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The Burning Land

The Last Kingdom Series, Book 5

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The Burning Land

By: Bernard Cornwell
Narrated by: Matt Bates
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About this listen

The fifth novel in Bernard Cornwell’s epic and bestselling series on the making of England and the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

BBC2’s major Autumn 2015 TV show THE LAST KINGDOM is based on the first two books in the series.

In the last years of the ninth century, King Alfred of Wessex is in failing health, and his heir is an untested youth. The Danes, who have failed so many times to conquer Wessex, smell opportunity…

First comes Harald Bloodhair, a savage warrior leading a Viking horde, who is encouraged to cruelty by his woman, Skade. But Alfred still has the services of Uhtred, his unwilling warlord, who leads Harald into a trap and, at Farnham in Surrey, inflicts one of the greatest defeats the Vikings were ever to suffer.

This novel, the fifth in the magnificent series of England's history tells of the final assaults on Alfred's Wessex, that Wessex survived to become England is because men like Uhtred defeated an enemy feared throughout Christendom.

©2019 Bernard Cornwell (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Action & Adventure Genre Fiction Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thriller & Suspense War & Military World Literature Fiction Royalty England Middle ages Viking Mystery

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Critic reviews

"Cornwell draws a fascinating picture of England as it might have been before anything like England existed." (The Times)

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The chap who takes over from Johnathan Keeble is a truly awful narrator!! He mispronounces key characters names, has no ‘punch’ when describing key areas of battle, something his predecessor did excellently and is actually boring! My love of this series died about three hours into this book because of one man. Matt Bates.
Thanks.

DO NOT DOWNLOAD!!

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Im halfway through - the new narration is just so poor. It’s like listening to a Thomas the Tank Engine book, monotone, boring, no energy. Congratulations on ruining the images of characters I had built up from the last 4 books. I tried to give 0 stars for performance as it doesn’t merit 1!

Narrator Poor

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The worst deception ever. Really a shame... while with Jonathan Keeble you'd almost feel the battle rage and madness, with the new narrator I am struggling to go through the first chapter. Heard the other 4 books in less than a month but really doubt will manage to finish this one at the same time because of this narrator... Very disappointing.

Worst narrator ever!

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The story, as with all Bernard Cornwell, is gripping. However this new narrator doesn't do justice to it, sadly. Very lacklustre with none of the original narrator's depth and interest.

A real shame.

Such a shame

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Another great installment of the Saxon series but the narration by Matt Bates is a poor follow on from the excellent Jonathan Keeble who narrated the books previously in this series as well as the other Bernard Cornwall series, The Warlord Chronicles. Pronunciation is all over the place with Ragnar becoming Rangar and Steapa becoming Steepa.

Great story, hit or miss narration

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not a patch on Jonathan keeble, so disappointed , not going to bother finishing this . Will but the book instead

really disappointed with narration

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As all the reviews suggest, Jonathan Keeble has been replaced. I, like the majority, fell in love with these stories because of his excellent narration. I purchased this audiobook and was instantly dismayed; it was no longer the same, I couldn't bear the difference. Not only were names pronounced differently, but I believed I had been listening to Uhtred relive his life to us, now it wasn't him and it will stay that way for the remainder of the series. I had no choice but to shelve the book for a while. However, the story had been so excellent I had to give it another chance.

6 months has elapsed since my first attempt at this audiobook, in which time I have listen to and read around 20 other books. This has helped me to forget the sound I had come to expect from these wonderful books and it almost reset my expectations. Now I have finished listening to Matt Bates as Uhtred and I have surprisingly grown to like his version of him. It may not be quite as theatrical as Jonathan Keebles version, however, Matt brings his own charm to the book and I must say by the end I really did enjoy his performance. I do not think I would have managed to do this without giving it plenty of time, I will admit I still struggled with names changing such as Steapa and Gisella but ultimately I wanted the story to continue so I had to grin and bear it; I am glad I did.

It goes without saying, but as I am reviewing the story I best give it the credit it deserves; as per usual Bernard Cornwell has done an outstanding job, filled with more of the same we know and love from this excellent series. I cannot wait to find out what happens next! Bravo!

In summary, If like me you fell in love with this series, do not let the change in narrator put you off, but you may need to consider giving yourself time to adjust before continuing with Uthred's journey, if you do, it's worth the wait.

Give it time!

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The new narrator has completely ruined this book series for me. I wish I hadn't blindly purchased this following on from the previous book without checking the narrator (silly me assumed they would keep the same narrator throughout) as I can't return this book as it was purchased outside of my usual credits. Jonathan Keeble was awesome and really brought the story to life, the new guy is so so boring that I find my mind wandering instead of focusing on the story and he makes Uhtred sound like a whiney schoolboy. Although I've read that the new narrator apparently gets better into the next book, I can't bear another 10 hours of this one to finish it to see if that's true!

Narration is terrible!

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Love this series of books, the new narrator is a bit softer and it took some getting used to his tone and pronunciation of names etc.

Change to narrator- story still excellent

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love the series but I miss Johnathan keeble on narration, Matt bates is so boring and doesn't excite at all. no animation during battle scenes and no real passion in characters voices/accents

Matt bates is so boring

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