Bernard Cornwell’s new novel, following the enormous success of his Arthurian trilogy (The Winter King, Enemy of God and Excalibur) is the tale of three brothers and of their rivalry that creates the great temple. One summer’s day, a dying stranger carrying great wealth in gold comes to the settlement of Ratharryn. The three sons of Ratharryn’s chief each perceive the great gift in a different way. The eldest, Lengar, the warrior, harnesses his murderous ambition to be a ruler and take great power for his tribe. Camaban becomes a great visionary and feared wise man, and it is his vision that will force the youngest brother, Saban, to create the great temple on the green hill where the gods will appear on earth. Saban’ s love for Aurenna, the sun bride whose destiny is to die for the gods, finally brings the rivalries of the brothers to a head. But it is also his skills that will build the vast temple, a place for the gods, certainly, but also a place that will confirm for ever the supreme power of the tribe that built it. Stonehenge: A Novel of 2000 BC is first and foremost a great historical novel. Bernard Cornwell is well known and admired for the realism and imagination with which he brings earlier worlds to life. And here he uses all these skills to recreate the world of primitive Britain and to solve the mysteries of who built Stonehenge, how and why. ‘A circle of chalk, a ring of stone, and a house of arches to call the far gods home’
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The Book Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #17874 in Books
Published on: 2000-06-05
Original language: English
Binding: Paperback
592 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
From the earliest times, human beings have looked at the sun and the moon, and at life and death, and have imagined gods who control such things, and looked for ways to control those gods. In Stonehenge, Bernard Cornwell, famous for his novels about Rifleman Sharpe’s adventures in the Napoleonic wars and for a sequence of brutally realistic Arthurian novels, considers the men and women who built Stonehenge and Avebury. These stone circles are impressive enough today; but all the more so if you imagine shifting stones from Wales to Salisbury Plain by raft and roller, dressing them with burning fat and grindstones, hauling the lintel stones up tiers of platforms.
“The oxen were goaded again, and, finger’s breadth by finger’s breadth, the huge stone eased forward until half of it was poised and then the oxen tugged once more and Saban was shouting at the beasts’ drivers to halt the animals because the stone was tipping at last. For a heartbeat, it seemed to balance on the ramp’s edge, then its leading half crashed down onto the timbers, then the great boulder slid down the ramp to lodge against the hole’s face.”
It is the story of Saban, made architect against his will; of his brothers Lengar, the aspiring conqueror and Camaban, the cripple-turned-magician. It is the story of Derrewynn, princess-turned-witch, and Aurenna, sacrifice-turned-priestess queen. Stonehenge is an epic tale of people as smart as us, inventing religion and mythology and forcing their wills on the world and each other. –Roz Kaveney
Review
‘An epic story told with a master’s skill. Bernard Cornwell now burrows into prehistory to suggest an answer to the puzzle of why and by whom Stonehenge was built. The result is an epic story told with a master’s skill, presenting powerful personalities, high dramas and terrific climaxes with colour and pace.’ TLS
The Economist
“A rich mix of bloody conflict amid political and religious turmoil- what a very fine writer Mr Cornwell has become”
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Customer Reviews
A Neolithic swashbuckler!
The only thing harder to research than a historical novel is a pre-historical one. Cornwell has made a serious effort to understand the how the Neolithic looked in southern Britain, then fit plot and characters into that landscape. It’s an exciting story, full of duplicity, heroics, deeply held feelings and almost convincing people.
Centred, as the title suggests, on the great stone monument on Salisbury Plain, he builds a narrative suggesting the motivation and labour involved in building this ancient site. He uses two trinities to develop his story. One trinity is comprised of brothers who represent material, mysticism and morality. The other is three who, by stretching your imagination, might be Mother, Maiden and Crone of the slassical witchcraft Sisterhood, although those identities shift drastically as the story progresses. The clash of greedy warlords with messianic figures is like something out of Sir Walter Scott. Cornwell’s technique makes thrilling reading while upholding modern standards of justice and rewards for the good. The good, of course, don’t come through unblemished or painlessly, but they survive. All the excitement and maneuvering raise this book a step above the modern fantasy novel, but the step is a small one.
If you’re looking for adventure with an unusual twist, this is the book for you. You will be taken back in time, through some spatial adjustment, but most importantly, view a society very different from the one you know. Prepare yourself for a harsh existence while remembering that “progress” is a word with many definitions. Perhaps there’s some benefit in reading the “Historical note” at the back first, then delving into Cornwell’s sources, before returning to this fictional account. All of his resources are at least as readable as this book, and infinitely more informative, if not as imaginative. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Disappointing
I must concur with other reviewers who have expressed disappointment in this novel. Having previously just finished Excalibur by the same author, Stonehenge was not in the same league. I felt the story was far too long with a relatively weak plot.
Interesting and clever in places
I’m a big fan of Bernard Cornwell so bought this book as soon as it was released. I found it to be his worst book, but don’t let that make you think it’s poor, because it ain’t. Set in Neolithic times, the book tells the story of brothers, sons of the tribal king, battling it out for supremacy over the tribe. One, slightly mad, is driven away from the village and wonders the country looking for his religious message. He finds it in Wales and thus begins the building of Stonehenge.
The time frame is too short for considered actual events, merely a few years, but it is an interesting idea and who knows; it might be somewhere near the truth!?
I haven’t re read it unlike other Cornwell novels but is a cherished part of my collection of his books.
If you are new to Cornwell, try one of the Sharpe stories or better still his Arthurian trilogy first, they’ll grip you far more.
