Your Questions

Q

What a superb series of books, the Sharpe series is!! The question in my mind is, will there be a book or books on Sharpes' joining the Rifles? I am a Serving soldier and taken part in some battlefield tours and I have used a couple of Sharpe books as guides, quite useful they was!! Give me, and every other fan, more Sharpe!! Steve Jackson

Submitted January 6, 2004

A

There will be more Sharpe - the next one is due out in April (Sharpe's Escape). No plans right now for a book on Sharpe joining the Rifles.

Q

Since I was 6, I've admired the Arthur´s stories - maybe because of a cartoon I used to see, my first touch with this era...:) I´m almost 30 and a friend of mine gave me this year the most wonderful gift I ever had: Warlord Trilogy. No words, it´s just FANTASTIC! I live in Brazil and I´m looking for your books as a crazy...:P The way you write is precise. However, for my surprise - and destroyed all my childhood dreams..:D - you describe Lancelot as a "bad guy". Just another way to describe him or did you find any historical thing that shows him like this? Another character that how you described surprised me was Guinevere. Almost all books and films I saw about King Arthur she is an "angel, sweet and fragile", but as she appears in your book she is almost shown as a "warrior", with her 4 dogs, powerful soul, with red hair not blonde as gold. Not saying that these "new" Guinevere and Lancelot are not good, but just curious about your "decision" to write them like this. Congrats for your books, the way you write is really really wonderful! Sorry to take your time. Thx. Ahnis Fraga

Submitted January 6, 2004

A

I don't think it's possible to write books keeping characters the same as they are in every other book - in other words, if I'd just written the Arthur legend the way it is usually written, why bother? And I suppose if you have Guinevere being unfaithful to Arthur with Lancelot, then that tells us something about their characters, does it not? And it hardly suggest a sweet, fragile angel!

Q

"Says So in the Scriptures"!!! I love this line, it make Hawkswill so real. What was your inspiration & more importantly, what are these scriptures he keeps talking about? They seem to contain a whole lot of useful information. Regards Michael

Submitted January 6, 2004

A

I suspect it's the Bible. Doubt he ever read it, but he appeals to its authority a lot.

Q

Sir, The Scholars Bookshelf, a mail order bookstore, advertises "Sharpes Charge" "In the fall of 1810 Richard Sharpe finds himself in the thick of the battle of Bussaco, the sack of Coimbra, and on the lines of Torres Vedras in a climactic battle. 2003:320 pages. (HarperCollins)" Now, Sharpe has charged aplenty in your books, but not (so far) in your titles. I can find no trace of this title at Amazon or on your web site. What gives? In regards to your titles, while they are eye catching and as harsh as that machete on steroids you have Sharpe lub around on his sword belt, I often think they could be improved. As a history teacher and retired Marine (Master Sergeant, 1973-95) I occasionally fantasize about some titles for Sharpe books which would truly reflect the grim realities of war: "Sharpe Hurrys Up and Waits" "Sharpe Stands in Line" and one which I think has real possibilities, "Sharpes Murphy - Sharpe in the Campaign Where Nothing Went Right" Feel free to use them, I promise not to sue. Sincerely, Shawn Scanlon

Submitted January 6, 2004

A

The title ' Sharpe's Charge' was scrapped in favour of Sharpe's Escape, which is due to be published in April 2004 (click on 'What's Coming' for more details). I like your ideas, but the problem is that after 20 books the titles are sort of traditional now, and I guess I'll keep them that way - though I'm incredibly tempted by 'Sharpe in the Campaign Where Nothing Went Right'. Might use that one.

Q

Thank you for your books, your stories and your style that combines a romantic sense of history with the harsh reality of war in whatever period you are in. I am just learning about using the net for writing research. Specifically right now I'm trying to find the lyrics to the songs that were of an Irish rebel nature on the way to Waterloo. I'm sure I read that somewhere in Holmes's work. So, the question is: do you know of any websites that you may use for period details of 1815 Ireland... or of the British army. many thanks. mark

Submitted January 6, 2004

A

Alas no. I fear all my research is done from books or documents.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell, will you write any books on the later Hundred Years war i.e the battle of Patay or Castillion? Will you ever write a book on Joan of Arc or King Henry V? Alex Verrall

Submitted January 5, 2004

A

Maybe - don't know - but not in the immediate future.

Q

Dear Mr.Cornwell, I have recently finished the Grail Quest series and the Sharpe series and have just finished the Winter King, but I don't know what ynes means. Could you please explain??? Liam

Submitted January 5, 2004

A

Ynys means 'island'

Q

Hi Mr Cornwell I have been a huge fan of your books for many years, they even prompted me to drive all the way to the Royal Armouries at Leeds just to see Wellington's sword. I love the British army's role in the whole Napoleonic era, however another period of history that has always been of great interest is the battle at Rourkes drift. Do you have any plans to release a book concerning this? Maybe in a bizare quirk of fate, Sharpe's son could have enlisted and be fighting there? Greg Sewell

Submitted January 5, 2004

A

I don't have any such plans at the moment, and I'm not really thinking about it either - I don't much like the later 19th Century - a daft prejudice, I know, but there it is.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell, I've been a big fan of your books for many years now and I have enjoyed the sense of realism in them. I would like to ask however, how you are able to describe the military life in various ages in such detail. Do you have a military past? Matt

Submitted January 3, 2004

A

No military past - just a fascination with military history and an unruly imagination.

Q

what happened to Sharpe's child by Morello and Harper's wife and child and please can we have a happy ending where he goes back to Normandy? Graham Whitt

Submitted January 3, 2004

A

I don't know what happened to the child, but we must assume she lived happily ever after, just as Sharpe did in Normandy.