 the warlord chronicles is a trilogy of books about arthurian britain written by bernard cornwell. the story is written as a mixture of historical fiction and arthurian mythology. the books have been published by penguin and michael joseph in the united kingdom and by st martin's press in the united states, in hardcover and paperback editions, each with different isbns. ==books in the trilogy== * the winter king isbn 0-14-023186-2 * enemy of god isbn 0-14-023247-8 * excalibur: a novel of arthur isbn 0-312-18575-8 ==treatment of legend and history==  like other "historical" takes on the arthurian legends, the series postulates that post-roman britain was a difficult time for the native britons, being threatened by invasion from the anglo-saxons in the east and raids from the irish in the west. at the same time, they suffered internal power struggles between their petty kingdoms. like marion zimmer bradley in her novel the mists of avalon, cornwell also presumes friction occurred between the old druidic religion and christianity. the story is written as if it took place in dark age britain as described in the original welsh legends, with appropriate types of technology, culture, warfare, and attitudes. cornwell also weaves later additions such as merlin and lancelot into the plot. the protagonist of the series is derfel cadarn (pronounced derv-el), based on the part-legendary saint derfel. cornwell's derfel is a saxon brought up as a briton by merlin, the greatest of all druids. in the course of the story, he becomes a great warrior and one of arthur's warlords in his war against the saxons. merlin, meanwhile, concerns himself with trying to restore the old gods of britain. other characters from the arthurian mythos are given significant and memorable twists. for example, lancelot, always portrayed as the most virtuous and the mightiest of arthur's knights, here is depicted as an arrogant, cowardly and self-serving petty prince, whose legendary feats and martial prowess are crafted through the songs of the bards and a fi
Fantasy_novel_series Historical_novels_by_series Modern_Arthurian_fiction Novels_set_in_sub-Roman_Britain The_Warlord_Chronicles Works_by_Bernard_Cornwell