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Action packed with excellent characterizations, the book races through the lives of a father (Hengall) chief of the Rathharryn tribe, and his three sons who each in turn also becomes chief of the tribe. The peace of the tribe is shattered by a fugitive from the coastal region of Wales, who steals his tribes ceremonial gold and is killed by Lengar, the oldest son when he comes into Rathharryn territory.

There is much fighting and death in the book. The people are bound by fear and superstition, brutality and sickness abound. There is war between Rathharryn and the neighbouring tribe Cathallo.

For a modern novel, the role and position women receive is a shock. No doubt it is more credible than the soapy stories of the Earth Stories of Jean Auel for what life had in store for women – and is far more insightful of the male psyche.

Loved the book, had trouble putting it down. True to his style the violence and fighting is very graphic, but sex is an allusion only. The pagans of old England lived “short brutish lives”. ( )

I'm a huge Cornwell fan, but this book is pretty bad. It's hard to keep track of which charicter is which, and is just not written like his other books. Stick to the Sharp books. ( )

In my opinion one of Cornwell's best efforts yet. Trully excellent characterisation and, arguably unusually a well developed major female character, possibly following on from Nimue in the Warolrd Chronicles. It is a quite plausible narrative of the origins of Stonehenge and a highly probable characterisation of life in ancient Britain. Any fan of the Warlord Chronicles series should love this book. ( )

Summary: Stonehenge provides a fictionalized account of the building of the famous - and mysterious - monument, approximately 4000 years ago. It focuses around three brothers: Lengar, who kills his father and claims the chiefship of the tribe; Camaban, the illegitimate middle child, a crippled and outcast who becomes a powerful sorcerer; and Saban, the youngest, whose life is directed by the whims of his elder brothers, who ultimately becomes responsible for the construction of Stonehenge. For it is meant to be the greatest temple the world has ever seen, a temple to the Sun, to bring him closer to Earth, to end winter, suffering, and death. Yet, to accomplish this immense task, there will be no shortage of war, betrayal, and bloodshed.

Review: This is the first of Bernard Cornwell's books that I've read, and I realize that he's an immensely popular author, but if this is representative of his style, he's just not for me. This is in part due to his writing style - the writing feels very distant and mythical, as if he's transcribing a bardic saga or a long-remembered legend, but it also has the effect of keeping the reader at a distance. However, I think the main reason that I didn't enjoy this book is due to his storytelling style. If books like The Mists of Avalon get criticized for being too "ovarian", then Stonehenge surely swings too far the opposite way: it's one of the most testosterone-y (the new San Francisco treat!) books I've ever read. There's a lot of emphasis on war, and killing, and human sacrifice, and groin-touching, and the details of engineering that went into moving and placing the giant stones, but there's a dearth of likable characters, in-depth characterization, and believable dialogue, and the story is slow and never really involves the reader (at least this reader). It picked up a bit in the last 100 pages, but by that time, I couldn't be bothered to care. The most interesting thing to me was the historical note, in which Cornwell discusses which elements of his story are based on the archaeological record... but I could have read a non-fiction book about Stonehenge for that. I can't help feeling like there was an interesting story there, but I would rather it had been written by someone like Guy Gavriel Kay who understands complex characterization and storytelling. 2 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Not nearly as good as I wanted it to be. If you're a fan of Cornwell's style, it might be better, but it's not for me. ( )