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1066 #2
The Last Viking
With the death of Edward the Confessor, the crown of England is hanging in the balance. And in the north Harald Hadrada, the Norwegian Viking leader, is determined to take his chance of capturing the country.
But Harold will not let that happen without a fight. Charismatic and the leader of a mighty army, he is determined to make Hadrada the last Viking in England.
And so the bloodiest battle yet fought on English soil is about to begin. At stake is sovereignty, freedom and honour.
But Harold will not let that happen without a fight. Charismatic and the leader of a mighty army, he is determined to make Hadrada the last Viking in England.
And so the bloodiest battle yet fought on English soil is about to begin. At stake is sovereignty, freedom and honour.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
2 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Berwick Coates
25 books6 followersBerwick Coates was educated at Kingston Grammar School and Christ`s College, Cambridge. Since then he has been, at various times, an Army officer, writer, artist, lecturer, careers adviser, games coach, and teacher of History, English, Latin, General Studies, and Swahili. He is the author of nine works of non-fiction, and lives in the West country where he works as a school archivist.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 7, 2016
It would be churlish to give this book only one star, but I'm not sure it really deserves two.
Where to begin?
Well, for a start, it reads like a 1950s 'improving story for boys'. Characters are cardboard cut-outs, with a naivete and childlike nature that's totally at odds with the fact that they're supposed to be adults. Harold Godwineson (or whatever spelling you choose for him) is as fine an upstanding, moral, heroic character as you could hope for in such an 'improving' book - bully for him - while everyone else just gasps in awe at what a wonderful chap he is. The biggest villain in the book appears to be the rascally Tostig (Harold's exiled brother), who never actually appears in the book except as someone whose whereabouts nobody seems to know - a kind of medieval "Where's Wally". After two hundred pages of various clerics and housecarles and fyrdmen and town reeves and turncoat Swedes constantly wondering where the naughty man is, one simply stops caring.
Is the conceit of giving everyone pet names supposed to make them more human? Maybe I'm wrong, but I bet any self-respecting Viking named Sigurd would have cut the heart out of anyone, even his best friend, calling him "Sig". And the queen's insistence on being called "Gwen" rather than "Mildred", simply because she used to be married to a Welsh king, was tiresome to say the least.
Then there are the Welsh archers. I thought that 'comical' stereotyping went out with ... well, the Dark Ages. Does anyone really think an 11th century Welshman would go round saying "boyo" to everyone? Honestly, the last time I heard that was in a re-run of "It Ain't 'Arf Hot Mum", and it wasn't funny when Windsor Davies said it in 1974. The archers have Welsh names, and that really should be enough to tell us their provenance, without the inclusion of a lazy (and anachronistic) stereotype.
And I know that the 'rule' of writing was always that one shouldn't (sorry, "should not") use contractions ... but when writing speech, especially when one is trying to make the speech conversational and 'chatty', contraction-less dialogue becomes stilted and completely unbelievable.
The thing is, in the current climate with such capable authors such as Scarrow, Kane, Riches, at al - not to mention the peerless Cornwell - a book with no decent battle scenes and very little action of any kind really doesn't cut the mustard. It's a book about Vikings, for goodness' sake! The 'climactic' Battle of Stamford Bridge happened so quickly that I thought I'd missed it; and the earlier Battle of Fulford is only brought to our attention courtesy of a hastily written letter sent to Harold. Er ... 1066? Vikings? Stamford Bridge? An amazing opportunity for a fantastic book squandered, anyone?
Perhaps it's unfortunate that immediately before starting this book I finished Cornwell's latest Saxon/Viking novel, because the shortcomings of this one were far too apparent. I struggled to force myself to finish it.
It takes a special kind of writer to make 1066 the most boring year in History, so hats off to the author for pulling that one off.
So, in a word: "no".
Sorry.
Where to begin?
Well, for a start, it reads like a 1950s 'improving story for boys'. Characters are cardboard cut-outs, with a naivete and childlike nature that's totally at odds with the fact that they're supposed to be adults. Harold Godwineson (or whatever spelling you choose for him) is as fine an upstanding, moral, heroic character as you could hope for in such an 'improving' book - bully for him - while everyone else just gasps in awe at what a wonderful chap he is. The biggest villain in the book appears to be the rascally Tostig (Harold's exiled brother), who never actually appears in the book except as someone whose whereabouts nobody seems to know - a kind of medieval "Where's Wally". After two hundred pages of various clerics and housecarles and fyrdmen and town reeves and turncoat Swedes constantly wondering where the naughty man is, one simply stops caring.
Is the conceit of giving everyone pet names supposed to make them more human? Maybe I'm wrong, but I bet any self-respecting Viking named Sigurd would have cut the heart out of anyone, even his best friend, calling him "Sig". And the queen's insistence on being called "Gwen" rather than "Mildred", simply because she used to be married to a Welsh king, was tiresome to say the least.
Then there are the Welsh archers. I thought that 'comical' stereotyping went out with ... well, the Dark Ages. Does anyone really think an 11th century Welshman would go round saying "boyo" to everyone? Honestly, the last time I heard that was in a re-run of "It Ain't 'Arf Hot Mum", and it wasn't funny when Windsor Davies said it in 1974. The archers have Welsh names, and that really should be enough to tell us their provenance, without the inclusion of a lazy (and anachronistic) stereotype.
And I know that the 'rule' of writing was always that one shouldn't (sorry, "should not") use contractions ... but when writing speech, especially when one is trying to make the speech conversational and 'chatty', contraction-less dialogue becomes stilted and completely unbelievable.
The thing is, in the current climate with such capable authors such as Scarrow, Kane, Riches, at al - not to mention the peerless Cornwell - a book with no decent battle scenes and very little action of any kind really doesn't cut the mustard. It's a book about Vikings, for goodness' sake! The 'climactic' Battle of Stamford Bridge happened so quickly that I thought I'd missed it; and the earlier Battle of Fulford is only brought to our attention courtesy of a hastily written letter sent to Harold. Er ... 1066? Vikings? Stamford Bridge? An amazing opportunity for a fantastic book squandered, anyone?
Perhaps it's unfortunate that immediately before starting this book I finished Cornwell's latest Saxon/Viking novel, because the shortcomings of this one were far too apparent. I struggled to force myself to finish it.
It takes a special kind of writer to make 1066 the most boring year in History, so hats off to the author for pulling that one off.
So, in a word: "no".
Sorry.
October 31, 2025
its 1066 and the Vikings are coming. There are plenty of characters in this historically based novel , the chapters are long , the story unfolds following the different groups of characters ending with the battle at Stamford Bridge . I found it sometimes confusing as the strory often switches from one setting to another , personally I would have preferred shorter chapters . It could be that the way the story is laid out doesn't lend itself well to reading on a kindle as there was often no discernable gap before suddenly you are reading about a whole host of different characters , perhaps that is not the case with the paperback version. Apart from that little grumble I had , its a great read and well written. I certainly know more about the viking king Hardrada now.
March 6, 2025
These characters do absolutely nothing. It's amazing to think one could write over four hundred pages and describe little of three exceptional cultures clashing in the most exciting period of their time. One boring and inconsequential skirmish and it took the entire book to get there. There is only one award winning effort here and that goes to a reader who finishes this book.
August 21, 2019
If you are looking for a book with battle scences , epic plots , this is not the book for you
It follows the build up and decision making by those involved in both sides of the battle of stamford Bridge .
A little slow, boring in places , but it gives light to the difficulity of the time
It follows the build up and decision making by those involved in both sides of the battle of stamford Bridge .
A little slow, boring in places , but it gives light to the difficulity of the time
December 9, 2022
I honestly thoroughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down.
December 31, 2014
I didn't think I would enjoy this book as much as I did, it has a huge cast of characters that you are kept updated with every couple of pages and rather than having you reach for the whose who list you actually do keep up and get to know all the key characters as the plot unfolds.
The book is based on the immediate period following the death of Edward the Confessor in 1065 and follows the daily events in the lives of Harold Godwinson the Last Saxon King of England, His Earls A few members of his army, his wife and mistress.
For the opposition there is a bunch of Nordic mercenaries, a Queen & princess and King Haralda of Norway who on learning of Edwards Death Decides he wants to extend his empire already including Shetland & Orkney and reclaim England for The Vikings.
Whilst Harold frets about a possible invasion from Normandy by William The Bastard as he was known before he later became the first Norman King William 1st.
The story follows their lives and the other fringe lives of Priests and town dwellers from Scarborough The last town other than York to be invaded by the Vikings to the momentous 1066 Victory that probably caused Harold to lose at Hastings. When he had to dash from Yorkshire to the south coast with his victorious but tired army who had victoriously seen off the Nordic Threat at Stamford Bridge in North Yorkshire, and sporadic raids from his banished brother Tostig the former Earl of Northumbria.
Prior to the second more celebrated Battle that was won by the French!
The book is based on the immediate period following the death of Edward the Confessor in 1065 and follows the daily events in the lives of Harold Godwinson the Last Saxon King of England, His Earls A few members of his army, his wife and mistress.
For the opposition there is a bunch of Nordic mercenaries, a Queen & princess and King Haralda of Norway who on learning of Edwards Death Decides he wants to extend his empire already including Shetland & Orkney and reclaim England for The Vikings.
Whilst Harold frets about a possible invasion from Normandy by William The Bastard as he was known before he later became the first Norman King William 1st.
The story follows their lives and the other fringe lives of Priests and town dwellers from Scarborough The last town other than York to be invaded by the Vikings to the momentous 1066 Victory that probably caused Harold to lose at Hastings. When he had to dash from Yorkshire to the south coast with his victorious but tired army who had victoriously seen off the Nordic Threat at Stamford Bridge in North Yorkshire, and sporadic raids from his banished brother Tostig the former Earl of Northumbria.
Prior to the second more celebrated Battle that was won by the French!
July 2, 2016
This book was a pleasure to read in that it didn't focus soley on the character of Harold Godwinson whom is often the prime focus when dealing with the period of 1066. The great aspect of this book was that it showed the reader the build up and effects and impacts of decisions and actions made during this climactic year from views of common folk from both sides of the battle. We get to know Welsh Archers and Fyrdmen in the armies, loyal Housecarls to the King, a Viking warband that joins Hardrada, the Reeve of Scarborough that was attacked by Hardrada, the church clerics who used their contact network to gather intel for the King and we even get close to Hardada's daughter and wife. All play a part in a well written story that weaves their views and experiences together until the fateful end of Stamford Bridge. We do of course get insight into Harold's leadership and mastery of the developing threats from Normandy and Norway but he doesn't dominate which I personally prefer.
My only criticism of this book is that some of the dialogue used, especially within the Viking Warband, is very uncomfortable and uses words that probably didn't even exist within Norse language. For example referring to another as "old boy" and "tickles your fancies". It did genuinely taint the experience a bit.
On the whole it was an enjoyable read which is itself an achievement especially when so many of us know how the story ends. It is good storytelling to show it in a new way through the eyes of new characters.
My only criticism of this book is that some of the dialogue used, especially within the Viking Warband, is very uncomfortable and uses words that probably didn't even exist within Norse language. For example referring to another as "old boy" and "tickles your fancies". It did genuinely taint the experience a bit.
On the whole it was an enjoyable read which is itself an achievement especially when so many of us know how the story ends. It is good storytelling to show it in a new way through the eyes of new characters.
June 10, 2014
Whilst this is not my usual type of book I really did like it. It’s perfect for fans of all historical fiction. As someone who doesn’t have much knowledge of this particular time frame I felt like I learnt a lot from it. I did find some parts of the book to be dragging, but felt like the action and fast paced scenes made up for it. The book itself also contains a list of the characters included in the story, so if at any point I felt a bit confused about who was who I could just flip to the front in order to refresh my memory. I look forward to reading the next book Berwick Coates releases in the future.
June 25, 2014
Haven't read book one first time I have read a book by this author impressed.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews