re: The last kingdom

I absolutely loved the Arthur series. It's far different from the traditional Camelot stories. Masterful blend of war, grit, ambiguous magic, intrigue, and a sense of sentimentality and the passage of time.

Derfel though similar to Uhtred lacked Uhtred's humor and belligerence. At times he seemed like nothing more than a plot device to keep the story moving. He didn't have good dialogue.