that Hereward is violent and dangerous. Did I mention violence?
Yeah.
The writing style is engaging. There's a lot of action in this book. People are plotting, violence is happening, danger is around the corner, more people are plotting...and Hereward is violent.
The problem is that the "action" is more like "motion" than "progress." As I said, it took me 150 pages to understand why the action was happening. Who were these characters? Why were they doing what they were doing? What is the overall motivating factors? When the "ah-ha" moment arrived, I even thought to myself "so THAT'S what this story is about." I even looked at the page number to make a mental note of how long it took.
Granted, I can be a sloppy reader. I tend to skim too much when I don't care about what's happening in a scene. If characters names are too similar, I can get them confused during my speed-reading. If I'm not 100% invested in the book, my eyes read, but my mind wanders elsewhere.
But still. 150 pages to "get it?"
Then, as other reviewers have said, this is the first book in a trilogy(?), and it suffers many of the "setting up a series" pitfalls that other books have set up before. This books takes so much time to establish that Hereward is violent that we're supposed to care when he isn't violent. It's supposed to be a character arc, I suppose. But I have invested so little emotion in this dangerous, possibly psychotic man that by the time the story reveals itself, I have a hard time caring. So much effort is spent setting up the conflict between England and Normandy that when the Battle of Hastings happens, it feels like a letdown. Then Hereward vows to do...something...and the book ends.
It felt like the author was so excited to write a sweeping story about the Norman Invasion that he forgot to write a story about his main character.
It's not a terrible book. I suppose. Many other people have liked it, and I get why. But for me, this book was a chore to get through and the payoff didn't seem worth it.
Here's the plot of the story: Two wrongly accused men, one moral and one amoral, develop a friendship as they attempt to clear their names during the period leading up to (and immediately following) the Norman Invasion.
It took my 150 page to realize what this book was about. Until that point, the book was a series of violent escapes during which violent men try to violently murder other violent men. Hereward violently violences the violent men while his monkish friend tries to save his soul only to be warned that Hereward is violent and dangerous. Did I mention violence?
Yeah.
The writing style is engaging. There's a lot of action in this book. People are plotting, violence is happening, danger is around the corner, more people are plotting...and Hereward is violent.
The problem is that the "action" is more like "motion" than "progress." As I said, it took me 150 pages to understand why the action was happening. Who were these characters? Why were they doing what they were doing? What is the overall motivating factors? When the "ah-ha" moment arrived, I even thought to myself "so THAT'S what this story is about." I even looked at the page number to make a mental note of how long it took.
Granted, I can be a sloppy reader. I tend to skim too much when I don't care about what's happening in a scene. If characters names are too similar, I can get them confused during my speed-reading. If I'm not 100% invested in the book, my eyes read, but my mind wanders elsewhere.
But still. 150 pages to "get it?"
Then, as other reviewers have said, this is the first book in a trilogy(?), and it suffers many of the "setting up a series" pitfalls that other books have set up before. This books takes so much time to establish that Hereward is violent that we're supposed to care when he isn't violent. It's supposed to be a character arc, I suppose. But I have invested so little emotion in this dangerous, possibly psychotic man that by the time the story reveals itself, I have a hard time caring. So much effort is spent setting up the conflict between England and Normandy that when the Battle of Hastings happens, it feels like a letdown. Then Hereward vows to do...something...and the book ends.
It felt like the author was so excited to write a sweeping story about the Norman Invasion that he forgot to write a story about his main character.
It's not a terrible book. I suppose. Many other people have liked it, and I get why. But for me, this book was a chore to get through and the payoff didn't seem worth it.
July 20, 2012
Superb. Nothing less.
Hereward gripped me and held me at sword-point from page one.
(That was my attempt at writing something they might want to use on a future Hereward book jacket).
I can't remember being so impressed by a historical novel for a long, long time. It really is that good.
Set in an interesting and - for me, at least - under discovered period; the years just before and just after the Norman invasion of 1066. We're in the death-throws of the Viking period, the old, 'real' England is struggling to come through and (re-) establish itself and (in this novel) the Normans are a dark and brooding presence who everyone knows are just waiting to strike.
Hereward is caught up in the maelstrom of Viking mercenaries, shifting alliances, half-truths and general jostling for position at what passes for the English Court. After being in the wrong place at the wrong time and hearing something he definitely shouldn't, is forced to flee north where he might find some safety and sanctuary. From there, he goes on to meet old adversaries, confront old ghosts, make new enemies and make progress towards finding out about his past. He returns to The Fens and begins to form and lead the English resistance to the Normans' seemingly un-stoppable dominance.
This has everything you could want in a historical novel; fighting, tension, fighting, suspense, fighting, love, fighting, intrigue - and fighting. I've seen that there is a number two ready for me to get to grips with, and I will be doing so as soon as possible.
Oh, and he's man of Mercia, like me.
Hereward gripped me and held me at sword-point from page one.
(That was my attempt at writing something they might want to use on a future Hereward book jacket).
I can't remember being so impressed by a historical novel for a long, long time. It really is that good.
Set in an interesting and - for me, at least - under discovered period; the years just before and just after the Norman invasion of 1066. We're in the death-throws of the Viking period, the old, 'real' England is struggling to come through and (re-) establish itself and (in this novel) the Normans are a dark and brooding presence who everyone knows are just waiting to strike.
Hereward is caught up in the maelstrom of Viking mercenaries, shifting alliances, half-truths and general jostling for position at what passes for the English Court. After being in the wrong place at the wrong time and hearing something he definitely shouldn't, is forced to flee north where he might find some safety and sanctuary. From there, he goes on to meet old adversaries, confront old ghosts, make new enemies and make progress towards finding out about his past. He returns to The Fens and begins to form and lead the English resistance to the Normans' seemingly un-stoppable dominance.
This has everything you could want in a historical novel; fighting, tension, fighting, suspense, fighting, love, fighting, intrigue - and fighting. I've seen that there is a number two ready for me to get to grips with, and I will be doing so as soon as possible.
Oh, and he's man of Mercia, like me.
January 13, 2019
This is a good story told in a poorly constructed novel. I have so many problems with it and yet I read it through to the end, even though it took two weeks, so I’m giving it three stars.
My first issue is Hereward himself. It’s clear the author adores him as a historical figure, but that’s a lot of the problem. He’s almost never referred to as anything other than “warrior”. And we are shown time and again that he is a warrior, but I didn’t need to also be told he was a warrior in every other sentence. It just felt like I was being beat senselessly over the head with it.
There are a lot of scenes that are laughably ludicrous. The first that comes to mind is the scene where Hereward fights naked in the snow. He uses his clothing to tie a man up to a tree or a rock or something. Apparently this task requires literally all of his clothes. Then he slowly, silently kills four or five men around the area. While it’s snowing. While the snow is like knee deep.
Just why? It’s so stupid. What did he need to be naked for? Magic in some rope. That would have been more believable. I’m supposed to believe a naked man is a deadly killer and not shivering violently in the snow? There’s another scene where he rises naked out of an icy pool of blood that’s constantly referred to. That was more believable but I felt like it was put in for “awe” value rather than serving any real purpose.
Then there’s Alric. His only real purpose in the novel is to remind you what a bad ass Hereward is and how his soul needs saving. *eye roll*
Then there’s the actual plot of the novel. It sort of starts out as a strong revenge plot, but the revenge portion is artificially resolved 50% in . We still follow what’s going on with the characters Hereward wants revenge on, so it feels like he’ll be back to take it some day.
But then 75% in, the revenge plot resolves itself, without Hereward even being present, and you are forced to wonder why you’re still reading. It was a very odd place to end. So everything that happens to Hereward while the plot resolves itself is basically filler, and then the conclusion comes and you feel like you’re ready to stop reading or pick up the next book, but Hereward has to be roped back into it somehow so it continues. Furthermore his motivations for doing what he does makes literally no sense.
The writing was decent, but Holy Similes Batman! The beginning of the book is absolutely loaded with them. Like every other sentence. I found myself re-reading overly flowery and overly complex sentences just to try and figure out what he author was trying to say.
So the beginning of the book I didn’t love because of Hereward’s hero worship, and the end I didn’t love because of the bad plot structure. But the action was good and I did like some of the characters, Acha, Vadir and Judith were great. Redwald is probably the best characterized. He felt more real than any of them and his motivations make the most sense even if they are a little simple.
I haven’t decided yet whether I will continue the series. I will probably check out a few other books written about this time period before I decide.
My first issue is Hereward himself. It’s clear the author adores him as a historical figure, but that’s a lot of the problem. He’s almost never referred to as anything other than “warrior”. And we are shown time and again that he is a warrior, but I didn’t need to also be told he was a warrior in every other sentence. It just felt like I was being beat senselessly over the head with it.
There are a lot of scenes that are laughably ludicrous. The first that comes to mind is the scene where Hereward fights naked in the snow. He uses his clothing to tie a man up to a tree or a rock or something. Apparently this task requires literally all of his clothes. Then he slowly, silently kills four or five men around the area. While it’s snowing. While the snow is like knee deep.
Just why? It’s so stupid. What did he need to be naked for? Magic in some rope. That would have been more believable. I’m supposed to believe a naked man is a deadly killer and not shivering violently in the snow? There’s another scene where he rises naked out of an icy pool of blood that’s constantly referred to. That was more believable but I felt like it was put in for “awe” value rather than serving any real purpose.
Then there’s Alric. His only real purpose in the novel is to remind you what a bad ass Hereward is and how his soul needs saving. *eye roll*
Then there’s the actual plot of the novel. It sort of starts out as a strong revenge plot, but the revenge portion is artificially resolved 50% in . We still follow what’s going on with the characters Hereward wants revenge on, so it feels like he’ll be back to take it some day.
But then 75% in, the revenge plot resolves itself, without Hereward even being present, and you are forced to wonder why you’re still reading. It was a very odd place to end. So everything that happens to Hereward while the plot resolves itself is basically filler, and then the conclusion comes and you feel like you’re ready to stop reading or pick up the next book, but Hereward has to be roped back into it somehow so it continues. Furthermore his motivations for doing what he does makes literally no sense.
The writing was decent, but Holy Similes Batman! The beginning of the book is absolutely loaded with them. Like every other sentence. I found myself re-reading overly flowery and overly complex sentences just to try and figure out what he author was trying to say.
So the beginning of the book I didn’t love because of Hereward’s hero worship, and the end I didn’t love because of the bad plot structure. But the action was good and I did like some of the characters, Acha, Vadir and Judith were great. Redwald is probably the best characterized. He felt more real than any of them and his motivations make the most sense even if they are a little simple.
I haven’t decided yet whether I will continue the series. I will probably check out a few other books written about this time period before I decide.
October 17, 2012
Based on the character of Hereward the Wake and largely following the line of the Gesta Herewardi, I enjoyed the book pretty much, until I came to the part where Hereward goes to Flanders.
Wilde got the description of the landscape and the coast of Northern France, Flanders, the Zealand Isles,.(especially Walcheren where I used to live) and the Dutch Coast and Scaldis estuary all wrong. There are no pebble beaches, and Walcheren - (quote) Hereward studied Walcheren. It looked like an upturned bowl floating on the grey waters, steep, tree covered slopes, rising from boulder stewn shores to the village of the summit (quote) Obviously Wilde, living in England, didn't bother to study the geography and topographics of the North-sea coast of his eastern Neighbours. No boulders, no tree covered slopes, it does not have a small rocky beach you can spash towards, it is not a really small bowl with currently 216 square kilometres, and was even much bigger at 1000 AD, had 3 ring forts to protect it against viking attacks, no tree covered slopes, and there are no cliffs on Walcheren that Hereward can fall off, like in the story. There's only Dunes, sandy beaches, salt water marches and mudflats over here.
I was really appalled by this ignorance and as a native this really spoiled all the fun of reading it. That's why I only rated it one star.
In the next part Hereward if off to England again, so Wilde hopefully will not be able to make this mistake again in the series. It could be a good read.
Wilde got the description of the landscape and the coast of Northern France, Flanders, the Zealand Isles,.(especially Walcheren where I used to live) and the Dutch Coast and Scaldis estuary all wrong. There are no pebble beaches, and Walcheren - (quote) Hereward studied Walcheren. It looked like an upturned bowl floating on the grey waters, steep, tree covered slopes, rising from boulder stewn shores to the village of the summit (quote) Obviously Wilde, living in England, didn't bother to study the geography and topographics of the North-sea coast of his eastern Neighbours. No boulders, no tree covered slopes, it does not have a small rocky beach you can spash towards, it is not a really small bowl with currently 216 square kilometres, and was even much bigger at 1000 AD, had 3 ring forts to protect it against viking attacks, no tree covered slopes, and there are no cliffs on Walcheren that Hereward can fall off, like in the story. There's only Dunes, sandy beaches, salt water marches and mudflats over here.
I was really appalled by this ignorance and as a native this really spoiled all the fun of reading it. That's why I only rated it one star.
In the next part Hereward if off to England again, so Wilde hopefully will not be able to make this mistake again in the series. It could be a good read.
April 14, 2016
I almost gave up reading this novel of Hereward, the English leader of the resistance to William the Conqueror, since the first part was so confusing. After he meets the monk and they travel together, I wondered what each of them had done to deserve outlawry; also what the plot and the conspiracy were. Nothing made sense but all fell together finally and I'm glad I did persist and finish. The novel tells of Hereward's wanderings as outlaw, fleeing to Flanders and his adventures there, then return to England and rebel leader in the fens of East Anglia.
The novel was worth reading for the last part--his return to England and his battle with Normans among the fens. I did not like the author's conception of Harold Godwinson--his duplicity, greed, smothering of the king, then declaring himself the heir to the throne. It's almost as though Hastings [described in detail in the novel] seemed to be a comeuppance. I don't think I'll continue with any sequels.
The novel was worth reading for the last part--his return to England and his battle with Normans among the fens. I did not like the author's conception of Harold Godwinson--his duplicity, greed, smothering of the king, then declaring himself the heir to the throne. It's almost as though Hastings [described in detail in the novel] seemed to be a comeuppance. I don't think I'll continue with any sequels.
August 17, 2014
I would initially be a little hesitant to freely give a book five stars but this is the first book I've read in a long time that hooked me right from the start.
I know it's probably because I'm a big fan of Bernard Cornwell, especially the saga centred on Uhtred Of Bebbanburg, but there are echoes of such great storytelling here. Hereward, told more in the third person, is a more visceral, bloodthirsty and angry story than that of Uhtred with a lot of the same high quality plot weaving, engrossing action and intrigue.
Although it was probably a little reckless to do so, you find yourself almost pulsating your way through the book hungry for just one more bite, helped by the almost cinematic like switch from chapter to chapter.
Overall this is one of the most rewarding books of recent memory and I can't wait to crack on with the sequel that I stumbled across in the library.
I know it's probably because I'm a big fan of Bernard Cornwell, especially the saga centred on Uhtred Of Bebbanburg, but there are echoes of such great storytelling here. Hereward, told more in the third person, is a more visceral, bloodthirsty and angry story than that of Uhtred with a lot of the same high quality plot weaving, engrossing action and intrigue.
Although it was probably a little reckless to do so, you find yourself almost pulsating your way through the book hungry for just one more bite, helped by the almost cinematic like switch from chapter to chapter.
Overall this is one of the most rewarding books of recent memory and I can't wait to crack on with the sequel that I stumbled across in the library.
July 13, 2020
3.5 stars, rounded up.
This book was not deep, moving, poignant or inspirational.
But it was easy, engaging, and entertaining.
I really enjoyed it.
The Yin/Yang of the main character was more off-putting than captivating. The two sides were both too extreme for my liking.
But the prose was smooth, the action was high and the story compelling.
I'll likely pick up the next book soon.
This book was not deep, moving, poignant or inspirational.
But it was easy, engaging, and entertaining.
I really enjoyed it.
The Yin/Yang of the main character was more off-putting than captivating. The two sides were both too extreme for my liking.
But the prose was smooth, the action was high and the story compelling.
I'll likely pick up the next book soon.
August 20, 2012
Hereward is a local hero around my neck of the woods and I really wanted to like, no, love, this book. However, I abandoned it half way through as the writing is turgid and life is too short for turgid books.
July 18, 2020
I truly believe that Mr Wilde wrote this book while still in high school. His characters are as wooden as the pews in a church. They are 2 dimensional cliches, lacking any depth and dimension. His beloved hero Hereward, is a caricature in the extreme. One minute he is ready to attack a host of enemies, possessing near super human strength that is impervious to pain or the elements. The next moment he is in deep reflection of his tortured past, and the supposed crimes he committed or the injustices against him. Even his loyal companion, a monk of disrepute, is just as likely to be threaten by death by Hereward at any given moment or held in high regard, for no apparent reason.
The author's obvious loathing of Harold Godwinson is also curious. His depiction of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, as a single minded blood thirsty ogre bent on grabbing the throne of England at any cost, could have been an interesting departure of how he is historically described, (albeit, by English writers), if it was written by a more capable and imaginative writer. Why, the future king of England, would even care about an outlawed son of a theign, is rather flimsily described as a plot by Hereward's "brother" to show his loyalty to Godwinson. Right. A man that would kill his "brothers" girlfriend to prove his loyalty is just the kind of trust worthy person a king is looking for. Nonsense!
My only regret is that I bought the first 3 books of this story and now must find a way to get rid of them.
The author's obvious loathing of Harold Godwinson is also curious. His depiction of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, as a single minded blood thirsty ogre bent on grabbing the throne of England at any cost, could have been an interesting departure of how he is historically described, (albeit, by English writers), if it was written by a more capable and imaginative writer. Why, the future king of England, would even care about an outlawed son of a theign, is rather flimsily described as a plot by Hereward's "brother" to show his loyalty to Godwinson. Right. A man that would kill his "brothers" girlfriend to prove his loyalty is just the kind of trust worthy person a king is looking for. Nonsense!
My only regret is that I bought the first 3 books of this story and now must find a way to get rid of them.
April 13, 2012
Obviously the first in a planned series of novels on Hereward 'the Wake' (in this context, 'the Wake' means wary or watchful), who was a real Saxon who lead the resistance against the Norman invaders of England in William the Conquerors time.
While largely forgotten by history, many of Herewards exploits have later been subsumed into the many legends of Robin Hood - it is easy to see the parallels between the two characters and, as such, I thought that this could prove to be an interesting read.
Unfortunately, for me, much of the novel fell flat - I was never really drawn into it all that much; never really connected with any of the main characters. Starting in 1062, the novels takes place over a span of years (up to, and slightly beyond) The Battle of Hastings in 1066 with that battle (and Stamford bridge beforehand) largely glossed over - maybe only a chapter or two devoted to the both of them. Indeed, it was only in the last 70 pages or so - with the beginnings of the English resistance - that I began to be more drawn into the novel, by which stage it was too late.
While I may read the sequels, I'm not going to be looking for them.
While largely forgotten by history, many of Herewards exploits have later been subsumed into the many legends of Robin Hood - it is easy to see the parallels between the two characters and, as such, I thought that this could prove to be an interesting read.
Unfortunately, for me, much of the novel fell flat - I was never really drawn into it all that much; never really connected with any of the main characters. Starting in 1062, the novels takes place over a span of years (up to, and slightly beyond) The Battle of Hastings in 1066 with that battle (and Stamford bridge beforehand) largely glossed over - maybe only a chapter or two devoted to the both of them. Indeed, it was only in the last 70 pages or so - with the beginnings of the English resistance - that I began to be more drawn into the novel, by which stage it was too late.
While I may read the sequels, I'm not going to be looking for them.
May 30, 2015
'Drink,' he said. 'Let the juices of the toadstool fill you with the passion of our ancestors.' He passed the vessel of steaming urine to Ivar...
So much for budget caterers...
The above quote wasn't from the mouth of Hereward, but one of the many unsavoury adversaries he encounters throughout the book, most of whom swiftly get the chop. The action starts early with Hereward rising Rambo-like out of a pool of bloody water to dispatch a bunch of Viking mercenaries and, after skinning one of them, slaughtering an entire wolf pack single-handed (biting the throat out of the last of them when he drops his sword). The violence is fairly cartoonish at this stage and reminiscent of the antics you see in 'Norse Geezer' films such as Hammer of the Gods where the average human body has the consistency and sliceability of a boiled potato. If the book had continued in this vein I might have given up, but as the story developed I got drawn in and really started to enjoy it.
The tone is fairly melodramatic throughout, but packed with action, and the fast-moving plot and short chapters make this a fun, easy read.
So much for budget caterers...
The above quote wasn't from the mouth of Hereward, but one of the many unsavoury adversaries he encounters throughout the book, most of whom swiftly get the chop. The action starts early with Hereward rising Rambo-like out of a pool of bloody water to dispatch a bunch of Viking mercenaries and, after skinning one of them, slaughtering an entire wolf pack single-handed (biting the throat out of the last of them when he drops his sword). The violence is fairly cartoonish at this stage and reminiscent of the antics you see in 'Norse Geezer' films such as Hammer of the Gods where the average human body has the consistency and sliceability of a boiled potato. If the book had continued in this vein I might have given up, but as the story developed I got drawn in and really started to enjoy it.
The tone is fairly melodramatic throughout, but packed with action, and the fast-moving plot and short chapters make this a fun, easy read.
December 28, 2011
This book was a bit of a dissapointment to me as I was attracted by the cover which had an awesome character on the front, Hereward, handsomely mad, monstrously rugged and deadly. You could see the devil in his eyes as he drew back the arrow from a bow that he was never portrayed as having fired in the book (as far as I remember). Anyway, the character turned out to be just a tad to inhuman at times (sinking his teeth into a wolf's throat and fighting a bear) and at other times a little too emotional. I suspect that the finished article ended where the next book will begin but I'm not sure I will want to read the sequel if there is one. I didnt like his portrayal of the grasping power-hungry King Harold and the inferral that Harold smothered Edward with a pillow. It is a fiction writer's perogative to be creative with the evidence and facts but that was a step too far for me. Still, it was a reasonable read and one I'm sure that some will enjoy if you're not too bothered about facts being bent or discombobulated!
August 17, 2016
Even though I read this first book of the trilogy after the second by mistake, that didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of it. Comparisons have been made to Cornwell's Uhtred and many are valid but I find Hereward and his cohorts much more grittier. As in subsequent books of this series, there is blood and gore aplenty and Wilde's descriptions of the cruelty perpetrated by both the English and Normans are cringeworthy. That said, I suspect this series is a fairly accurate representation of the Norman Invasion of Britain and the times in which that event occurred.
The Post-Roman to circa-1500 period of British history is one of my favorite eras, both in fiction and nonfiction, so the Hereward series is sweet for me. I've gotten about halfway through the last book of the series (End of Days) and it continues the high quality of writing I found in the first two books. Overlook the violence and enjoy.
The Post-Roman to circa-1500 period of British history is one of my favorite eras, both in fiction and nonfiction, so the Hereward series is sweet for me. I've gotten about halfway through the last book of the series (End of Days) and it continues the high quality of writing I found in the first two books. Overlook the violence and enjoy.
May 22, 2019
I really enjoyed this one, not a knockout, but solid action-oriented historical adventure. I’m not entirely sure this was historically accurate, but I noticed no glaring anachronisms to spoil the historical setting. The hero is certainly a kick-ass warrior that can kill wolves with his bare hands, and even has a hint of the Berserker in him when in battle, but he also has some weaknesses as well. More bloody, pulpy adventure than history textbook. And that’s exactly what I’m looking for when I read a historical ‘adventure’ novel. I will be reading the the sequels...
August 14, 2020
Before reading this I had never heard of Hereward but I am so glad I chose to read this. I am amazed to read that this was a debut novel, the writing is brilliant.
This is definitely not for the squeamish, there's a lot of fighting, blood and vivid injuries but I was sucked in to the story from the beginning and I loved it. The fighting scenes are incredible you can almost see the battles taking place.For anyone who enjoys historical fiction and very vivid characters i would highly recommend this!
This is definitely not for the squeamish, there's a lot of fighting, blood and vivid injuries but I was sucked in to the story from the beginning and I loved it. The fighting scenes are incredible you can almost see the battles taking place.For anyone who enjoys historical fiction and very vivid characters i would highly recommend this!
June 10, 2017
It's all grr arg stab kill. Hereward is like a more violent Robin Hood without the merry men, but he has almost got a friar Tuck. Not a bad tale but I won't be rushing straight into the next one.
February 20, 2020
another great novel from James Wilde, will be reading the rest of the series. , feels like you live the story with the characters, getting to know them as real people, excellent storytelling.
March 4, 2022
INTERLACING IMMATURITY & NOTHINGNESS :
LET ME TELL YOU FROM THE VERY FIRST THAT I CANNOT STAND MODERN WRITERS ,
AS THEY HAVE LOST THE CAPABILITY OF WRITING , AND MR JAMES WILDE IS NO EXCEPTION TO THE RULE ! READING THE FIRST PAGES , YOU ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE IMMATURITY OF A MIND DISTASTEFUL TO ANYONE WHO IS YET CAPABLE OF THINKING : NOTHING BUT PLATITUDINOUS PROSE , ANY FORM OF ENCHANTMENT GOES ASTRAY IN THE NOTHINGNESS AND NONPRESENCE OF HIS MIND , AND IF YOU CANNOT PRODUCE ENCHANTMENT TO TRANSFIGURE YOU , YOU SHOULD REFRAIN FROM WRITING , OR PUBLISH THIS ONLINE FREE OF CHARGE ! HOW ANYONE CAN SPEND MONEY ON SUCH ROT , SUCH TOSH , MAKING PEOPLE LIKE JAMES WILDE RICH , IS NOT ONLY INCOMPREHENSIBLE TO ME , BUT BESPEAKS THE DEGREE OF STUPIDITY MANKIND HAS REACHED THESE DAYS ! TERRIBLE AND ATROCIOUS IS THIS '' EXECUTION OF ART '' OF HIS , AND DO YOU KNOW WHY ? BECAUSE PEOPLE CALL THIS ART ! DO NOT BE HOODWINKED BY JAMES WILDE AND HIS LIKE ! DO NOT SQUANDER MONEY ON PEOPLE LIKE HIM ! IF YOU HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO WITH , GIVE IT TO THOSE IN NEED! NOTHING BUT MISUSE OF WORDS : THAT HUMAN CLOD WRITES : 'UNCORRUPTED BY DESPAIR' - DESPAIR PURIFIES , IT DOES NOT CORRUPT IN THAT MASS MADNESS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE WITH EVERYONE HAVING THEIR LIVES DICTATED TO THEM BY A TINY INTELLECTUAL MINORITY! READ MARY SHELLEY'S 'THE LAST MAN' AND SO FORTH , FREE ON https://www.globalgreyebooks.com /search.html ! AND I AM NOT JULIE, ADVERTISING HER PAGES ; LET POLITICIANS TAKE OVER BECAUSE HUMANS CANNOT TAKE OVER THEIR OWN AFFAIRS - THEIR OWN LIVES ! AND HERE WE HAVE JAMES WILDE VISITING HIS KIDDY MIND'S JUNK ON ALL OF MANKIND ! THAT'S WHAT COMES TO MIND UPON OPENING THIS BOOK : HANG THE HUMAN LIE AND ALL THOSE PROMOTING IT! SAVE US FROM OURSELVES ! WHO IS TO ASSUME THAT ROLE ? THE GODHEAD AND HIS VITIATED CREATION ? LET US CONTINUE TO INVENT BECAUSE WE ARE AWFULLY ASTUTE AT INVENTING AN EVER NEW CONCEPT OF MANKIND , THE BLACKNESS OF WHICH CONTRASTS WITH LIFE ! LET US KEEP CHANGING THIS WORLD , WHICH WE FAIL TO UNDERSTAND , BY OUR CREATIVE INVENTIVENESS TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT DO NOT EXIST , BUT IN WHICH WE NEVERTHELESS MUST BELIEVE TO GENERATE SOMETHING SUPPOSEDLY FEASIBLE AND VIABLE WHICH LENDS LIFE AN EVER GREATER AMOUNT OF LUNACY , IRRESPECTIVE OF THE FACT THAT LIFE HAS ALREADY KICKED THE BUCKET AND WE ARE ITS GHOSTS LEFT ON THIS ACCURSED PLANET TO HAUNT ABOUT AS A FORM OF ILLUSORY BELIEFS AS IF YOU WERE ENCLASPED BY AN ILL , VERY ILL , DREAM ! AND YOU WONDER WHETHER NOT EVERYTHING HAS BEEN AN ILL DREAM FROM THE VERY BEGINNING , THAT STILLNESS IN WHICH DAYS PASS AS AN ILL DREAM , A STILLNESS NO ONE IS ABLE TO GRASP AS IT HAS BEEN INTELLETUALISED TO BE ANTITHETICAL TO IT - HUMANS NOT BEING REAL BUT FOLLOWING WHAT THAT MINUTE MINORITY OF INTELLECTUALS HAS DEFINED TO BE LIFE FOR THEM , FOR IGNORANCE BELIEVES AND INTELLIGENCE EXPLAINS ITS OWN IGNORANCE AFETR HAVING EXAMINED IT , TRANSFORMING IT INTO HIGHER WORLDS FROM WHICH ORIGINATES AN UHEARD-OF , MONSTROUS LUNACY OF EXISTENCE EVERYONE IS FOND OF WRITHING IN DESPAIR AND MISERY ! OH , GENIAL DAYS OF SUNLIGHT , WHERE CAN I FIND YOU ? DID YOU NOT GET LOST IN THIS MURKINESS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE ? ASK PROFESSOR JAMES WILDE - HE MUST KNOW ABOUT THAT FATED PUPPET THEATRE WITH EVERYONE BEING A PUPPET IN HAVING ADAPTED TO THAT HUMAN NOTHINGNESS OF WHAT IS CALLED THE SOCIAL ADVANTAGES OF LIVING TOGETHER : FOR HIS EVERY WORD TESTIFIES TO ALL THAT - THAT NOTHINGNESS OF HIS BY MEANS OF WORDS DEVOID OF TRUTH ! TRUTH, IS THIS NOT A QUESTION THAT IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE ASKED ? CONSEQUENTLY , WHO CARES ABOUT TRUTH ? SPRAY TRUTH WITH THE ORDURE OF THE HUMAN MACHINERY FOR IT TO BECOME INVISIBLE , FOR IT TO BECOME NAUSEA - WE ARE NOT HUMANS BUT MACHINES THAT HAVE TO YIELD OR DO YOU YOU DESIRE YOURSELF TO FARE BADLY ? IT SOUNDS AS IF EVERYTHING IS DOMINATED BY FEAR , DOES IT NOT ? TAKE A LOOK ABOUT YOU IF YOU CAN STILL SEE BY WATCHING YOUR SURROUNDINGS , NOTHING BUT FRACTURED BONES OF THE MIND THAT CANNOT BE SET ANY MORE ! OR HOW COULD ALL THIS OTHERWISE BE HAPPENING ? IT IS THE HUMAN LIE THAT IS RIFE LIKE A PESTILENCE AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS AND NOTHING ELSE ! THERE IS SO MUCH LOVE ON THIS PLANET THAT YOU WONDER WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT ! BUT THOSE PUPPETS DID FIND PLENTY OF LOVE , DID THEY NOT ? THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH THAT THEY ARE LYING TO ONE ANOTHER AROUND THE CLOCK , EH ? FOR IT DOES NOT PAY TO TELL THE TRUTH OR IS THERE ANYONE LEFT HERE WHO DOES SOMETHING MORE USEFUL THAN TO TELL LIES ? BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T TELL LIES , YOU CANT MAKE ANY MONEY AND ALL THOSE HUMAN PUPPETS HAVE GRASPED THAT TRUTH TO ITS ENTIRE AND ABOVE ALL MEASURELESS EXTENT ! AND YOU DO NOT MIND MY DIGRESSING A LITTLE BIT BUT ALL THIS CROSSED MY MIND THE VERY MINUTE WHEN I READ THE FIRST PAGES OF MR JAMES WILDE - SICKENED BY IT ALL ? MAY GOD HELP YOU IN EXTRICATING YOU FROM HIS NONEXISTENCE ! WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN ? DO NOT ASk ME , I HAVEN'T THE FAINTEST IDEA , YOU HAD BETTER ASK THOSE HUMAN PUPPETS , THOSE FACEWORKERS DIGGING FOR GOLD BELOW GROUND , AND WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE SUN IN QUITE SOME TIME ; AND THEY NEVER WILL SEE HER - KEEP DIGGING UNTIL YOU COME UPON SOMETHING THAT SHINES AS BRIGHTLY AS SHE DOES ! TEXT ME ABOUT IT IF YOU SUCCEED OR INQUIRE FOR IT OF YOUR IMMACULATE COMMUNITIES WHICH HAVE IMPROVED LIFE BY BECOMING EVER MORE ARTIFICIAL THROUGH MODERNISM ! I SHALL DRINK TO YOUR GLOBALISATION WHICH HAS MADE HUMANITY AN EVEN BIGGER LIE THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN BEFORE , IN PARTICULAR THANKS TO INDIVIDUALS SUCH AS JAMES WILDE - CHEERS ! HEAVE A DEEP SIGH ABOUT THE UTTER MONOTONY AND TRIVIALITY OF MODERNITY ADORNED BY THE WORKS OF MR JAMES WILDE AND SUCHLIKE , AND WHAT IS MORE : BREATHE NOT A WORD OF THE CAPTIVITY WHICH WE HAVE PRODUCED BY ALL THOSE GRANDEST OF INVENTIONS OF THE HUMAN MIND TO LOCK OURSELVES IN , AS CLEARY WE CAN ONLY EXIST IN A STATE OF BEING LOCKED IN OURSELVES , THE GRANDEST OF WHICH IS BEYOND DOUBT '' MONEY ! '' OR CAN YOU IMAGINE LIFE TAKING PLACE FREELY ? BUT THAT COULD NO MORE BE CALLED LIFE , THEN , I PRESUME ? NO LONGER CHEATING EACH OTHER AS THE ONLY MEANS OF EXISTENCE ?.... YOU DO NOT EXPECT MODERN WRITERS TO DISPEL THE VACANCY OF THAT HUMDRUM EXISTENCE WHEREIN THERE IS ONLY ONE HORROR : TO BE ALIVE IN THEIR VACANCY , AND IF I SAY '' THEIR '' I AM HINTING AT ALL HUMAN BEINGS , THROUGH THEIR WORKS FOR THEM TO INSPIRE NEW IDEAS AND SENTIMENTS IN YOU , TO CHARM AWAY THAT MORALITY OF CRUDE DARKNESS WHICH PEOPLE CALL LIFE IN ALL ITS PROFUNDITY , TO CAUSE THIS HUMANISED WORLD TO COLLAPSE IN WHICH YOU LIVE BUT AS A DEHUMANISED INDIVIDUAL , AND TO KINDLE DELIGHT AND RAPTURE RUNNING COUNTER TO A HUMAN WORLD BRISTLING WITH BLINDNESS AND CARS AND PLANES AND ALL THOSE OTHER VEHICLES REVEALING AN EVER GROWING DARKNESS UPON BEING SCRUTINSED UNDER A MAGNIFYING GLASS - NOTHING BUT REPETITIONS , EVERYTHING RUNNING ASTRAY WITHIN ITSELF , ENGEDERING A HELLISH MADNESS NO LANGUAGE CAN PROVIDE WORDS FOR , AND THEY ARE ALL PARTICIPATING IN IT , SCARED IF SOMEONE SAYS SOMETHING THAT GOES AGAINST THE TRIVILAITY AND MEDIOCRITY OF THEIR REASONING : CAN THIS BE CALLED REASONING AT ALL ? AND THEY ARE ALL CREATIVE , MIND YOU AS THAT MR JAMES WILDE ! GRASPING NOT REALITY BUT CONCEIVING A PRETENTIOUS COUNTERFEIT REALITY OF EINSTEINS AND DIVINITIES AND KANTS AND DARWINS WHICH THEY KEEP IMITATING , AS THE ONLY WAY FOR THEM TO THRIVE ON SOMETHING IS BY IMITATING !, A PRETENTIOUS COUNTERFEIT REALITY THAT HAS THE PRECISE APPEARANCE OF THE APPEARANCES OF WHAT THEY CALL '' CREATIVE '' ! AND GRASPING REALITY SIGNIFIES THE LOSS OF YOUR HUMANITY IN CONTRAST TO THOSE WHO REGARD THEMSELVES AS '' BEING HUMAN '' ! HORRYIFYING THE WHOLE THING WITH YOU SEEMINGLY BEING ALIVE IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL ! TRULY HORRIFYING ! AND THEN YOU ARE WHELMED AND ENGULFED BY MONSTROUS BILLOWS OF TOTAL MUTENESS AND STILLNESS WITHIN WHICH YOU ARE IMPRISONED AND WITHIN WHICH YOU SCREAM FRANTICALLY WITHOUT ANYONE BEING ABLE TO PERCEIVE YOU , BECAUSE NO ONE IS ABLE TO PENETRATE THIS MUTENESS , THIS STILLNESS TO EXTEND A HELPING HAND TO YOU AND IN WHICH YOU LOSE YOUR MIND STEP BY STEP AND WHICH HAVE BEEN SHELTERING YOU SINCE THE DAY OF YOUR BIRTH - IT IS THE DUNGEON OF LIFE IN WHICH EVERYTHING IS MUTE AND STILL AND WHERE PEOPLE PASSING YOU WITHOUT BEING AWARE OF YOU OR NOTICING YOU , BECAUSE THEY HAVE CREATED THIS MUTENESS AND STILLNESS - THEY ARE THE MUTENESS AND STILLNESS DUNGEONING YOU FOR LIFE - SCREAM AND KEEP ON SCREAMING BUT NO ONE WILL HEAR YOU , IT FAZES NOBODY IN THE LEAST - BECAUSE YOU ARE SURROUNED BY THE DEAD , OR MAYBE I AM DEAD , I HAVE NEVER BEEN BORN , AND IF I HAVE , NOT ALIVE BUT STILL-BORN , OR IS IT WHAT THOSE SANE AND NORMAL PEOPLE HAVE DONE TO YOU BY THEIR HUMDRUM PASSIONS AND HUMDRUM LIVES AND HUMDRUMS CARES AND HUMDRUM IMITATIONS AND HUMDRUM REPETITIONS CORRESPONDING WITH THEIR HUMDRUM CREATION ? - A CONCEPT REINFORCED BY BOOKS SUCH AS '' HEREWARD '' BY MR JAMES WILDE ! NO , I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO SAY - I AM AT A LOSS FOR WORDS , I AM AT A LOSS WHAT TO DO WHEN SUCH SENSELESSNESS IS COMMITTED TO PAPER MEETING WITH EVERYBODY'S ACCLAIM - THERE IT IS AGAIN, THE TOWERING BILLOWS OF MUTNESS AND STILLNESS STRANGLING MY EVERY CRY,MY REARING UP AGAINST THIS MUCH STUPIDITY... YOU CANNOT BUY OFF THE TRUTH WHENCE STUPIDITY SELLS - IT IS THE ONLY WAY IN WHICH HUMAN BEINGS ARE ABLE TO DEAL WITH ONE ANOTHER ! IS NOT EVERY HUMAN NOTHING BUT A DEAL ? IT IS THE TRUTH BEHIND THE MORAL ROTTENESS OF ANY SOCIETY AND HOW IT SOCIALISES WITH ITSELF AS WELL AS THE ASPECT THE HUMAN WORLD HAS TAKEN ON IN WHICH EVERY INDVIDUAL IS OBSESSED WITH DISPLAYING HIS SELF-ENAMOURDEDNESS AS CREATIVE POWER BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF MONEY AND HENCE HUMAN REASON , AND A WORLD DEVOID OF SELF-ENAMOURDEDNESS MIGHT BE THE ONLY IRREAL REALITY, AS IT CANNOT MATERIALISE , AT LEAST , NOT WHILE THE HUMAN RACE SUBSISTS , AND WHO KNOWS , IN SUCH CONDITION YOU MIGHT EVEN FIND LOVE , NO LONGER BEING SORDID WHERE THOSE HUMANS SOIL EACH OTHER AND REQUIRE INSTITUITIONS AND COURTS TO GET MARRIED AND TO GET DIVORCED BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF LOVE IN THE HUMAN WORLD ! STAYING ALONE IS THE MOST HONEST WAY OF BEING BY NOT SOILING YOURSELF THROUGH OTHER HUMAN BEINGS AND THEIR HIDEOUS SANITY ! BUT I SUPPOSE SUCH '' BEING '' CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED HUMANLY , AT ANY RATE , NOT BY THOSE RATTY MAJORITIES DETRMINING THE COURSE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE ! DO NOT RATE ANYONE , RATE YOURSELF ONLY FOR STILL BEING AND THE HORROR OF BEING , NOT DISSIMLAR TO THAT POTENT DRUNKENESS OF A DAYDREAM NO ONE WISHES TO EXPERIENCE , NOT ONLY NUMBING EXISTENCE WITH ITS GREED AND VENGEANCE AND RAGE BECAUSE OF ITS IMPARTIAL JUSTICE BUT CAUSING TO DWINE THE ENTIRE HUMAN MACHINERY , THE DARK BECOMING LUMINOUS AND LANGUOROUS , NO LONGER REDDENING WITH THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT , DEMANDING OF ITSELF BUT ONE THING : TO BE FINALLY REDEEMED FROM ITS INFIRMITY BY AN UNKNOWN VANITY-FREE SAVIOUR , VERITY SINGING RAPTUROUSLY IN A REMOTENESS , LIKE A SPRING BIRD RESTLESS AS MYSELF SHE IS , IRIDESCENT IN ALL THE COLOURS OF AN IRREAL RAINBOW NO ONE CAN SEE BUT MYSELF , RECALCITRANT TO THE LIFE-AFFIRMING VITALITY OF ALL MEN AS AM MYSELF , CARESSING AND STROKING EVER SO GENTLY MY DEATH-LIKE PALLOR AMONG THE LIVING , DISPENSING BUT HER CONSOLATION AND COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING TO PERK ME UP AS IT WERE AND TO MAKE ME BELIEVE I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS DESOLATION OF MUTE AND STILL ABYSSES AND IN THOSE ENDLESS DAYS PASSING AIMLESSLY , DREARILY AND SENSELESSLY AS IF EVERY DAY REPRESENTED A HUMAN BEING FOR IT IS WHAT I SEE IF I OCCASIONALLY YET SPOT ONE OF THEM , IN A REMOTENESS NO LONGER GRASPABLE , CONCEIVABLE AFTER WINGING INTO THE SPLENDOUR OF NOWHERE THAT CANNOT BE FOUND ANYWHERE AND WHERE I CAN HIDE MYSELF FROM ALL THIS COMPLACENCY OF SANITY , WHERE TO BE IS NO LONGER FEASIBLE HAVING PROVED THE GREATEST FAILURE , THE MOST GRIEVOUS INFELICITY OF HUMAN REALITY ! AND UPON AWAKENING I WONDER : HAVE I MERELY BEEN DREAMING AND AM I STILL HERE IN THE HORROR OF BEING'S VACANCY , OR DID THE SPRING BIRD AT LONG LAST CARRY ME OFF WITH HER IN HER WEIGHTLESSNES WHERE WHAT IS PONDEROUS CAN NO LONGER BE SENSED - NOTHING BUT LIGHTNESS PREVALING INSTEAD ! ALAS , SPRING BIRD , LET US MAKE THE MOST OF OUR INFELICITY AND LET THEM REJOICE IN THEIR ROARING HAPPINESS WHICH IS STRANGE TO US AND BEARS THAT PECCANCY PECULIAR TO ALL MEN ! SOMETHING LIKE THAT I DID NEVER RUN INTO , I DID NEVER ENCOUNTER UPON READING THE FIRST EXCRUCIATING INTOLEARBLE PAGES OF HIS BOOK , OF JAMES WILDE AND HIS BREED BEFORE STOPPING READING ! AND THEY ARE ALL WRITING IN THE SAME WAY , THOSE MODERN WRITERS , ALL OF THEM ISOMORHIC IDENTICAL DUPLICATES OF ONE ANOTHER - NO INDIVIDUALITY , NO TRANSCENDENCE OF BEING HUMAN , NO NOTHING , ALL OF THEM PUTREFYING IN TIME TOGETHER WITH THEIR SAMENESS AS THE REST OF THE HUMAN WORLD DOES ! O BEING HOW TERRIFYING AND GRUESOME YOU ARE HAVING MADE ALL THIS A REALITY , OR DID I FAIL TO UNDERSTAND YOU ? IS BEING TO CULTIVATE TEDIUM AS ALL MEN DO IN THEIR DAILY REPETITIOUS ACTIONS ? WHAT DO THEY DO TO MOCK TEDIUM ? BEING ARE YOU AN IMMEASURABLE AND VAST REGION CONSISTING BUT OF SERE DESERT ? HOW AM I TO ENDURE YOU THEN ?... DO NOT BECOME ENTANGLED IN THE BARBED WIRE OF MANKIND , WHO IS TO DISENTANGLE YOU ? SANITY WITH ITS SANE PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR MOST IMPORTANT DOCTRINES , BEING AS GRACIOUS TO YOU AS THEIR GOD IS AND THEIR ACTS OF LOVE ARE ? RECONCILING YOURSELVES TO THOSE WHO ARE CONTRARY TO REASON , CONTRARY TO THEIR OWN NATURE , TO THOSE WHO ARE ALL GOD'S FALSELY BEGOTTEN SONS , HOLDING OUT A FLAMING SWORD TO BEHEAD YOU FOR THEIR OWN INIQUITY WHICH IS CONSUMMATED IN THE NAME OF GOD , THEY WHO HAVE TO SUFFER THE PENALTY OF GOD'S LAWS AND ARE NOT LAWS THE CORRESPONDING EVIL OF SANITY ? THERE IS SANITY AND INSANITY - SANITY IS SHORN OF WISDOM , AS IT IS THE MIS-CRY OF WISDOM AND THE DENIAL OF THE SINFULNESS OF THE ENTIRE MISGUIDED CREATION OF MAN , THE REPUDIATION OF SIN IN THE FACE OF SANITY , CONDEMNING EVERYTHING AS SICKNESS WHICH IS NOT SANE , COMPELETLY DISREGARDING ITS OWN SICKNESS ! AND THEN SOME HUMAN NINCOMPOOP PROPOUNDS THE PROPOSITION THAT '' INSANITY RESULTS IN WISDOM '' OWING TO THE ABSENCE OF HIS AGILITY OF MIND - WERE YOU THEN BORN TO INFLICT MADDENING PAIN AND DISTRESS ON YOURSELF INCESSANTLY BECAUSE YOU DESIRE TO ARRIVE AT WISDOM BY MEANS OF INSANITY ? IS THIS WHAT LIFE IS ABOUT : TO UNDERSTAND IT BY GOING INSANE ? NO , THE GRAVEST AND GROSSEST ERROR WHICH HAS EVER OCCURRED IN TIME , AND DO NOT ASK ME WHAT'S OCCURRING OUTSIDE IT , IS THE CREATION OF THE HUMAN RACE WITH ITS DIVINE AND INTELLECTUAL BEINGS TORMENTING ALL THE OTHER CREATURES BY WAY OF THEIR WISDOM ! WISDOM PER SE DENOTES BEING CAPABLE OF EXISTING , LIVING WITHOUT HARMING OR EXERTING POWER WHICH OBVIOUSLY IS NOT INSANE ACCORDING TO THE SANE WHENCE THEY ARE SANE FITTING THE VERY DEFINITION OF RATIONALITY , AND NEITHER THE SANE NOR THE INSANE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING THIS , BECAUSE SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY : ITS MIND - THE TOTAL MIND OF HUMANITY - HAS GENERATED SO SEVERE A DEGENERATENESS THAT HUMAN EXISTENCE HAS SHUT ITSELF UP IN ITS OWN PENITENTIARY OF PURE WICKEDNESS EMBODYING THAT PURITY OF SANITY - LIFE AS UNDERSTOOD BY MAN IS A MERE IMPOSSIBILTY , AS IT HAS BEEN DISGRACED : IT DOES NOTHING BUT TO PUNISH AND DISGRACE ITSELF IN ORDER TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE REVELATION OF RIGHTEOUNESS : IT IS ONLY WHEN LIFE HAS FALLEN INTO DISGRACE IN THE WORST MANNER IMAGINABLE THAT MAN SPEAKS OF '' LIFE '',FOR IF '' THE RIGHTEOUS '' ARE TO BE RECOMPENSED FOR WHAT THEY DESIGNATE LIFE AND FOR WHICH THEY STAND IN THIS '' WORLD '' , AND EVERYBODY ELSE NOT IN NOT OBSERVING THE ORDINANCES OF THE SANE ,ID EST, OF THE RIGHTEOUS , WHO IS TO SAVE LIFE FROM THE GHASTLY CONSEQUENCES ENSUING FROM SUCH NOTIONS WHEN LIFE CLEARLY HAS BECOME A TRANSGRESSION OF ITS OWN, ITS ANTINOMY - AND THAT IS HOW I HAVE ALWAYS VIEWED THE SANE,AS AN ANTINOMY ! DID YOU ASK JAMES WILDE AND ALL THOSE OTHER HUMAN DOLTS WRITING AND ACTING AND THINKING AS HE DOES ABOUT THIS ? EVERYTHING IS SO GLORIOUS AND NOBLE IN THE HUMAN WORLD THAT IT MAY COME NEITHER AS A SURPRISE NOR A SHOCK THAT THE FAILURE OF EFFECTING SALVATION CAN NOWHERE BE NOTICED IN THIS BREEDING-GROUND OF LAWFUL TRANSGRESSIONS - I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE OF WHOM I COULD SAY THAT '' HE HAS WROUGHT HIS SALVATION '' WITHOUT COMMITING THE OFFENCE AGAINST IT , REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT '' SALVATION '' BELONGS TO THE SECTOR OF SANITY , I WAS SIMPLY FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING , FOR APPROBATED BY THE LAW ALSO ENTAILS BEING THE TRANSGRESSOR OF IT , BY , AND HERE WE GO ONCE AGAIN , EXERTING POWER OVER OTHERS IN ENFORCING THE LAW , IT IS HOW RIGHTEOUS THIS WORLD ACTUALLY IS IN BEING SINFUL , AND THE LAW IS CLEARLY THE MINISRTY OF GOD , AND WHO IS GOD ? THOSE WHO MADE HIM UP - THE INTELLECTUAL MANIA ; AND IF YOU ARE ASKING ME HOW TO SQURIM OUT OF THIS MOST DISAGRREABLE PREDICAMENT PROVIDING YOU CONCEIVE IT AS SUCH , FOR INSTANCE , BY REPENTING OF MAN'S KINGDOM OF CEASELEELY RAVING MADNESS WHICH HAS BEEN REARED ON THIS EXECRABLE PLANET FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS , I JUST DON'T KNOW , THAT IS BEYOND ME : WE ARE THIS SICK ALLOWING ALL THIS TO COME TO PASS THAT WE CAN NO LONGER BE HEALED ! WE ARE NO LONGER SINNERS - A SINNER MAY BE SAVED BY MEANS OF REPENTANCE , BUT WE ARE BEYOND BEING SINNERS AND HENCE BEYOND BEING CAPABLE OF BEING HEALED , WOULD BE MY ONLY POOR ANSWER THAT I COULD SUPPLY , AND , INDEED , IT IS A VERY POOR ANSWER , MAYBE YOU ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SUPPLY A BETTER ANSWER AND COMMUNICATE THIS TO THE REST OF THE WORLD , AS I EVEN NOW COMMUNICATED MYSELF TO THE WORLD VIA THIS REVIEW , AS THE HUMAN NATURE AND WHAT WE HAVE DONE AND CONTINUE TO DO WEIGHS HEAVILY ON ME , AND I CANNOT TELL YOU IN WORDS HOW HEAVILY ! AND THEN AGAIN , THAT MR WILDE SPEAKS OF GUILT - WHAT THE DEVIL DOES HE KNOW ABOUT GUILT ? ! ? THAT COPYCAT WHO READS LIKE A CHEAP IMITATION OF JACK LONDON , BUT JACK LONDON WAS AN OUTSTANDING WRITER ! ! HIS '' WRITINGS '' , THOSE OF MR WILDE , TASTE OF NAUSEOUS VAPIDITY CHARACTERISTIC OF ALL MODERN WRITERS , AND THE MIND HAS GONE MISSING WITHIN THE INCAPABILITY OF SAVING MANKIND FROM THE SIN OF BEING - BUT FIRST OF ALL , YOU NEED TO RECOGNISE THIS , AND ONCE YOU HAVE RECOGNISED THIS TO ITS FULL EXTENT , YOU MAY NEVER AGAIN WISH TO CONTEMPLATE THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF BEING WHERE THE NATURAL SUN NO LONGER RULES THE DAY , AND WHAT RULES HERE IS A QUESTION TO BE BEST PUT TO MR WILDE ! IT IS FUNNY , IS IT NOT ? '' EXTENT '' - THE EXTENT OF THE BOUNDLESSNESS OF OUR CAPTIVITY AND IMPRISONMENT IN WHAT WE HAVE CREATED TO BE LIFE IS , INDEED , THE ONE THING IN EXISTENCE UNTIL OUR DEPARTURE ! THERE IS NOTHING MORE LOATHSOME THAN SOMEONE ELSE'S KIDDY JUNK ! WHEN THE SANE, THE TRUE AND ONLY MADMEN , RUN THEIR OWN MADHOUSE THE PRODUCT IS WHAT THE HUMAN WORLD LOOKS LIKE...
LET ME TELL YOU FROM THE VERY FIRST THAT I CANNOT STAND MODERN WRITERS ,
AS THEY HAVE LOST THE CAPABILITY OF WRITING , AND MR JAMES WILDE IS NO EXCEPTION TO THE RULE ! READING THE FIRST PAGES , YOU ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE IMMATURITY OF A MIND DISTASTEFUL TO ANYONE WHO IS YET CAPABLE OF THINKING : NOTHING BUT PLATITUDINOUS PROSE , ANY FORM OF ENCHANTMENT GOES ASTRAY IN THE NOTHINGNESS AND NONPRESENCE OF HIS MIND , AND IF YOU CANNOT PRODUCE ENCHANTMENT TO TRANSFIGURE YOU , YOU SHOULD REFRAIN FROM WRITING , OR PUBLISH THIS ONLINE FREE OF CHARGE ! HOW ANYONE CAN SPEND MONEY ON SUCH ROT , SUCH TOSH , MAKING PEOPLE LIKE JAMES WILDE RICH , IS NOT ONLY INCOMPREHENSIBLE TO ME , BUT BESPEAKS THE DEGREE OF STUPIDITY MANKIND HAS REACHED THESE DAYS ! TERRIBLE AND ATROCIOUS IS THIS '' EXECUTION OF ART '' OF HIS , AND DO YOU KNOW WHY ? BECAUSE PEOPLE CALL THIS ART ! DO NOT BE HOODWINKED BY JAMES WILDE AND HIS LIKE ! DO NOT SQUANDER MONEY ON PEOPLE LIKE HIM ! IF YOU HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO WITH , GIVE IT TO THOSE IN NEED! NOTHING BUT MISUSE OF WORDS : THAT HUMAN CLOD WRITES : 'UNCORRUPTED BY DESPAIR' - DESPAIR PURIFIES , IT DOES NOT CORRUPT IN THAT MASS MADNESS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE WITH EVERYONE HAVING THEIR LIVES DICTATED TO THEM BY A TINY INTELLECTUAL MINORITY! READ MARY SHELLEY'S 'THE LAST MAN' AND SO FORTH , FREE ON https://www.globalgreyebooks.com /search.html ! AND I AM NOT JULIE, ADVERTISING HER PAGES ; LET POLITICIANS TAKE OVER BECAUSE HUMANS CANNOT TAKE OVER THEIR OWN AFFAIRS - THEIR OWN LIVES ! AND HERE WE HAVE JAMES WILDE VISITING HIS KIDDY MIND'S JUNK ON ALL OF MANKIND ! THAT'S WHAT COMES TO MIND UPON OPENING THIS BOOK : HANG THE HUMAN LIE AND ALL THOSE PROMOTING IT! SAVE US FROM OURSELVES ! WHO IS TO ASSUME THAT ROLE ? THE GODHEAD AND HIS VITIATED CREATION ? LET US CONTINUE TO INVENT BECAUSE WE ARE AWFULLY ASTUTE AT INVENTING AN EVER NEW CONCEPT OF MANKIND , THE BLACKNESS OF WHICH CONTRASTS WITH LIFE ! LET US KEEP CHANGING THIS WORLD , WHICH WE FAIL TO UNDERSTAND , BY OUR CREATIVE INVENTIVENESS TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT DO NOT EXIST , BUT IN WHICH WE NEVERTHELESS MUST BELIEVE TO GENERATE SOMETHING SUPPOSEDLY FEASIBLE AND VIABLE WHICH LENDS LIFE AN EVER GREATER AMOUNT OF LUNACY , IRRESPECTIVE OF THE FACT THAT LIFE HAS ALREADY KICKED THE BUCKET AND WE ARE ITS GHOSTS LEFT ON THIS ACCURSED PLANET TO HAUNT ABOUT AS A FORM OF ILLUSORY BELIEFS AS IF YOU WERE ENCLASPED BY AN ILL , VERY ILL , DREAM ! AND YOU WONDER WHETHER NOT EVERYTHING HAS BEEN AN ILL DREAM FROM THE VERY BEGINNING , THAT STILLNESS IN WHICH DAYS PASS AS AN ILL DREAM , A STILLNESS NO ONE IS ABLE TO GRASP AS IT HAS BEEN INTELLETUALISED TO BE ANTITHETICAL TO IT - HUMANS NOT BEING REAL BUT FOLLOWING WHAT THAT MINUTE MINORITY OF INTELLECTUALS HAS DEFINED TO BE LIFE FOR THEM , FOR IGNORANCE BELIEVES AND INTELLIGENCE EXPLAINS ITS OWN IGNORANCE AFETR HAVING EXAMINED IT , TRANSFORMING IT INTO HIGHER WORLDS FROM WHICH ORIGINATES AN UHEARD-OF , MONSTROUS LUNACY OF EXISTENCE EVERYONE IS FOND OF WRITHING IN DESPAIR AND MISERY ! OH , GENIAL DAYS OF SUNLIGHT , WHERE CAN I FIND YOU ? DID YOU NOT GET LOST IN THIS MURKINESS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE ? ASK PROFESSOR JAMES WILDE - HE MUST KNOW ABOUT THAT FATED PUPPET THEATRE WITH EVERYONE BEING A PUPPET IN HAVING ADAPTED TO THAT HUMAN NOTHINGNESS OF WHAT IS CALLED THE SOCIAL ADVANTAGES OF LIVING TOGETHER : FOR HIS EVERY WORD TESTIFIES TO ALL THAT - THAT NOTHINGNESS OF HIS BY MEANS OF WORDS DEVOID OF TRUTH ! TRUTH, IS THIS NOT A QUESTION THAT IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE ASKED ? CONSEQUENTLY , WHO CARES ABOUT TRUTH ? SPRAY TRUTH WITH THE ORDURE OF THE HUMAN MACHINERY FOR IT TO BECOME INVISIBLE , FOR IT TO BECOME NAUSEA - WE ARE NOT HUMANS BUT MACHINES THAT HAVE TO YIELD OR DO YOU YOU DESIRE YOURSELF TO FARE BADLY ? IT SOUNDS AS IF EVERYTHING IS DOMINATED BY FEAR , DOES IT NOT ? TAKE A LOOK ABOUT YOU IF YOU CAN STILL SEE BY WATCHING YOUR SURROUNDINGS , NOTHING BUT FRACTURED BONES OF THE MIND THAT CANNOT BE SET ANY MORE ! OR HOW COULD ALL THIS OTHERWISE BE HAPPENING ? IT IS THE HUMAN LIE THAT IS RIFE LIKE A PESTILENCE AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS AND NOTHING ELSE ! THERE IS SO MUCH LOVE ON THIS PLANET THAT YOU WONDER WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT ! BUT THOSE PUPPETS DID FIND PLENTY OF LOVE , DID THEY NOT ? THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH THAT THEY ARE LYING TO ONE ANOTHER AROUND THE CLOCK , EH ? FOR IT DOES NOT PAY TO TELL THE TRUTH OR IS THERE ANYONE LEFT HERE WHO DOES SOMETHING MORE USEFUL THAN TO TELL LIES ? BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T TELL LIES , YOU CANT MAKE ANY MONEY AND ALL THOSE HUMAN PUPPETS HAVE GRASPED THAT TRUTH TO ITS ENTIRE AND ABOVE ALL MEASURELESS EXTENT ! AND YOU DO NOT MIND MY DIGRESSING A LITTLE BIT BUT ALL THIS CROSSED MY MIND THE VERY MINUTE WHEN I READ THE FIRST PAGES OF MR JAMES WILDE - SICKENED BY IT ALL ? MAY GOD HELP YOU IN EXTRICATING YOU FROM HIS NONEXISTENCE ! WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN ? DO NOT ASk ME , I HAVEN'T THE FAINTEST IDEA , YOU HAD BETTER ASK THOSE HUMAN PUPPETS , THOSE FACEWORKERS DIGGING FOR GOLD BELOW GROUND , AND WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE SUN IN QUITE SOME TIME ; AND THEY NEVER WILL SEE HER - KEEP DIGGING UNTIL YOU COME UPON SOMETHING THAT SHINES AS BRIGHTLY AS SHE DOES ! TEXT ME ABOUT IT IF YOU SUCCEED OR INQUIRE FOR IT OF YOUR IMMACULATE COMMUNITIES WHICH HAVE IMPROVED LIFE BY BECOMING EVER MORE ARTIFICIAL THROUGH MODERNISM ! I SHALL DRINK TO YOUR GLOBALISATION WHICH HAS MADE HUMANITY AN EVEN BIGGER LIE THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN BEFORE , IN PARTICULAR THANKS TO INDIVIDUALS SUCH AS JAMES WILDE - CHEERS ! HEAVE A DEEP SIGH ABOUT THE UTTER MONOTONY AND TRIVIALITY OF MODERNITY ADORNED BY THE WORKS OF MR JAMES WILDE AND SUCHLIKE , AND WHAT IS MORE : BREATHE NOT A WORD OF THE CAPTIVITY WHICH WE HAVE PRODUCED BY ALL THOSE GRANDEST OF INVENTIONS OF THE HUMAN MIND TO LOCK OURSELVES IN , AS CLEARY WE CAN ONLY EXIST IN A STATE OF BEING LOCKED IN OURSELVES , THE GRANDEST OF WHICH IS BEYOND DOUBT '' MONEY ! '' OR CAN YOU IMAGINE LIFE TAKING PLACE FREELY ? BUT THAT COULD NO MORE BE CALLED LIFE , THEN , I PRESUME ? NO LONGER CHEATING EACH OTHER AS THE ONLY MEANS OF EXISTENCE ?.... YOU DO NOT EXPECT MODERN WRITERS TO DISPEL THE VACANCY OF THAT HUMDRUM EXISTENCE WHEREIN THERE IS ONLY ONE HORROR : TO BE ALIVE IN THEIR VACANCY , AND IF I SAY '' THEIR '' I AM HINTING AT ALL HUMAN BEINGS , THROUGH THEIR WORKS FOR THEM TO INSPIRE NEW IDEAS AND SENTIMENTS IN YOU , TO CHARM AWAY THAT MORALITY OF CRUDE DARKNESS WHICH PEOPLE CALL LIFE IN ALL ITS PROFUNDITY , TO CAUSE THIS HUMANISED WORLD TO COLLAPSE IN WHICH YOU LIVE BUT AS A DEHUMANISED INDIVIDUAL , AND TO KINDLE DELIGHT AND RAPTURE RUNNING COUNTER TO A HUMAN WORLD BRISTLING WITH BLINDNESS AND CARS AND PLANES AND ALL THOSE OTHER VEHICLES REVEALING AN EVER GROWING DARKNESS UPON BEING SCRUTINSED UNDER A MAGNIFYING GLASS - NOTHING BUT REPETITIONS , EVERYTHING RUNNING ASTRAY WITHIN ITSELF , ENGEDERING A HELLISH MADNESS NO LANGUAGE CAN PROVIDE WORDS FOR , AND THEY ARE ALL PARTICIPATING IN IT , SCARED IF SOMEONE SAYS SOMETHING THAT GOES AGAINST THE TRIVILAITY AND MEDIOCRITY OF THEIR REASONING : CAN THIS BE CALLED REASONING AT ALL ? AND THEY ARE ALL CREATIVE , MIND YOU AS THAT MR JAMES WILDE ! GRASPING NOT REALITY BUT CONCEIVING A PRETENTIOUS COUNTERFEIT REALITY OF EINSTEINS AND DIVINITIES AND KANTS AND DARWINS WHICH THEY KEEP IMITATING , AS THE ONLY WAY FOR THEM TO THRIVE ON SOMETHING IS BY IMITATING !, A PRETENTIOUS COUNTERFEIT REALITY THAT HAS THE PRECISE APPEARANCE OF THE APPEARANCES OF WHAT THEY CALL '' CREATIVE '' ! AND GRASPING REALITY SIGNIFIES THE LOSS OF YOUR HUMANITY IN CONTRAST TO THOSE WHO REGARD THEMSELVES AS '' BEING HUMAN '' ! HORRYIFYING THE WHOLE THING WITH YOU SEEMINGLY BEING ALIVE IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL ! TRULY HORRIFYING ! AND THEN YOU ARE WHELMED AND ENGULFED BY MONSTROUS BILLOWS OF TOTAL MUTENESS AND STILLNESS WITHIN WHICH YOU ARE IMPRISONED AND WITHIN WHICH YOU SCREAM FRANTICALLY WITHOUT ANYONE BEING ABLE TO PERCEIVE YOU , BECAUSE NO ONE IS ABLE TO PENETRATE THIS MUTENESS , THIS STILLNESS TO EXTEND A HELPING HAND TO YOU AND IN WHICH YOU LOSE YOUR MIND STEP BY STEP AND WHICH HAVE BEEN SHELTERING YOU SINCE THE DAY OF YOUR BIRTH - IT IS THE DUNGEON OF LIFE IN WHICH EVERYTHING IS MUTE AND STILL AND WHERE PEOPLE PASSING YOU WITHOUT BEING AWARE OF YOU OR NOTICING YOU , BECAUSE THEY HAVE CREATED THIS MUTENESS AND STILLNESS - THEY ARE THE MUTENESS AND STILLNESS DUNGEONING YOU FOR LIFE - SCREAM AND KEEP ON SCREAMING BUT NO ONE WILL HEAR YOU , IT FAZES NOBODY IN THE LEAST - BECAUSE YOU ARE SURROUNED BY THE DEAD , OR MAYBE I AM DEAD , I HAVE NEVER BEEN BORN , AND IF I HAVE , NOT ALIVE BUT STILL-BORN , OR IS IT WHAT THOSE SANE AND NORMAL PEOPLE HAVE DONE TO YOU BY THEIR HUMDRUM PASSIONS AND HUMDRUM LIVES AND HUMDRUMS CARES AND HUMDRUM IMITATIONS AND HUMDRUM REPETITIONS CORRESPONDING WITH THEIR HUMDRUM CREATION ? - A CONCEPT REINFORCED BY BOOKS SUCH AS '' HEREWARD '' BY MR JAMES WILDE ! NO , I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO SAY - I AM AT A LOSS FOR WORDS , I AM AT A LOSS WHAT TO DO WHEN SUCH SENSELESSNESS IS COMMITTED TO PAPER MEETING WITH EVERYBODY'S ACCLAIM - THERE IT IS AGAIN, THE TOWERING BILLOWS OF MUTNESS AND STILLNESS STRANGLING MY EVERY CRY,MY REARING UP AGAINST THIS MUCH STUPIDITY... YOU CANNOT BUY OFF THE TRUTH WHENCE STUPIDITY SELLS - IT IS THE ONLY WAY IN WHICH HUMAN BEINGS ARE ABLE TO DEAL WITH ONE ANOTHER ! IS NOT EVERY HUMAN NOTHING BUT A DEAL ? IT IS THE TRUTH BEHIND THE MORAL ROTTENESS OF ANY SOCIETY AND HOW IT SOCIALISES WITH ITSELF AS WELL AS THE ASPECT THE HUMAN WORLD HAS TAKEN ON IN WHICH EVERY INDVIDUAL IS OBSESSED WITH DISPLAYING HIS SELF-ENAMOURDEDNESS AS CREATIVE POWER BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF MONEY AND HENCE HUMAN REASON , AND A WORLD DEVOID OF SELF-ENAMOURDEDNESS MIGHT BE THE ONLY IRREAL REALITY, AS IT CANNOT MATERIALISE , AT LEAST , NOT WHILE THE HUMAN RACE SUBSISTS , AND WHO KNOWS , IN SUCH CONDITION YOU MIGHT EVEN FIND LOVE , NO LONGER BEING SORDID WHERE THOSE HUMANS SOIL EACH OTHER AND REQUIRE INSTITUITIONS AND COURTS TO GET MARRIED AND TO GET DIVORCED BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF LOVE IN THE HUMAN WORLD ! STAYING ALONE IS THE MOST HONEST WAY OF BEING BY NOT SOILING YOURSELF THROUGH OTHER HUMAN BEINGS AND THEIR HIDEOUS SANITY ! BUT I SUPPOSE SUCH '' BEING '' CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED HUMANLY , AT ANY RATE , NOT BY THOSE RATTY MAJORITIES DETRMINING THE COURSE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE ! DO NOT RATE ANYONE , RATE YOURSELF ONLY FOR STILL BEING AND THE HORROR OF BEING , NOT DISSIMLAR TO THAT POTENT DRUNKENESS OF A DAYDREAM NO ONE WISHES TO EXPERIENCE , NOT ONLY NUMBING EXISTENCE WITH ITS GREED AND VENGEANCE AND RAGE BECAUSE OF ITS IMPARTIAL JUSTICE BUT CAUSING TO DWINE THE ENTIRE HUMAN MACHINERY , THE DARK BECOMING LUMINOUS AND LANGUOROUS , NO LONGER REDDENING WITH THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT , DEMANDING OF ITSELF BUT ONE THING : TO BE FINALLY REDEEMED FROM ITS INFIRMITY BY AN UNKNOWN VANITY-FREE SAVIOUR , VERITY SINGING RAPTUROUSLY IN A REMOTENESS , LIKE A SPRING BIRD RESTLESS AS MYSELF SHE IS , IRIDESCENT IN ALL THE COLOURS OF AN IRREAL RAINBOW NO ONE CAN SEE BUT MYSELF , RECALCITRANT TO THE LIFE-AFFIRMING VITALITY OF ALL MEN AS AM MYSELF , CARESSING AND STROKING EVER SO GENTLY MY DEATH-LIKE PALLOR AMONG THE LIVING , DISPENSING BUT HER CONSOLATION AND COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING TO PERK ME UP AS IT WERE AND TO MAKE ME BELIEVE I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS DESOLATION OF MUTE AND STILL ABYSSES AND IN THOSE ENDLESS DAYS PASSING AIMLESSLY , DREARILY AND SENSELESSLY AS IF EVERY DAY REPRESENTED A HUMAN BEING FOR IT IS WHAT I SEE IF I OCCASIONALLY YET SPOT ONE OF THEM , IN A REMOTENESS NO LONGER GRASPABLE , CONCEIVABLE AFTER WINGING INTO THE SPLENDOUR OF NOWHERE THAT CANNOT BE FOUND ANYWHERE AND WHERE I CAN HIDE MYSELF FROM ALL THIS COMPLACENCY OF SANITY , WHERE TO BE IS NO LONGER FEASIBLE HAVING PROVED THE GREATEST FAILURE , THE MOST GRIEVOUS INFELICITY OF HUMAN REALITY ! AND UPON AWAKENING I WONDER : HAVE I MERELY BEEN DREAMING AND AM I STILL HERE IN THE HORROR OF BEING'S VACANCY , OR DID THE SPRING BIRD AT LONG LAST CARRY ME OFF WITH HER IN HER WEIGHTLESSNES WHERE WHAT IS PONDEROUS CAN NO LONGER BE SENSED - NOTHING BUT LIGHTNESS PREVALING INSTEAD ! ALAS , SPRING BIRD , LET US MAKE THE MOST OF OUR INFELICITY AND LET THEM REJOICE IN THEIR ROARING HAPPINESS WHICH IS STRANGE TO US AND BEARS THAT PECCANCY PECULIAR TO ALL MEN ! SOMETHING LIKE THAT I DID NEVER RUN INTO , I DID NEVER ENCOUNTER UPON READING THE FIRST EXCRUCIATING INTOLEARBLE PAGES OF HIS BOOK , OF JAMES WILDE AND HIS BREED BEFORE STOPPING READING ! AND THEY ARE ALL WRITING IN THE SAME WAY , THOSE MODERN WRITERS , ALL OF THEM ISOMORHIC IDENTICAL DUPLICATES OF ONE ANOTHER - NO INDIVIDUALITY , NO TRANSCENDENCE OF BEING HUMAN , NO NOTHING , ALL OF THEM PUTREFYING IN TIME TOGETHER WITH THEIR SAMENESS AS THE REST OF THE HUMAN WORLD DOES ! O BEING HOW TERRIFYING AND GRUESOME YOU ARE HAVING MADE ALL THIS A REALITY , OR DID I FAIL TO UNDERSTAND YOU ? IS BEING TO CULTIVATE TEDIUM AS ALL MEN DO IN THEIR DAILY REPETITIOUS ACTIONS ? WHAT DO THEY DO TO MOCK TEDIUM ? BEING ARE YOU AN IMMEASURABLE AND VAST REGION CONSISTING BUT OF SERE DESERT ? HOW AM I TO ENDURE YOU THEN ?... DO NOT BECOME ENTANGLED IN THE BARBED WIRE OF MANKIND , WHO IS TO DISENTANGLE YOU ? SANITY WITH ITS SANE PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR MOST IMPORTANT DOCTRINES , BEING AS GRACIOUS TO YOU AS THEIR GOD IS AND THEIR ACTS OF LOVE ARE ? RECONCILING YOURSELVES TO THOSE WHO ARE CONTRARY TO REASON , CONTRARY TO THEIR OWN NATURE , TO THOSE WHO ARE ALL GOD'S FALSELY BEGOTTEN SONS , HOLDING OUT A FLAMING SWORD TO BEHEAD YOU FOR THEIR OWN INIQUITY WHICH IS CONSUMMATED IN THE NAME OF GOD , THEY WHO HAVE TO SUFFER THE PENALTY OF GOD'S LAWS AND ARE NOT LAWS THE CORRESPONDING EVIL OF SANITY ? THERE IS SANITY AND INSANITY - SANITY IS SHORN OF WISDOM , AS IT IS THE MIS-CRY OF WISDOM AND THE DENIAL OF THE SINFULNESS OF THE ENTIRE MISGUIDED CREATION OF MAN , THE REPUDIATION OF SIN IN THE FACE OF SANITY , CONDEMNING EVERYTHING AS SICKNESS WHICH IS NOT SANE , COMPELETLY DISREGARDING ITS OWN SICKNESS ! AND THEN SOME HUMAN NINCOMPOOP PROPOUNDS THE PROPOSITION THAT '' INSANITY RESULTS IN WISDOM '' OWING TO THE ABSENCE OF HIS AGILITY OF MIND - WERE YOU THEN BORN TO INFLICT MADDENING PAIN AND DISTRESS ON YOURSELF INCESSANTLY BECAUSE YOU DESIRE TO ARRIVE AT WISDOM BY MEANS OF INSANITY ? IS THIS WHAT LIFE IS ABOUT : TO UNDERSTAND IT BY GOING INSANE ? NO , THE GRAVEST AND GROSSEST ERROR WHICH HAS EVER OCCURRED IN TIME , AND DO NOT ASK ME WHAT'S OCCURRING OUTSIDE IT , IS THE CREATION OF THE HUMAN RACE WITH ITS DIVINE AND INTELLECTUAL BEINGS TORMENTING ALL THE OTHER CREATURES BY WAY OF THEIR WISDOM ! WISDOM PER SE DENOTES BEING CAPABLE OF EXISTING , LIVING WITHOUT HARMING OR EXERTING POWER WHICH OBVIOUSLY IS NOT INSANE ACCORDING TO THE SANE WHENCE THEY ARE SANE FITTING THE VERY DEFINITION OF RATIONALITY , AND NEITHER THE SANE NOR THE INSANE ARE CAPABLE OF DOING THIS , BECAUSE SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY : ITS MIND - THE TOTAL MIND OF HUMANITY - HAS GENERATED SO SEVERE A DEGENERATENESS THAT HUMAN EXISTENCE HAS SHUT ITSELF UP IN ITS OWN PENITENTIARY OF PURE WICKEDNESS EMBODYING THAT PURITY OF SANITY - LIFE AS UNDERSTOOD BY MAN IS A MERE IMPOSSIBILTY , AS IT HAS BEEN DISGRACED : IT DOES NOTHING BUT TO PUNISH AND DISGRACE ITSELF IN ORDER TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO THE REVELATION OF RIGHTEOUNESS : IT IS ONLY WHEN LIFE HAS FALLEN INTO DISGRACE IN THE WORST MANNER IMAGINABLE THAT MAN SPEAKS OF '' LIFE '',FOR IF '' THE RIGHTEOUS '' ARE TO BE RECOMPENSED FOR WHAT THEY DESIGNATE LIFE AND FOR WHICH THEY STAND IN THIS '' WORLD '' , AND EVERYBODY ELSE NOT IN NOT OBSERVING THE ORDINANCES OF THE SANE ,ID EST, OF THE RIGHTEOUS , WHO IS TO SAVE LIFE FROM THE GHASTLY CONSEQUENCES ENSUING FROM SUCH NOTIONS WHEN LIFE CLEARLY HAS BECOME A TRANSGRESSION OF ITS OWN, ITS ANTINOMY - AND THAT IS HOW I HAVE ALWAYS VIEWED THE SANE,AS AN ANTINOMY ! DID YOU ASK JAMES WILDE AND ALL THOSE OTHER HUMAN DOLTS WRITING AND ACTING AND THINKING AS HE DOES ABOUT THIS ? EVERYTHING IS SO GLORIOUS AND NOBLE IN THE HUMAN WORLD THAT IT MAY COME NEITHER AS A SURPRISE NOR A SHOCK THAT THE FAILURE OF EFFECTING SALVATION CAN NOWHERE BE NOTICED IN THIS BREEDING-GROUND OF LAWFUL TRANSGRESSIONS - I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE OF WHOM I COULD SAY THAT '' HE HAS WROUGHT HIS SALVATION '' WITHOUT COMMITING THE OFFENCE AGAINST IT , REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT '' SALVATION '' BELONGS TO THE SECTOR OF SANITY , I WAS SIMPLY FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING , FOR APPROBATED BY THE LAW ALSO ENTAILS BEING THE TRANSGRESSOR OF IT , BY , AND HERE WE GO ONCE AGAIN , EXERTING POWER OVER OTHERS IN ENFORCING THE LAW , IT IS HOW RIGHTEOUS THIS WORLD ACTUALLY IS IN BEING SINFUL , AND THE LAW IS CLEARLY THE MINISRTY OF GOD , AND WHO IS GOD ? THOSE WHO MADE HIM UP - THE INTELLECTUAL MANIA ; AND IF YOU ARE ASKING ME HOW TO SQURIM OUT OF THIS MOST DISAGRREABLE PREDICAMENT PROVIDING YOU CONCEIVE IT AS SUCH , FOR INSTANCE , BY REPENTING OF MAN'S KINGDOM OF CEASELEELY RAVING MADNESS WHICH HAS BEEN REARED ON THIS EXECRABLE PLANET FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS , I JUST DON'T KNOW , THAT IS BEYOND ME : WE ARE THIS SICK ALLOWING ALL THIS TO COME TO PASS THAT WE CAN NO LONGER BE HEALED ! WE ARE NO LONGER SINNERS - A SINNER MAY BE SAVED BY MEANS OF REPENTANCE , BUT WE ARE BEYOND BEING SINNERS AND HENCE BEYOND BEING CAPABLE OF BEING HEALED , WOULD BE MY ONLY POOR ANSWER THAT I COULD SUPPLY , AND , INDEED , IT IS A VERY POOR ANSWER , MAYBE YOU ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SUPPLY A BETTER ANSWER AND COMMUNICATE THIS TO THE REST OF THE WORLD , AS I EVEN NOW COMMUNICATED MYSELF TO THE WORLD VIA THIS REVIEW , AS THE HUMAN NATURE AND WHAT WE HAVE DONE AND CONTINUE TO DO WEIGHS HEAVILY ON ME , AND I CANNOT TELL YOU IN WORDS HOW HEAVILY ! AND THEN AGAIN , THAT MR WILDE SPEAKS OF GUILT - WHAT THE DEVIL DOES HE KNOW ABOUT GUILT ? ! ? THAT COPYCAT WHO READS LIKE A CHEAP IMITATION OF JACK LONDON , BUT JACK LONDON WAS AN OUTSTANDING WRITER ! ! HIS '' WRITINGS '' , THOSE OF MR WILDE , TASTE OF NAUSEOUS VAPIDITY CHARACTERISTIC OF ALL MODERN WRITERS , AND THE MIND HAS GONE MISSING WITHIN THE INCAPABILITY OF SAVING MANKIND FROM THE SIN OF BEING - BUT FIRST OF ALL , YOU NEED TO RECOGNISE THIS , AND ONCE YOU HAVE RECOGNISED THIS TO ITS FULL EXTENT , YOU MAY NEVER AGAIN WISH TO CONTEMPLATE THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF BEING WHERE THE NATURAL SUN NO LONGER RULES THE DAY , AND WHAT RULES HERE IS A QUESTION TO BE BEST PUT TO MR WILDE ! IT IS FUNNY , IS IT NOT ? '' EXTENT '' - THE EXTENT OF THE BOUNDLESSNESS OF OUR CAPTIVITY AND IMPRISONMENT IN WHAT WE HAVE CREATED TO BE LIFE IS , INDEED , THE ONE THING IN EXISTENCE UNTIL OUR DEPARTURE ! THERE IS NOTHING MORE LOATHSOME THAN SOMEONE ELSE'S KIDDY JUNK ! WHEN THE SANE, THE TRUE AND ONLY MADMEN , RUN THEIR OWN MADHOUSE THE PRODUCT IS WHAT THE HUMAN WORLD LOOKS LIKE...
July 29, 2012
Hereward was something of an unknown for me as I went into it. With most historical fiction I read, I have some grounding in the subject or characters, but my knowledge of Hereward the Wake is limited to the fact that I knew the name, though I couldn’t even have placed him in a century until I read this book. So there’s something important that James Wilde has done: he has put a hitherto vague name on the map for a lot of people as a historical hero and placed him in a time period.
The book has upsides and downsides for me that swung my opinion wildly as I read, though I finished it with a solidly positive view.
I found the character of Hereward himself to be a little too familiar and stereotypical – bearing characteristics in common with Batman, the Hulk, and Conan the Barbarian among others. He is an anti-hero in a well-used vein, brooding and dark and moody, with a shadowy, unhappy past, interspersed with periodic berserk rages. I did get used to the character after a while, but the main supporting characters I thought were more original constructions. Saying this, the character, while a little jarring at the start, wore in very nicely by the end.
Easily counteracting any trouble I had with the main character was the writing itself. Wilde has a very visual writing style that makes his work a joy to read and, to be honest, he could write a bus timetable and I would find it gripping and effusive. Despite any issues I had during the book, I continued to pick it up and read it at every opportunity and finished it in three days (fairly quick for me.) Moreover, the book picked up pace and style toward the end and drew me ever further in, leaving me in the position where I would have been disappointed that it had finished, had I not the sequel standing by ready to go on to.
The other issue I had was with the two main battles handled within the book. There are only a few things that I do know about this period, but they generally revolve around the battle of Senlac Hill (Hastings) and the battle of Stamford Bridge (the latter having been fought not far from my home and therefore a matter of local interest). The accounts of both battles in the novel are sparsely and briefly treated, with Hastings being taken up suddenly towards the end of the battle and what has happened so far given as a brief retrospective. I was a little disappointed at that, given the import of the two battles not only on British history, but also on the characters in the novel. I felt that the battles should have been given much more detail and made more relevant, given their centrality to the plot. Also, the history of the battle of Stamford Bridge appears to have been slightly altered in the book (ref specifically the famous axeman on the bridge and the manner of his downfall.)
I do love the feel of the era as portrayed by James. This period has a tremendous mix, from pantheistic Vikings in the traditional sense, through Christianised Norsemen, Saxon Englishmen, knights of Flanders who would not seem out of place over a century later during Richard I’s wars, to the Normans (who are only given a passing role in this book, but are satisfyingly portrayed as harsh and efficient former Norsemen themselves.) And kudos to James for his treatment of the much vaunted Harold Godwinson and his kin and the harepin bend he takes with their proud legend. Pleased at that, James.
Overall, I had a couple of issues, but nothing that prevented me thoroughly enjoying the book. The last quarter, in particular, I loved. I also like the fact that the story builds up from the introduction of a fates-battered anti-hero and ends with his rebirth as a true hero for England, leaving threads open and drawing the reader into the sequel.
The book has upsides and downsides for me that swung my opinion wildly as I read, though I finished it with a solidly positive view.
I found the character of Hereward himself to be a little too familiar and stereotypical – bearing characteristics in common with Batman, the Hulk, and Conan the Barbarian among others. He is an anti-hero in a well-used vein, brooding and dark and moody, with a shadowy, unhappy past, interspersed with periodic berserk rages. I did get used to the character after a while, but the main supporting characters I thought were more original constructions. Saying this, the character, while a little jarring at the start, wore in very nicely by the end.
Easily counteracting any trouble I had with the main character was the writing itself. Wilde has a very visual writing style that makes his work a joy to read and, to be honest, he could write a bus timetable and I would find it gripping and effusive. Despite any issues I had during the book, I continued to pick it up and read it at every opportunity and finished it in three days (fairly quick for me.) Moreover, the book picked up pace and style toward the end and drew me ever further in, leaving me in the position where I would have been disappointed that it had finished, had I not the sequel standing by ready to go on to.
The other issue I had was with the two main battles handled within the book. There are only a few things that I do know about this period, but they generally revolve around the battle of Senlac Hill (Hastings) and the battle of Stamford Bridge (the latter having been fought not far from my home and therefore a matter of local interest). The accounts of both battles in the novel are sparsely and briefly treated, with Hastings being taken up suddenly towards the end of the battle and what has happened so far given as a brief retrospective. I was a little disappointed at that, given the import of the two battles not only on British history, but also on the characters in the novel. I felt that the battles should have been given much more detail and made more relevant, given their centrality to the plot. Also, the history of the battle of Stamford Bridge appears to have been slightly altered in the book (ref specifically the famous axeman on the bridge and the manner of his downfall.)
I do love the feel of the era as portrayed by James. This period has a tremendous mix, from pantheistic Vikings in the traditional sense, through Christianised Norsemen, Saxon Englishmen, knights of Flanders who would not seem out of place over a century later during Richard I’s wars, to the Normans (who are only given a passing role in this book, but are satisfyingly portrayed as harsh and efficient former Norsemen themselves.) And kudos to James for his treatment of the much vaunted Harold Godwinson and his kin and the harepin bend he takes with their proud legend. Pleased at that, James.
Overall, I had a couple of issues, but nothing that prevented me thoroughly enjoying the book. The last quarter, in particular, I loved. I also like the fact that the story builds up from the introduction of a fates-battered anti-hero and ends with his rebirth as a true hero for England, leaving threads open and drawing the reader into the sequel.
May 7, 2012
There have been a fair few novels set around this period of history lately, some have met mixed reviews. It really depends on what you are looking for from a historical fiction book?
EG: Conquest by Stewart Binns is a rousing tale that roars along with loads of blood and thunder action and has a heavy tilt towards nationality. While Shieldwall by Justin Hill is a slower more historically rich title that really educates the reader.
Hereward for me falls somewhere in-between, it has a fair bit of historical detail (i cant vouch for the accuracy its not my area of expertise) and also lashings of action. As another reviewer (Gareth) has written there is a very Gemmellesque flavour to certain scenes and also characters, and there is in my opinion no higher accolade for a writer.
This is a great book and the fact that its a debut title means that we potentially have great things to come from this writer.
Highly recommended (Parm)
Product Description (From the back of the book)
1062, a time many fear is the End of Days. With the English King Edward heirless and ailing, across the grey seas in Normandy the brutal William the Bastard waits for the moment when he can drown England in a tide of blood.
The ravens of war are gathering. But as the king's closest advisors scheme and squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the naked ambition of the Norman duke come to rest with just one man: Hereward...
To some a ruthless warrior and master tactician, to others a devil in human form, Hereward is as adept in the art of slaughter as the foes that gather to claim England's throne. But in his country's hour of greatest need, his enemies at Court have made him outlaw. To stay alive - and a freeman - he must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to Flanders' fields and the fenlands of East Anglia.
The tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of legend, this is also the story of two mismatched allies: Hereward the man of war, and Alric, a man of peace, a monk. One will risk everything to save the land he loves, the other to save his friend's soul...
James Wilde's thrilling, action-packed debut rescues a great English hero from the darkest of times and brings him to brutal and bloody life.
EG: Conquest by Stewart Binns is a rousing tale that roars along with loads of blood and thunder action and has a heavy tilt towards nationality. While Shieldwall by Justin Hill is a slower more historically rich title that really educates the reader.
Hereward for me falls somewhere in-between, it has a fair bit of historical detail (i cant vouch for the accuracy its not my area of expertise) and also lashings of action. As another reviewer (Gareth) has written there is a very Gemmellesque flavour to certain scenes and also characters, and there is in my opinion no higher accolade for a writer.
This is a great book and the fact that its a debut title means that we potentially have great things to come from this writer.
Highly recommended (Parm)
Product Description (From the back of the book)
1062, a time many fear is the End of Days. With the English King Edward heirless and ailing, across the grey seas in Normandy the brutal William the Bastard waits for the moment when he can drown England in a tide of blood.
The ravens of war are gathering. But as the king's closest advisors scheme and squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the naked ambition of the Norman duke come to rest with just one man: Hereward...
To some a ruthless warrior and master tactician, to others a devil in human form, Hereward is as adept in the art of slaughter as the foes that gather to claim England's throne. But in his country's hour of greatest need, his enemies at Court have made him outlaw. To stay alive - and a freeman - he must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to Flanders' fields and the fenlands of East Anglia.
The tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of legend, this is also the story of two mismatched allies: Hereward the man of war, and Alric, a man of peace, a monk. One will risk everything to save the land he loves, the other to save his friend's soul...
James Wilde's thrilling, action-packed debut rescues a great English hero from the darkest of times and brings him to brutal and bloody life.
March 29, 2019
This was a gift from my brother, who knows my love of historical fiction very well and shares this with me. It focuses on England around the time of 1066 and its hero is a historical figure called Hereward (an English rebel at during the time of William's Conquest of England).
This is a period of history I didn't have that much knowledge of, and I had never heard of Hereward, though after some research I find that some consider him up there with Arthur and Robin Hood in the list of English heroes. Who knew!
The book itself covers Hereward's history before 1066 and straight after it. It is the first in about six books and as such it should be read as an introduction to this character and world. Its time jumps quite a lot and just when I was getting involved in a stage of his life, we had moved on to the next. However, the author fits a lot of history and action into this first book which does make up for it and it is written very well.
Hereward himself is an odd mix, as most heroes, he has a tragic back story and is fighting his inner demons, but this character is taken to extremes and the redeeming sides of his character are constantly defeated by the demon inside of him and his berserk rage. It does make for a hero who occasionally I thought of as much of an idiot as the protagonists. However, I know he is meant to be this way as his companion/friend the monk Alric is out to save his soul and that's obviously going to be a theme for the next few books at least. I just found it irritating sometimes but it does make for a very impressively violent hero!
It was a good read and one that will be continued, but I'm not in a rush to find out more just yet - sorry!
This is a period of history I didn't have that much knowledge of, and I had never heard of Hereward, though after some research I find that some consider him up there with Arthur and Robin Hood in the list of English heroes. Who knew!
The book itself covers Hereward's history before 1066 and straight after it. It is the first in about six books and as such it should be read as an introduction to this character and world. Its time jumps quite a lot and just when I was getting involved in a stage of his life, we had moved on to the next. However, the author fits a lot of history and action into this first book which does make up for it and it is written very well.
Hereward himself is an odd mix, as most heroes, he has a tragic back story and is fighting his inner demons, but this character is taken to extremes and the redeeming sides of his character are constantly defeated by the demon inside of him and his berserk rage. It does make for a hero who occasionally I thought of as much of an idiot as the protagonists. However, I know he is meant to be this way as his companion/friend the monk Alric is out to save his soul and that's obviously going to be a theme for the next few books at least. I just found it irritating sometimes but it does make for a very impressively violent hero!
It was a good read and one that will be continued, but I'm not in a rush to find out more just yet - sorry!
March 28, 2016
I had a couple of false starts with this book until I read one of the reviews which compared him to Conan the Barbarian. Suddenly, I "got" it! I was trying to read this as straight (informative) historical fiction, but really I should have approached this book as a story about an epic hero, capable of fighting a bear and coming out unscathed, feeling no pain, afraid of nothing. Actually, I loved the Conan books, so once my head was on straight I had no trouble enjoying this novel.
Hereward is a hero with a past that continues to haunt him and drive him. He has been terribly wronged, and probably no amount of bloodshed is going to make his demons go away. And there is plenty of blood shed in this book! Hereward strikes me as more of a berserker, though this word is never uttered for he is not a Norseman. He is a Mercian with broken loyalties. Once he is possessed by rage, he seems to have the strength of ten men. Since I know he is going to be England’s last defender against the evil Normans, this fury seems to be appropriate, even welcome. Of course his unlikely companion, the troubled monk Alric, keeps trying to persuade him to control his passions, but when things start to heat up so does his temper. And I think we want to see this, because he is capable of great deeds when under the devil’s influence. Hereward is a complicated character, and I can see that book number one is setting the stage for further adventures.
Hereward is a hero with a past that continues to haunt him and drive him. He has been terribly wronged, and probably no amount of bloodshed is going to make his demons go away. And there is plenty of blood shed in this book! Hereward strikes me as more of a berserker, though this word is never uttered for he is not a Norseman. He is a Mercian with broken loyalties. Once he is possessed by rage, he seems to have the strength of ten men. Since I know he is going to be England’s last defender against the evil Normans, this fury seems to be appropriate, even welcome. Of course his unlikely companion, the troubled monk Alric, keeps trying to persuade him to control his passions, but when things start to heat up so does his temper. And I think we want to see this, because he is capable of great deeds when under the devil’s influence. Hereward is a complicated character, and I can see that book number one is setting the stage for further adventures.
January 26, 2020
A very readable novel, but it came off as a bit poor-man's-Cornwell. The writing style was very good, fast-moving, with some evocative description. Wilde has researched his period and it shows. The story itself wasn't especially engaging (I think it both started and ended in the wrong place) and a lot of the characters felt flat and interchangeable. Because of the frequent head-hopping at the start, I had to double check a few times who we were following.
I fear I also need to call this book out on its poor handling of its (handful of) female characters. Yes, we know, this is a story about a man doing manly things, and there were many constraints on women during this period, but the few unfortunate ladies in the book exist to be slept with, killed, slept with and killed, or just exist as background character motivation. There's no depth to any of them and the one that comes closest to being an actual fleshed out character still feels like an accessory to the plot. The one major decision she makes doesn't reflect well on her even though I think she is meant to be a sympathetic character. Given how little we know about Hereward, it couldn't have been too hard to come up with a female character with a bit more personality and agency.
Overall, a little disappointing. I note there are a few more novels in the series so hopefully the sequels are better. I also have a copy of 'Pendragon' so will try that first.
I fear I also need to call this book out on its poor handling of its (handful of) female characters. Yes, we know, this is a story about a man doing manly things, and there were many constraints on women during this period, but the few unfortunate ladies in the book exist to be slept with, killed, slept with and killed, or just exist as background character motivation. There's no depth to any of them and the one that comes closest to being an actual fleshed out character still feels like an accessory to the plot. The one major decision she makes doesn't reflect well on her even though I think she is meant to be a sympathetic character. Given how little we know about Hereward, it couldn't have been too hard to come up with a female character with a bit more personality and agency.
Overall, a little disappointing. I note there are a few more novels in the series so hopefully the sequels are better. I also have a copy of 'Pendragon' so will try that first.
December 16, 2011
This is defintely one of several Hereward based historical novels I'd recommend. It has a movie style epic and gripping start and the characters are so rich in detail and depth and the plots so intricately woven together that even Shakespeare's plots seemed simple compared to the ones in this book.
It truly takes the reader into the reality of the anglo-saxon world complete with characters from simple peasant folk through monks and priests, warriors and hurscals, noble ladies and the cut-throat (literally) power-hungry men of court, including one Harold Godwinson portrayed in a light never before seen or considered but is based well within his historical context of an ailing King with no heir.
There is as no suprise a lot of death, battle, sword fights, murder and gore in this novel but it demonstrates that despite the mixed and developed culture of the anglo-saxons the sword and honour in the face of death was still a powerful rule in the hearts of men, like Hereward, in particularly so due his own crazed bloodlust frenzy that arises within him when he is forced to draw blood.
The story does cover a lot but it does it with great care and sadly it ends all to soon at the start of Hereward's famous rebellion against William the Conquerer. I can only hope a sequel is planned.
It truly takes the reader into the reality of the anglo-saxon world complete with characters from simple peasant folk through monks and priests, warriors and hurscals, noble ladies and the cut-throat (literally) power-hungry men of court, including one Harold Godwinson portrayed in a light never before seen or considered but is based well within his historical context of an ailing King with no heir.
There is as no suprise a lot of death, battle, sword fights, murder and gore in this novel but it demonstrates that despite the mixed and developed culture of the anglo-saxons the sword and honour in the face of death was still a powerful rule in the hearts of men, like Hereward, in particularly so due his own crazed bloodlust frenzy that arises within him when he is forced to draw blood.
The story does cover a lot but it does it with great care and sadly it ends all to soon at the start of Hereward's famous rebellion against William the Conquerer. I can only hope a sequel is planned.
January 26, 2016
For a book where so many passing characters get brutally hacked about by axes, it was kind of dull! It had sat on my bedside reading pile for about a year, and when I finally picked it up, it took me about twice as long as I'd have expected to read. All but the last 50 pages seems like a prequel to the real story, which I assume starts in book 2 of the series, but given I've just discovered there are 5 books, the pacing of this one could suggest that book 2 is still the prequel too. I don't feel anywhere near invested enough in the characters to find out, as despite only finishing the book an hour ago, I'm already forgetting the details. It's a shame, because I was actually keen to learn more about Hereward the Wake, given he's become so little known. Some historical fiction is well-written enough to give you a real insight into a time period, but none of this ever really rang true for me. I'm pretty certain there's a more scholarly book on Hereward in amongst my archaeology textbooks, so I'll be better off looking that one out.
November 25, 2021
Where has this book been hiding for the last 9 years?! I absolutely loved it! James Wilde has, with one book, launched himself into my "authors I do not want to miss" list. The writing is so smooth, the imagery created is vivid, and the plot is intense - not to mention the characters are so solid they practically jump from the page. My jaw dropped at least 3 times during reading. Absolutely frickin' awesome!
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.
September 10, 2012
An exciting read. I liked the detail in this, the fens, the dirt and cold, the people, the fighting, I could picture everything very clearly. The 3 and half rather than 4 stars is just because it didn't feel much different to the other historical ones I'd read, only in that it dealt with a different character. But that's an issue of the genre more than a comment on the writing. I wouldn't read the next but my husband would! He's much more a fan of this type of story than me.
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