Your Questions

What does one ever say in these types of messages but,....I will have to say that i do enjoy a lot of the books you write and have finished two and a half of the series that you have written and are currently written; along with watching the ones that have been made to TV. I can tell you do a lot of research into the subjects that you write, and take great care in the forming of the stories that you write, one of my favorites will have to be the Saxon series i think you truly gave me a picturesque idea what it would be like in a Shield wall.  I do have a question tho now that i think of it have you ever been approached for one of the books to be made into a movie?

thank you once again.

Victor

I want to start by saying i am a huge fan of your work and routinely check for updates. I would tell you my favorite book of yours but it is impossible to compare them, they are all great in their own way. Be it Sharpe, Uhtred, or Nathaniel, you have always been able to make a truly inspiring main character. I've found myself wanting to be them, or mirror their lifestyles. The sheer pride, strength and stubborness you instill in them is amazing. Few authors have made me read till my head hurts as many times as your books have.

I have a few questions for you. What are you favorite books? Who are a few of your favorite Authors, and which ones inspired you to write the way you did? Lastly, can you convince sean bean to change his name to richard sharpe, it seems more fitting.

Thanks for reading my letter Mr. Cornwell. Please keep writing for as long as you can. Its bad enough that there will not be more Sharpe adventures, i cant imagine a world without new Cornwell books.

 

Sincerly,

Your biggest fan, Eric.

Enjoy your books, especially Saxon stories and Warlord Chronicles. What research did you rely on to paint Lancelot as shallow, cowardly and vain and Arthur the opposite? Did your research lend credence to Arthur's wish to retire into a rural life (farming and blacksmithing)? Are you planning a sequel? After all, when Excalibur ends, Arthur is alive and Derfel is about to face, or so it appears, imminent death from Saxon swords.

j kuyper

Dear Mr Cornwell,

no reason to say much about your novels; I follow the grail quest, know Uthred of Bebbanburg well and have met Sharpe as well as the Fort. It took me some time of thinking why a falcon should be called calade; wouldn't  it be better for some readers to get a clue what you meant? Still, maybe you wanted to instigate curiousity. This is what found most helpful in the end:

http://www.la-definition.fr/definition/calade // http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Calade  // Could a native speaker of English have known at once?

I do hope you will continue writing for quite a time. All the best!

Martin Wolny, 59, Germany

I have just started listening to the The Empty Throne after listening to all of the preceding books in the series. While I am enjoying the books and plan to listen to all of them I think they would have been more enjoyable if you'd included some well written sex scenes like the ones in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

Barbara Alders

hi Bernard,

firstly, thank you so much for writing the last kingdom series.  i saw the tv series, loved it, and immediately began reading it from the beginning.  secondly, thank you for being not only an incredible story-teller, but also an extremely prolific one!  i listen to audiobooks too and am listening to sharpe's tiger and it's great.  so my question is in regards to sword song when uhtred is retaking london from siegfred (sp) and erik, and he takes the 2 ships through the gap in london bridge.  my understanding from the map is that the portion of london east of the bridge was fortified by the enemy?  or was it the west side?  it sounds like uhtred is rowing west to east towards the estuary, which would have been in the direction of the river's flow.  but then the location of ludd's gate doesn't make sense unless they were rowing against the river at high tide going east to west.  i think it must be the latter, right?  and the water level was lower west of the bridge because of high tide?  thank you for the clarification!  also, was there ever a gap or did you make that up?

 

sincerely,

Sarah

Bernard,

Just rereading Stonehenge and was following along the various places on Googlemaps.  One thing confused me is the village of Maden, which you state corresponds to Marden in you Historical Note.  However, doing a search for Marden only reveals a Marden in Kent, which surely is not the Marden you reference.  Any clarification would be appreciated.

Byron Hathcock

I absolutely love your novels.  Uhtred must be one of my favorite characters of all time.  In Death of Kings, Uhtred thinks that while he is not fond of Christianity, he is fond of many Christians.  He mentions the most important Christians in his life; Alfred, Aethelflaed, Father Beocca, etc.  I could not help but notice he fails to mention Finan.  While Finan certainly does not rise to the status of Alfred, he is Uthred's most trusted friend, warrior, and adviser.  Was this an unintentional oversight, or does Finan not hold a special place in Uhtred's circle?

Mo Wark

Dear Mr. Bernard Cornwell:

When is the second installment of the television series The Last Kingdom going to be shown in the United States?  I have read all of your books about Uhtred of Bebbanburg  and enjoy them very much.

Thank you for responding.

Sincerely,

Ms. Susan M. Grady

Hi Bernard,

I love your work, read it all, and unashamedly copy your style in my own writing..

Are you heading to Australia at any stage?

Looking forward,

Dan Kealy