I'm going to have to stick my neck out and say this (number six) is the best of the series so far. Certainly the most enjoyable one for me.

There's no doubt about it, 'Death Of Kings' is much more sure, more direct, more honest and more perceptive than most of Cornwall's competitors out there. A really satisfying, considered and poignant exploration of the main character of Uhtred and origins of what we now think of as 'England'.

I don't know about anyone else, but Alfred The Great was always an irritation and I'm glad he dies in this one. Now, Uhtred the Saxon raised as a Viking, can really come into his own and shine. And shine he does - and he needs to, as after Alfred's death there are no shortage of Britons and Danes wanting to take advantage and take the country for their own. But then if you're reading this one, you've probably read the previous ones and/or have a reasonably good idea of the real history that lies behind the story and you know all that.

Uhtred really wants to go north and try to reclaim his ancestral home in Norhumberland, but his loyalty is torn and that mission must wait for another time. Now, he has to cut through the crap being scattered about by various usurpers and claimants to the throne of a land that is still struggling to come together.

Can't recommend 'Death Of Kings' highly enough and while half of me thinks a couple more battles wouldn't have gone amis, the other half of me finds myself thinking that this is a story of history of such grand stature that it doesn't need them.