Your Questions

Q

Dear sir, tis the last time I'll bother you for a wee while, I promise!! just some more questions concerning Sharpe...... Was you ever tempted to reward Harper by making him an Ensign? or was that too unlikely because of him being from Ireland? or even there was no way you could keep him at Sharpe's side?! Also... were you tempted to use Lady Anne in other Sharpe adventures or after the break-up of Sharpe and Jane? As she appeared to have been quietly disappointed to find Sharpe had got together with Jane!! Can't wait for 2007 sir even though I'll be 30 by then, sorry to constantly be a pest, once again..... thank you!! Lee

Submitted June 21, 2005

A

I've never been tempted! It was hard enough persuading Harper to be a sergeant, let alone an officer!

Not really, though I have an idea he and she might have had a fling later . . . .

Q

Mr. Cornwell, I am a new fan to your Sharpe novels, but I have almost read them all. As a former infantryman in the U.S. Army, I wanted to say that I really enjoy Sharpe. You really have a grasp of the mind of the common soldier, and this is the important link (to me) that keeps the pages turning. I was intrigued by the American, Rifleman Taylor. I just wanted to ask if there were a lot of Americans who had, one way or the other, wound up in Wellington's Army? There has not been a lot of resources at my disposal to find this information. I realize you are a busy man, but I would be thrilled just to hear what you have to say. Sincerely, David DeForest

Submitted June 21, 2005

A

To be honest I don't have a clue how many Americans were in the British army - we do have figures for the Royal Navy and there were certainly US citizens serving at Trafalgar. There were lots of loyalist Americans in the British army, some of them went to very high rank, but I based Taylor on the supposition that every nation has its rogues and wanderers, and such a man is quite likely to end up in the army - though he's not based on any real evidence.

Q

Marvellous books, the lot of `em....i`ve had the pleasure of reading `em all several times over.......bar the american civil war ones.............i`ll get there eventually. Can`t wait for the next "alfred" in october. Now i`ve got one little question...i know Sean Bean was a big influence in making the Tv series so popular.......... & i just wondered if he`d had any sort of influence on your good self???.....specifically if he managed to convert you into a "Blade"!!!...........Sean being a mad Sheffield United fan....as...er (cough)... coincidently i am too!!!............would it be too much to ask that my favourite author be a Blade too!!! :-) Al Roberts

Submitted June 21, 2005

A

I know you won't approve of this, but my big sports (as a fan) are American Football (the Patriots) and rugby, of which I'm hugely fond, and to a lesser extent, cricket. I never get to see any cricket because it happens during the sailing season on Cape Cod, but I do make a pilgrimage to the UK to see some rugby every year. The Blades, of course, are the greatest team ever, in any sport, on any planet, but that's about all I know of them.

Q

I've read every Sharpe my fav's being Regiment andHonor, which ones got the the best response in general from the public? Best wishes-Bruce

Submitted June 21, 2005

A

I honestly don't know - I'm not sure how I'd find out either. Or perhaps we should organise a popularity contest in this website and you can vote for your favourite Sharpe novel? It's an idea .

Q

My best regards Mr. Cornwell. I hope that my English will be suitable enough for this little... maybe to say it... letter. First, I'd like to say that I admire your work very much. I read the Arthurian novels and I was encharmed. Never since "Taiko" and "Musashi" I've read something so beautiful. I'm looking forward to read some Sharpe novels or Grailquest, but not after I finish my Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath". In this context, here comes my second thought and question. Which are the authors that gave you greatest influence? Currently I'm not writing, although I have some artistic attempts. I'm mostly reading. and I'm greatly influenced by authors like Hemmingway, Heller, Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac. They are influence not just on my artistic "lurches", but on my person and cultural knowledge as well. It will be very nice if you point me some authors that have influenced you. I know that this may sound odd, but I was really encharmed by your novels and I said myself that such a historical buff (sorry if this insults you) like you, couldn't exist without being influenced himself by some great authors. I'll really apreciate your advice. The third question is what your opinion on the modern fantasy literature. I'm not speaking about Tolkien, but yet in my opinion there are many authors which deserve some consideration. In the context - what is your opinion of the modern "phenomenon" - Harry Potter books. Have you read them? As a whole question have you read any fantasy novels? Are you influenced by them as well? The fourth question is less standard. I love the Japanese culture. For me Eiji Yoshikawa and his novels - "Taiko", "Musashi" and "Heike" are something incredible. Although in my homeland Bulgaria - the translation was poor - it was something outstanding. If you haven't read him - I certainly propose you to do it as soon as possible. He is outstanding author. In the context, if you like and are interested in the Japanese culture (like me), dare if I ask if you intend to write such novel or series? With your excellent writing and history knowledge, I do not doubt in the quality of such project. Best Regards: Chavdar Likov

Submitted June 20, 2005

A

I'm not aware of any influences, which doesn't mean they're not there, but I'm not a very reflective writer and don't think about such things. I have favourite authors, of course, of which the chief is John Cowper Powys, but I don't think there's any influence from him. At risk of sounding smug I do what I do and try not to introduce too many external influences that would probably only make it harder.

I fear I don't read enough of them to comment! In fact I hardly read any of them, though recently I did read, and was hugely impressed by, Philip Reeve's three books - Mortal Engines, Predator's Gold and Infernal DevicesL. They're written for younger readers and published, in the UK, by Scholastic, and they're hugely inventive, wonderfully told and absolutely riveting. Outside those - don't know really!

I think I can safely say that I won't be writing anything set in Japan - the amount of research I'd need to do would be daunting, and I've so much else I want to write - but perhaps, after I've read Yoshikawa, I'll feel differently.

Q

I've just finished the Warloard Chronicles on Arthur and I have to say it's the best read I've ever had, so thanks for that! I actually have ambitions to maybe take time out and write a book in 3 years or so when I've finished university. However, I feel my weakness maybe being that I might become too repetitive and limited with adjectives and the way I describe a certain event. E.g you have described a good few battles over the trilogy, what did you do to make each one different enough and not repeat your style and structure and choice of lexis of the other battles? Thanks in advance for your help. Owen

Submitted June 17, 2005

A

Mainly by not thinking about it! Every battle is different, not just in terrain and combatants, but also with what is at stake, and I think you just have to rely on those differences to carry you through. It works for me (I hope), but I suspect it would make things much more difficult if I consciously tried to make the battles different. They should grow out of the story, and the story will dictate what happens in them. Hope that helps!

Q

I love A Crowning Mercy and The Fallen Angel and would like to read more stories of the same plot line, maybe another sequel. If you have one published already, could you let me know. Thank you.
Claire Bruman

I recently came across Fallen Angels and Crowning Mercy and enjoyed them. Are there any more books in the series? Kind Regards Tony Sher Cheshire UK

Submitted June 17, 2005

A

Sorry, there are no more books in the series.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell I cannot describe the many hours of pleasure your books have given me over the past 12 years or so. I think I have read every book published in your name. As someone with a keen interest in the American Civil War I rate the Starbuck Chronicles as some of the best novels written about that war and look foward to the day that you return to Starbuck. However, the question I would like to ask is whatever happened to the Starbuck novel that was due to be published towards the beginning of 1999? I remember Amazon and a number of other booksellers taking advance orders for Rebel V towards the end of 1998 then the novel did not appear. John Pilkington

Dear Mr Cornwell. I have like many others enjoyed and still wait eagerly for your books. I would like to know if you will be writing any more books in the Starbuck Chronicles series as it seems to me as if there should be more. His life, although fictional, seem unfinished. Many thanks for your time. Thomas Ravensdale

huge fan. reading Sharpe's Escape now. will you ever finish the Starbuck chronicles? Mike Cipolla

Submitted June 17, 2005

A

The book has not (yet) been written.

Q

Dear Sir, sorry its me again... please forgive my ignorance and probably my stupidity, but did/does a captain-general out-rank a major-general? Because that's how it has appeared to me (through reading your wonderful creation) and thus confused me as a major out-ranks a captain!! Sorry if I've wasted your time Sir!! Lee

Submitted June 17, 2005

A

Don't remember a captain-general (there wasn't such a rank), but perversely a lieutenant-general outranked a major-general. Weird but true.

Q

I began with reading The Archer's Tale and while waiting for Heretic to be published I started the Sharpe books. You indeed have a way of writing historical fiction that makes it more interesting than the history itself. My question concerns the Sharpe books, Why the two publishers? This happened to Hemingway as well, and others I suspect. You have probably fielded this question many times in the past but I'm just curious. Have purchased the Arthur books and the Starbuck books, but am trying to complete Sharpe (on Gold now). I've enjoyed them all. Am doing the same thing with Alexander Kent and his Bolitho series. Continued good ideas. Tom Shaffner

You live on Cape Cod. Why do you publish first in the UK. I hate waiting. That asked, I hope there is a contest somewhere because I'd like to vote for the Warlord series as the best historical fiction of modern times. Starbuck and Sharpe close behind, of course, but they share with my favorite Naval characters. Who said the difference between Britons and Americans is that Britons think 100 miles is a long way, and Americans think 100 years is a long time? David Williams

Submitted June 17, 2005

A

Why do I publish in the UK first? That's a decision the publishers make, not me. And why two publishers? Because that's the way the publishing industry is set up - one part of HarperCollins operates in the UK and a separate part in the US.

I haven't a clue! Fairly neat, though. Not as true as the remark that life is like toilet paper, the nearer you get to the end the faster it unrolls.