Hello, my name is William and I am new to the forum. I was curious as to whether anyone has read Bernard Cornwell's book The Last Kingdom. I'm about halfway through it and am really enjoying it (probably because I am such a Viking buff).

Not yet but I'm eager to. As soon as it's in the store in paperback I'm on board!

Read the book and enjoyed it vey much, seems to be well researched. An interesting aside, I was doing some genealogical searching on my family name because I was thinking of using one of the many variants of the family coat of arms and ran across this little tidbit.

"One of the leaders of these Vikings was called Ragnald, and he is called a 'grandson of Ivarr' (the Boneless). Was he one of the Clan? Probably: Ivarr was apparently Danish, and the Danes were called Dubhgall or 'black foreigners' by the Irish. Ragnald was known as 'king of the Dubhgall'."

Ragnald being one of the many early types of spelling for Reynold.

"Regional dialects and naming customs have created a plethora of Reynolds identities, accounting for the various spellings (Reynold, FitzReynold, Reginald, Randal, Raghnall, Ragnar, McRaghnall, Ragnald, Grannell, etc.), but they all spring from a common source."

Do I run and hide or go a viking? My wife will kill me if I take up another time period.

I was going to wait for it in paperback, but I looked on amazon.com and it isn't out until, I believe, January of 2006. But, Patrick, if you are eager to read it the book is out in paperback on amazon.co.uk. Too bad the shipping is so much!

I put it on reserve at my local library as soon as Patrick Kelly posted about it here. So I got to be the first one to check it out when it arrived. I enjoyed it, but felt like I was reading about the same characters that were in Cornwell's Warlord series.

Excellent book, I found it to be one of those books that once you start you don't want to put down. Not only did I find the research and authenticity excellent but the character development was also quit good. All in all it's a well done piece of historical fiction.

I read it a few months ago. There will probably be two more in the series. Based on the first book, it's better than the Grail trilogy, but not as good as the King Arthur trilogy.

I finished the book earlier today. I thought it was a very enjoyable read and can't wait for the second book, The Pale Horseman. That'll be out in January in the US, but I will be buying it through amazon.co.uk so I can read it in October.

For once we are luckier in Europe, for the book is already available in paperback. Don't miss it, it's an excellent book as always with Bernard Cornwell, I already enjoyed reading the trilogy Harlequin-Vagabond-Heretic as well as the 3 books of The Warlord chronicles. A fine way of learning history. I'm looking forward for The Pale Horseman published in october...