Your Questions

Dear Mr Cornwell,

in regards to your Sharpe books, from my knowledge it is set in a time period where it wasn't uncommon for officers of one country to have been born in a different country than where they serve.

 

The most egregious example is Napoleon himself, he is a Corsican, who up until the was 12 was part of Italy, so we have an Italian, who becomes leader of France to plunder Italy.

 

My question would be if Sharpe had somehow ended in the french army, what kind of career he would have had there?

R.M.Solea

Hello Mr. Cornwell!

 

I am thoroughly enjoying The Last Kingdom!  I've read your Sharpe books, but this Viking/Saxon history has really grabbed me.  Possibly it's ancestral. I've visited many of the places mentioned, so I can envision your characters in their settings clearly. One of my favorite memories was walking a Roman road in Yorkshire.

 

I designed and rigged all the ships and boats for the Pirates of the Caribbean series of movies.  When I was down in Antigua in 2003, there was a sweet little yacht moored at Nelson's Dockyard.  I was told it was yours.  I was impressed and took a picture of her..

 

Tell me, was it really, or did I fall for someone's fiction? If so, do you still have her? Where do you sail?

 

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series!

Courtney Andersen

Hi Bernard,

Just finished reading Flame Bearer and I am left wondering if there will be another book/s to complete the series.  What happens next with Athelstan and the younger Uhtred?

Kind regards

Tony Lewis

New Zealand

 

I got the impression that, after reading The Flame Bearer, Uhtred, now in bebbanburg still has more to do. Is there another story to come? I really hope so.

regards,

David Tomlinson

 

I recently came across an article claiming that scientists studying cat DNA have found cat remains at a Viking site dating to between the eighth and eleventh century A.D. in northern Germany. It makes sense that since Vikings were sea-faring people, they might have kept cats to control rodents. I could see cats hunting rats on Viking ships that were beached, but perhaps they accompanied their owners on their voyages, too.

 

I'm wondering, did Uhtred have any cats?

Joni Steshko

Mr Cornwell

 

Greetings from a Briton in New Zealand.

 

I would like to heap praise for your books upon you but it all seems a bit lacking to do so to such a great writer. I have been reading your books for many years and they are one of the few things that can totally emerge me; albeit for too shorter time as they are devoured so quickly.

 

I am particularly fond of your Arthur series (as a Welshman and lover of ancient tales) that I read twice back to back when I was younger. I've only ever done that with Tolken so you find yourself in good company.

 

No doubt your books will make it to the screen in good time. I don't think that the Last Kingdom did the books justice at all - poor casting, brushing over the story and a very shallow re-write. I'm not sure where that was supposed to go - a young American audience? I hope you find your way to a better director and screen writer who will do it justice. I always imagines Utred as a bulk of a man with a commanding presence rather than a young lithe guy; more like Rollo from Vikings.

 

This is actually quite important considering the total lack of knowledge on how The Lost Lands (excuse the Welshman) were lost and became England. We learn more from your stories than we ever did at school.

 

Anyway, I should come to the point. I don't usually write to strangers but I promised myself that I would after seeing a TV piece about stone mounds and circles in ancient Britain. The long and short is that they propose the tradition / technology began in Orkney and travelled south eventually arriving at Stonehenge 500 years later. Incredibly interesting.

 

I always thought your Stonehenge book was a bit lonely and could do with some company. It would delight your many fans to see a few prequels - I'm sure you can manage to link things up a bit so they end up in the right place.

 

No doubt that you have a very thorough list of ideas to follow up on but it would be a tragedy to your readers if you missed this particular opportunity. It almost seems like that lonely book has been waiting for the right thread to finish (or start?) the story.

 

Fingers crossed and (hopefully) good luck!!

 

Thank you again.

 

Cheers

Matt

Dear Mr. Cornwell,

I wanted to express how much of an avid reader of your book series The Saxon Tales I am and how much I admire your storytelling abilities to focus the readers attention.  My favorite part in the series so far is the Battle of Beamfleot.  I had a question regarding your research into your family history concerning the time before 1066 and the Norman invasions.  I am asking because my family origin name of Boyle resides in Ayr, which is directly across (according to your book flap map) on the opposite shore. Do you happen to know what sources of information I might seek if I wanted to do some further research into my family in Ayr? Please continue to write your stories, I am looking forward after i am current with the Saxon Tales I am looking forward to reading your Grail Quest series.  Thank you for your stories.

 

Sincerely,

Benjamin Boles

A good friend we met on a Viking River Cruise back in 2009 put me on to your writing, initially the Last Kingdom series, and I have been hooked ever since.  After retiring six years ago, I have devoted myself to tracking down copies of that series plus other stand alone novels.  I have read 12 total including six of the Last Kingdom and have three or four others calling my name. (I also watched the TV series).   Every book has held my attention from start to finish except the Fort.  For me, this book was a change from the others because I read about half over a two month period and then gave up.  Please do not take this as anything more than a comment about the Fort only because I am presently engrossed in Stonehenge.  I had learned that Paul Revere was not the hero we learned about in school after reading Paul Revere's Ride by David Fischer.  Longfellow did no favors for students of US history with his poem.

 

Anyway, the stories of Viking travels to Great Britain are fascinating.  I am half Swedish and speak the language, half Danish, find many town names in the UK with Scandinavian roots, and have traveled to Scandinavia on several occasions. A history I read several years ago claimed that original Swedes were much shorter than what one sees in films, but dark haired with fair skin.  Uhtred meets that description in the TV series and old buildings visited from the 17th and 18th centuries seem to bear out people were short. Will there be any more episodes in the TV series?

 

I have rambled on enough.  FYI, I have enjoyed several fiction and non fiction books on the Knights Templar .  Do not interpret this as anything more than sharing a reading topic.  I also like Steve Berry, Tolkien, George Martin, Frank Herbert (I met him at the University of Washington in the early 70s, but that is a different story), and other authors of historical novels.  My friend encourages me to track down Sharpe novels but that will be a project after the Last Kingdom.  Please keep those stories coming.

 

Ron

Hiya. I know you're not working on the Uhtred books right now but should we expect book 11 this year? Thank you x

Zoe

Dear Mr. Cornwell,

 

I am writing to thank you for such a gripping series of books. I have just finished reading The Flame Bearer (I think book 10 in the series) and can honestly say that I have not enjoyed such enthralling stories for a long time. The character of Lord Uhtred is both humorous and impressive, and I have opened each book with excitement.

 

Although Uhtred has just recaptured his home of Bebbenberg, and so the series could  end here, I would love to know if you have any plans to continue his tale. It has inspired me to read non-fiction about this period in our history.

 

I am just about to begin reading the first of the Arthurian Warlord Chronicles, and am anticipating great stories!

 

With kind regards,

 

Elizabeth Ashley

Dear Sir,

I've enjoyed all of of the novels I've read of yours (Sharpe, Saxon series, Starbuck). I'm starting your Arthur/Warlord stories next.  But do you have plans for more Starbuck novels?  I'm most eager to read those.

Thanks for all of your work, I recommend you to many.

Melanie