Not much a question but a respond to an answer you provided me on an earlier question! I would like to say - dankjewel ;) - for as the answer was short, it gave me ( yet another!) light on the complex history about Arthur. However I managed to finish my research and passed :) Thanks a lot again for inspiring me to a fun, but endless ( There is so much speculation about Arthur!) research. Perhaps a nice fact is that next to Arthur being a pagan, it is also believed he was faithful to Roman religion, which leads to Mithras :P A fun puzzle! Thanks again :) Elbereth
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Dear Mr. Cornwell, No matter the story; Christian against Pagans, Danes against Saxons, BRITISH ANGAINST FRNENCHMEN, British against the Revolution, or any other English based conflict; your stories always inspired me to fight onward. Beloved reader, Jason Baker MN, USA
Hi Bernard, while reading the comments/questions from Nick Lepperd I noticed he asked where the "mumbo jumbo" of the sword in the stone came from and you didn't try to offer any explanation. In my research which is now getting to be very vast, filling several tomes, the same theory seems to keep cropping up; swords were often made in stone moulds very early on (before they were bashed out with hammers etc.), and hence the idea of the sword in the stone as the sword, when cooled was in fact drawn from the stone. Admittedly, these swords were crude affairs and would not hold any semblance of a keen edge and certainly would not withstand any blows from the latter swords as we know them today. But the myths that rose from these early swords are certainly still with us in one form or another. Hope this is of interest to you and my fellow readers. Looking forward to the next Saxon novel. By the way, did you know we have recently had St Derfels Day? I think it was April 4th. Andrew Moore
Thank you! I think I missed that part of his question. Yours is an intriguing suggestion! I also note that swords were (and remain) a symbol of royalty (the Queen carried one briefly at her coronation), and stones were certainly involved in coronations: we have the famous Stone of Scone, but also the stone at Kingston on Thames (which gets its name from the regal stone). So there's a lot going on there! How to pick the bones out of it? I don't know!
Thought you and your publishers would want to know (if you do not already) that in the paperback edition of "Sharpe's Devil" (Perennial Ed.) that has been in bookstores for a while now, the separator page captioned "Part II - Cochrane" appears twice, once where it should be and then in place of what should be "Part III - Vivar" according to available hard-bound copies. I see from a recent posting that other enthusiastic fans are also dismayed by the typos (I've now taken to making marginal notations, which somehow mitigates the annoyance), but this one stands out particularly and is worth highlighting if only so other readers won't have to conduct their own library searches to find the correct Part III caption. Also noted that on page 106 of this paperback edition, when Sharpe is replying to Captain Morillo at the Celestial Fort, he says "Meaning an early start ... that will leave my friend and I alone with Sergeant Dregara?" The "I" appears as "we" in some hard-bound copies but not all, so it's hard to tell what was intended for the original. Overzealous editing, perhaps, or a grammatical lapse by our rough-hewn character? Have only praise, though, for the form and substance of all the tales. Along these lines, I smiled when I read the March 19, 2007 item from the individual who noted that he's re-read at least four times the passage where Sharpe gets the letter from the Prince Regent (in "Sharpe's Enemy") and hears about his majority. I also was quite taken with that scene, and from time to time read it aloud just to savor the dialogue. It leaps off the page as a juicy performance piece for a skilled character actor and is truly vivid playwriting, just begging to be tucked verbatim into the dramatization. I've always wondered why it was omitted from the filmed version of that book. Seems a loss for the TV audiences. Good wishes, as always, in every respect. Nancy Nemon
Sorry for the typos! And thanks for letting us know.
Dear Mr Cornwell, last weekend I enjoyed your book "The last kingdom" very much - a wonderful reading for a long rainy afternoon! But I stumbled over one little passage. You wrote there that Uthred wears his sword on his back "for drawing it faster". By my experience as an reenactor (and participant in the battle of Hastings last year ...) with some skills in sword fighting I want to contradict - it is really impossible to draw a relatively long typical viking sword if you wear it on your back. It's looking quite cool in movies, but it has definitely no advantage! The best way to wear a sword and to draw it as fast as possible is the simple traditional one by the side on the hip ... I hope my little remark was helpful - and it didn't refer to a mistake in the German translation of your book! Yours sincerely, Lutz
I don't remember that, but I'm sure you're right. In all the recent books Uhtred wears his sword at his hip, so I've no idea where the over the shoulder came in! Thanks!
You are the most fabulous writer on planet earth! Just keep writing. I looked at your web page, because I am dying to get my hands on the book which will follow Lords of the North. Uthred, your ancestor, is my favorite character and I have read ALL of your books. I am eagerly waiting for more. I do agree with a previous correspondent who asked: Do you really have to sleep at night? Do your really have to stop to eat your Christmas dinner? We want MORE! Thank you for the hours and hours of pure joy we have gotten from reading your books. Martha Scott
I have read almost all of your books - I am now saving them up so that I KNOW I have a good book to read! I have just begun to read 'The Pale Horseman' and noticed that you mentioned George MacDonald Frasier in the front. A friend of 33 years suggested I read some 'Flashman' stories, I am grateful to my buddy for the recommendation and I can't understand quite why, but get a strange warm fuzzy feeling that you should honor GMF by mentioning him in one of your own works. Please don't stop writing, neither I nor my 14 year old son, an avid Sharpe fan, will know what to read....except for Flashman, but he would not understand most of that humor, at least not yet....I hope, though you never know in schools today. Thank you for entertaining me !! Bill Bewlay
Mr. Cornwell,(my fav Author) I have read all of your books except a few of the later, (after Trafalgar) books, but will get to them soon. I am right now enjoying Simon Scarrow's efforts while waiting for more of anything you care to write about. Keep writing, sailing and all of the things that make you happy!!! Edward Lancaster
after reading your cautionary statement can I say your books are brilliant. I'm a former light infantry officer, I went special forces so I'm not considered light infantry anymore, but I still take great pride in my light infantry(rifleman) background. I am also Spanish so I'm not overly proud of Spains's policies then but... an different world then. Anyway great work and thanks. I just have to figure out which ones I've read then order the rest. I sort of got them out of order. In fact I got the adventure in Argentina one first, at the Baghdad international airport waiting to go home somebody handed it to me and said 'hey sir you like history try this'. Major Richard R Rodriguez
Hello Mr Cornwell, I'm a fan of yours and i want to tell you that; i think you must start a series of novels approx. 6-7 books and it must be set at Harlequin's time and about chivalry & knighthood of that time like Thomas' story but much deep and complex with great warrior characters. I think that would be great. And you are ready for a great saga. I like very much your works thanx for all great novels already wrote :) Hakan Ezcan