Sword At Sunset (ISBN 0812588525)

The pinnacle of historical fiction--none better!!:
This is quite simply the best dark ages historical fiction novel ever written. "Sword At Sunset" tells the story of Artos the Bear, the war leader who will one day be known in legends as King Arthur, and his valiant struggle to fend off the invading Saxons, Angles and Jutes who are descending on Britain in the wake of the Roman evacuation in ever-increasing numbers. Sutcliff avoids the swords-and-sorcery of the Arthur legends and focuses on relating an amazingly accurate and realistic-seeming tale of what the TRUE Arthur must have been like. This book is in some ways a sequel to "The Lantern Bearers", which tells the story of a Roman soldier who chooses to stay behind after the legions depart Britain in the early 5th century. Here Sutcliff's magnificent prose reaches its zenith as she describes the struggles of Artos and his "Companions" to rally the populace and raise, train, and feed their army. The language crackles with authenticity, the battles are gripping, the historical detail is uncanny, the characters are all complex and multi-dimensional. Arthur in particular is portrayed as a admirable but flawed man whose failings as a husband and father are as much a driving force of his persona as his ability to attract and lead men into war. The book also touches on Arthur's negative light in many of the saint's lives, by describing his conflicts with the church over provisioning his war band. You will not find a more believable or poetically written tale of the dark ages, though Wallace Breem's "Eagle in the Snow" comes somewhat close. This one has it all and will not disappoint true fans of historical fiction looking for a realistic, well-written novel of this fascinating time.

Sword at Sunset:
SWORD AT SUNSET BY ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF: The late Rosemary Sutcliff was a prolific writer from the 1950s through the 1970s, publishing a number of children's books, including the Eagle of the Ninth series and a series of Arthurian novels, as well as over twenty other children's books on historical subjects. She also penned nonfiction works and adult fiction, including Sword at Sunset, originally published in 1963 and re-released on May 1st of this year. Sword at Sunset features an introduction by Canadian author Jack Whyte, writer of the successful Camulod Chronicles, a nine-book series beginning several generations before Arthur was born. Whyte freely admits that when he first discovered Sword at Sunset it changed his life, which becomes all too clear when one has read both authors. The characterization, the tone, and the painstaking attention to historical detail and accuracy are prevalent in both works, to the point where one might think Whyte owes Sutcliff more than an introduction and homage. In Sword at Sunset, Sutcliff creates a world where the Roman legions have left Britain, yet the sense of Romanitas remains strong, especially in the noble characters of Ambrosius and Artos the Bear. They retain not just the armor, style of combat, and the Roman military organization, but a superior, almost arrogant sense of belonging to something that was once great and could be again. Sutcliff's early medieval world is not as "dark age" as normally depicted in fiction, but thriving with trade and societal infrastructure across Europe still seemingly intact. Artos the Bear spends the beginning of the book traveling to southern France where he looks to purchase strong breeds of horses to bring back to Britain to create a strong cavalry force to fight against the invading Anglo Saxons and maintain the British control and rule. While it is not completely clear how Artos the Bear has risen to such great prominence, he nevertheless has the backing of the people, which spurs him on to defeat the Saxons in many battles. Sutcliff introduces many familiar characters from the Arthurian world, though there is no Merlin or Lancelot (the latter originally an addition made by Chrétien de Troyes in the twelfth century), but an important appearance is made by Arthur's incestuous sister Medraut (or Morgan). Sword at Sunset reads like a historical military text with its calculated and descriptive battle scenes that make the world come alive, to the point where the reader may indeed believe such events transpired in the fifth century, leaving the common storylines of romance and chivalry out of the story completely, much as they were in the original time of Arthur. For more reviews, and writings, or to buy yourself a copy, please visit www.alexctelander.com

Disappointing:
I loved another book by Sutcliffe but this one disappoints. The doom and foreshadowing is so relentlessly drummed in that I could never begin to care about the characters. The subtlety that she is skilled at is overdone here, and the heart of it seems hollow. Battle scenes roll by, in extravagant detail; crucial personal scenes flit past in a couple of sentences. Artos' wife is hard to love and rarely seen. It seems like Sutcliffe was desperate to avoid the overdone, often covered traditional plot elements of the King Arthur story. She keeps only the doom and very little of the honor or love.

Outstanding:
I have read most of the variations and book series on the King Arthur legend (Jack Whyte, Bernard Cornwell, Mary Stewart, Stephen Lawhead, etc) as well as a good deal of background information and theories. This edition intrigued me because Jack Whyte has written the forward and he has been my favorite writer on the subject ... to a point (up to the end of "Uther"). But Rosemary Sutcliff, by far, has set the standard for the conclusion of this legend. It is realistic, and most importantly, believable. You want to know the people in this book. You can see, feel and hear what they are experiencing. Her style is intelligent, interesting and true to history. And curiously, she wrote this before any one else did. THIS is how this story should end.

After All These Years, Still the Best:
Finally! I am delighted to see a revival and reprinting of Rosemary Sutcliff's books and other historical novels of her contemporaries. I was overjoyed to see the reissue of this particular one -- I have been hanging on to a ratty old paperback edition of Sword at Sunset through college, graduate school, jobs both good and bad, and several long-distance moves. I've also read and enjoyed many of her other Roman Britain novels currently being reissued -- and how wonderful to have good, meaty reading material available for high school people to give them examples of fine writing, enriching language and well-developed characters instead of the politically correct dumbed-down garbage that floods the markets. I believe Sword at Sunset was the first Arthurian novel to dispense with medieval trappings and deal with who the warlords of 5th-century Britain truly were, how they lived, and how they tried to repel the waves of invasion which threatened their existence -- but which also created the ethnic and cultural mixture which became Great Britain. Artos the Bear is the true spirit of post-Roman Britain, a war chieftain with a legacy of Roman culture but a Roman culture overlaid and tempered by exposure to parallel barbarian cultures in an untamed natural landscape. No point in my repeating plot and story details that other reviewers have already covered eloquently -- I just want to express how good this novel is, how well it stands the test of time, and how happy I am to see it regaining its rightful place in historical fiction. Hmmm -- I think it's time for me to reread it. Again.