Your Questions

Q

Dear Mr.Cornwell I have read all the Sharpe books and they are the best books I have ever read but I have one question why in Sharpe's Prey did Lady Grace have to die I thought her and Sharpe went together perfectly and do have plans to write more Sharpe book. Joey

Submitted October 19, 2005

A

I knew she had to die - because she isn't in Sharpe's Rifles. And yes, there will be more Sharpe.

Q

I noticed that you have been in England doing autographs at book stores, will you ever get as far as Bournemouth cos the ones you have been doing are a little too far for me. I do not posess any books that are signed by you but have hunted down first editions which I am very pleased with. And please keep up the most excellent work the hours of enjoyment that you have given me well fab .Chris Kleszcz

Dear Mr Cornwell I was sorry to hear of your health problems which you detailed in the last edition of the Sharpe appreciation Society newsletter. I have been a fan of your since picking up my first Sharpe book over 10 years ago now. I also liked Wildtrack and Sea Lord, and Stormchild is always a favourite of mine to pick up for "comfort reading". So i am glad your health is on the mend and I look forward to reading the next Sharpe book. Is there any chance of you doing any signings in Cornwall. I used to be able to get to events at Waterstones in Leadenhall Market but since I moved down to Cornwall in March (best thing I ever did!) to live with my fiancee this will be difficult. Is there any chance of you doing promotional events in the South West, say at Falmouth or Plymouth? Keep up the good work! Jonathan Crowuhrst

Submitted October 19, 2005

A

Don't know if I'll get to Bournemouth, Cornwall, Falmouth or Plymouth - the publisher sets up the book tour so I never really know where I'll be, but it's always possible I'll get there some day!

Q

Mr Cornwell, Like so many others, I thank you for the many hours of thrilling reading you have provided and I look foward to many more. I would also thank you for this excellent website and your obvious enthusiasm for corresponding with your fans - unique, I think, for such a successful novelist. My question is if you have any plans to add to your very full plate by writing of the late Victorian era such as the British army in Afghanistan, the Great Game, etc. I'm a great fan (while waiting for your next book!) of the George Macdonald Fraser "Flashman" series and think it's a fascinating era. Best regards Andrew Barlow

Submitted October 19, 2005

A

I utterly detest the Victorian era, so I shall do my best to avoid it like the plague. I only like it when I read about it in Flashman . . .

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell I just want to say that I love your books, especially the arthur and grail ones. They are truely a great experience and are the best books I have read in their respective areas, bar none. Also the Uthred books are awesome. I would like to ask you a few questions, firstly why do you seem to favour the pagan side? or seem to use this as a basis for the main character's belief? does it allow the character to be invloved in more intersting situations? Secondly, do you believe the holy grail exists? Thirdly, have you ever considered writing about the crusades? And finally, I would really like to know where your interest for legend and history came from. Thankyou for your great books. Matthew Michaelides

Submitted October 19, 2005

A

I think it's more interesting . . . more tension, anyway.

I think it was a real object which probably got chucked onto a Palestinian trash-heap sometime in the 1st century.

The Crusades? I've thought about it, but have no plans for it at the moment

Q

Dear Bernard, Firstly let me say how shocked I was to learn thast you have been unwell.I must have my head in the sand because it seems to have been well known, but I only found out when I read that you had recovered. Let me add my own good wishes and I hope you are back to 100% now and stay that way for a long time. Secondly reading 'The Pale Horseman' I suddenly thought that I didn't like Uthred. He's seems to be not a very nice person. No loyalty except to himself and the side that's winning. Is this how you meant him to come across or is it just me? Thirdly and lastly, I hate to try and correct the master about his own works, however in a recent answer to a question you said that you first killed an ensign in Sharpe's Gold. But didn't Ensign Denny die while helping Sharpe and Harper win the eagle in Sharpe's Eagle, your first book? All the best for your continuing good health, Ed

Submitted October 19, 2005

A

Whoops.

Q

Dear Bernard First let may say thank you for sigining my copy of Pale Horseman on your recent tour in London. I finished it in only a few days since I could not put it down. Great stuff. Second in regards to Starbuck will the next Starbuck novel bet set around Frecricksburg? And have you ever thought of getting him to Stones River in Tennesse the last and first battle of 62/63 or to some of the other Western battles or will you keep him to Virginia ??? Does Starbuck ever settle affairs with Billy Blythe???? Does he ever find out about Delenay betraying him and being a spy and that it was he not his brother Ridley who had Sally raped??? Will he ever get back with Sally (Julia Gordon never really seemed too measure up as either charachter love intserest for Starbuck) ???? And in a previous post you mentioned about Starbuck meeting Lincoln, will he ever meet the man who won the war Ulyesses.S.Grant??? And Will his abolitionist farther who comes across as more preaching war on the South than less as liberating slaves ever meet William Sherman the man who defined war is hell but hated black people. And finaly on a lot of message boards to do with the US Civil war there is always the debate on who is the better general Grant or Lee. In your opinion which do you think was the better general??? Geraint

I received my copy of The Pale Horseman last week and read it in about 3 days. I have never been a book reader but as I spend lots of time commuting thought I would give it a go. Your books have given me more than I could ever have imagined and now regret the years I have wasted. When is the next Uthred story coming out? soon I hope! Also any more thoughts on future Starbuck Chronicles as that story has only just begun and you can't let Billy Blythe get away with it! Thanks more than I can express. Neil

Wow, a new series! (The Last Kingdom). However, I am hesitant to embark on reading it, being that I've been left hanging with the Starbuck Chronicles for nine years now! Please bring Nate back from vacation, and wrap up this valuable series. You may say he's like Sharpe (I disagree), but the series is also valuable from an historic point of view. Norman Jack

I bet you get hundreds of emails.I have been a fan of your books for years and have actively promoted them to friends and anyone who will listen.I am a particular fan of the Starbuck series as it is set at the same time as our own New Zealand landwars of the 1860's.I have read alot about these hard years, when this country was a frontier nation and this envirnoment produced some amazing characters, who have gone onto become legends. Not unlike some of the characters you portray. Anyway are you going to produce a fifth book in this series ? This would be up to Gettysburg 1863 ? Regards. David Russell

Hi Mr. Cornwell. I was very sorry to hear about your illness, and am equally glad to hear that you are feeling better. In an answer to a previous posting, you mentioned that you have all the research done and the plot outlined for the next Starbuck novel. Would I be correct in assuming that it concerns the battle of Frederickburg? If so much is already done, why not see if you can get it out some time in 2006? I would think it would be comparatively easy, almost a working holiday, one might say. And please, stay well for many years. Alan Kempner

Submitted October 18, 2005

A

Because the publishers want two other books for 2006, so those are being written, and if I produce it for 2007 then folk will want the next in 2008, and that either means Uhtred has to go by the board, or Sharpe, so when one or other of those two are out of the way then I'll go back to Starbuck. And yes, you're quite right, it will be Fredericksburg next . . . one day.

Who knows? Grant won, but Lee was probably the more classically perfect. They're so very different. Could Grant have lasted as long as Lee if he had only Lee's resources? Lee has finesse, but what's unarguable is that Grant won! I'll pass on the choice!

Q

In the Sharpe chronology, what are the sequence numbers and historical years of Sharpe's Mission and Sharpe's Justice? Roger Kallhovd

Submitted October 18, 2005

A

The films Sharpe's Mission and Sharpe's Justice were written by screenwriters for the tv series and are not based on any one of my books. To get more information about these films, click on the link for The Sharpe Appreciation Society and then click on 'Video Reviews'.

Q

Hi I was just wondering when the next book in your viking triology is out, as I have just finished the Pale Horseman and can not wait to read the third one. I have read several of your triologies and find this one the most compelling. Laura

I know it's a little soon after the Pale Horseman has just come out, but I was wondering whether there was going to be a next installment and whether it will be in the UK sometime in the new year or whether it will come out in 2007?Thank you and keep writing - the books are fantastic!
Simon

Submitted October 18, 2005

A

It won't come out in 2007. It will be published in 2006 and the book will probably be called The Red Ship. It's written, all but for a final polish, and the first line reads - 'The dead and dying lay at the foot of the green hill.' Which is a clue that it begins at the same moment that The Pale Horseman ends. I like it (but then I would). And you won't have to wait too long for it because it seems likely that we'll publish in June instead of October (probably, not certain) to make room for a Sharpe in the autumn.

Q

Hi - just finished the Pale Horseman (or Dervel rides again, as my Dad calls it...) What always strikes me about all of your books is the celebration of being a warrior, or perhaps just the celebration of manhood... If you had your time again would you ever consider a soldiers life? Just to feel that battle song yourself perhaps? Do you feel that you've missed out in not living that life (I do - much more so when I read your books!) Also the (totally understandable) revulsion to organised religion. Too many wars fought over that. And finally the celebration of the Celts. Can one be too Irish?? I wish you well - you opened my eyes to a history or Britain I never imagined, and now actively persue. Look after yourself. Martin

Submitted October 14, 2005

A

I suppose I do celebrate warriors. The very first book I wrote carried an epigraph from Samuel Johnson - Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier. I wanted to be a soldier, but was born with truly lousy eyesight, so the recruiting sergeant offered me a prospect of the Pay Corps, which is a noble and necessary outfit, but it didn't quite match my youthful dreams, so here I am, scribbling instead!

Q

I have one comment and two questions. My comment is that I loved The Pale Horseman as much as I did The Last Kingdom which so many times isn't the case with second books in a series. My first question concerns the time period for the third book. Will it follow directly after The Pale Horseman leaves off or will it be moved forward in time. I guess I'm anxious for Ethelfleada to grow up and be the herione you said she would be. My second questions is why the West Saxons had no queens. You made a point of this in both novels and I'm curious. Does anyone know why? Again, I thank you for writing such exciting books. Ann Madonna

Submitted October 14, 2005

A

The first line of the next book reads - 'The dead and dying lay at the foot of the green hill.' Which is a clue that it begins at the same moment that The Pale Horseman ends.

I don't! Eventually they did - it just seems to be a curiousity.