Your Questions

Dear Bernard

Love your work.  I see that Gallows Thief is being rereleased, does this mean there is another book in the pipeline (fingers crossed), a TV production perhaps or just the Publishers hoping to raise a few more pennies to feed their children?

Andy Hampshaw

Dear Mr Cornwell ,

I would just like to start by saying "thank you" for igniting my passion of reading again, it has been quite a while.

The tales of Uhtred & his mate Finan have truly been enjoyable...  what started as buying your book 'The Last Kingdom' with a voucher that work had given me at Yule last year has me waiting now for my order from Book Depository of Warrior Chronicles as I wait for you to add the finishing touches & a prowl to 'Flame Bearer'

I would have to say that my three favourite Uhtred moments are, on the shores of the Humber river I believe it was where Steapa freed him & Finan from slavery,  the time Finan gave Uhtred the upper hand hugely by walking out of Bebbanburg's smithy with Uhtred's Uncle, his cousins wife & their son!  and the time Stiorra killed the priest

Anyway back to Subject matter, I really liked how you weaved in Uhtred Jnr & his old man meeting in that Pub... I thought it was really clever how you did that & I was wondering if you ever thought about doing that with Stiorra & her husband, Uhtred is getting older now & I just don't see that it will be him that brushes shoulders with King Dunmail in a shield wall.

Keep up the good work & thanks again from Seaford, Australia

Kindest regards,

Scott

 

Greetings Bernard,

I am a fan of only about a year, but have successfully made my way through the Saxon Chronicle and Grail Quest series.

Guy Vexille has to be my favorite antagonist character that you have written.Towards the end of Heretic, I appreciate the deeper look you provide into the deeper motivations of Guy and his (mad) desire to fight alongside his cousin Thomas and rule with grandeur in France. I wouldn't say there was incongruity, but I was genuinely surprised starting midway through Vagabond the gestures of conciliation he began to occasionally offer, mixed with his unfortunate, cold blooded killing. I'm still not sure whether it was seeing usefulness in Thomas's role as an unmatched killing machine, or familial. What started as a "love to hate" character, I felt a sense of sadness at the circumstances at the end of Heretic. From early on, did you know precisely how things were going to proceed between Guy and Thomas in the wider story arc, or was there a process of discovery as you were writing the books? Was there any chance of them unifying, even temporarily, on some battlefield against a sudden or common enemy?

On the other topic of Book tours, I have toured your Facebook page and many areas of the website, and have not encountered much in the way of book tours. I can imagine it is hard to find the time with your rate of publication! Is this not something you typically do? If I am mistaken, I would appreciate your direction as to where I should check for future opportunities.

Regards,

Sean Malone

Dear Author,

I always be concerned about the fate of Antonia, Sharpe´s daughter with Teresa. In the later books, after Teresa´s death, she was not mentioned again. What did happen with her? Also, will be there be more Sharpe´s books or tv episodes?

Plinio Tiago

Dear Sir,

I am a Singer Songwriter who is on the road a lot and i always have your audiobooks in my car, it gets me through many long and lonely journey´s driving in europe asia or australia . My favourite hero  is uthred as  i seem to  have a small obsession with the times of the vikings from 790-1200.

I was wondering whether you have ever contemplated writing a story,that is set  maybe one generation before uthred and more about the viking side of things.maybe a young viking that lifed alongside Ivar the boneless ...  If you ever write it I will never sue you! this is my written statement for it !!  i am not a book writer,  but would love to have your great skill,  knowledge and character development delve into the many possibilities of viking life..

 

anyway , i have never done this, write to a very busy artist as i know how precious time is , trying to make enough time to write in between all the things life throws at us..

thank you for your great books

sincerely

Chris Shermer

ps:  i thought the bbc series the last kingdom was very good , it had a raw edge to it , although the hero is quite a pretty young man it doesn´t become schmalzy , thank god !! .. i hope they continue it . people seem to love the well written vikings series that is in its 4th season aswell and are hungry for more material dealing with these rough dark ages.why that is i can only guess;)

I know that you were from England initially,  but I was wondering how you like Cape Cod?  I spent my summers there as a youth but I was keen on your thoughts.  What do you think of it and do you travel to other places in the US?

David Benson

Hello Mr. Cornwell,

I thoroughly enjoy your historical tales, especially The Grail Quest series and The Saxon Tales. We share a common geography in that I summer in Scituate, MA and winter in South Carolina at Callawassie Island. Perhaps someday we can meet and do some large mouthed bass fishing or golf. I think you would love Callawassie Island.

It is only about 75 minutes south of Charleston.

Is The Grail Quest finished or are their more to come?

Thank you for providing many hours of entertainment and history.

Jim Paolucci

Oh my Mr Cornwell

just what have you done? Not since i was in a school environment have i read a book but now i find myself reading one of yours per week. I am forced to admit that i am entirely hooked as i follow Uhtred around our wonderful land. I am fortunate to have visited and lived in so many of the areas mentioned and somehow this extends the enjoyment as my imagination links in to the knowledge of such places. My question to you is this, I find your index of old and new place names so helpful and have been using your maps additionally as we work around the  Country. Would it be at all possible to add a pronunciation guide in a third column? I struggle so much with not only the place names but some of the characters names also. I thank you for your time and even more i thank you for starting a blaze for reading that would rival any hall burning!

Kindest regards

Simon

Dear Mr Cornwell

All of your books have provided much entertainment for me and, I believe, education! I am writing a note to object just a little, but first want to say how much I admire your story-telling. I assume you research the available sources and view the standard works. I had no appreciation of the period in Britain prior to 1066 but now feel (I hope accurately) that, with your help and that of a couple of other fiction writers, I have a broad and satisfying picture of some of the era. Plenty of chaos remains in the years post 410 AD (CE).

I am sorry that you were made to endure many tedious hours in Sunday School - unfortunately some Sunday School instructors may be more well-intentioned than well-informed or may make inappropriate (in my opinion) use of the Bible. (I hope none of your instructors were like your obnoxious, deceitful so well-drawn Sergeant in the Sharpe volume.) My point is that, regardless of your early learning experience ("Warriors of the Storm", 298) there are no children (lads?) said actually to be slaughtered in the (puzzling) account in 2 Kings 2:23-24, although it might be fairly implied. Nor does the account say the LORD sent them. These days it is not difficult to access the text in a plethora of versions. I know writers conjecture exactly what the she-bears episode means exactly, but surely there are so many more vital issues.

I do greatly appreciate your books and look forward to reading more. I usually (maybe always) resonate with the views your characters present on "churchism" (my term) though I am glad they do not too seriously heed the "old Gods", for "religianity" has no more to offer. I am always interested in portrayals of the period and if only it were possible I would like to know more of the intellectual conflicts to which your Saxon characters were successors. I suppose that is an area for conjecture and imagination..

Yours very sincerely

Allen Hampton

Dear Mr Cornwell,

Your books have taught me so much for the last ten years and I keep up with your interviews and website answers regularly. I am 21 and got hooked on your books when I was being a terribly behaved pupil in a secondary school in Spain. I think if I hadn’t been reading your books for the 3 years before moving back to England, there would have been a good chance of me doing a miserable job of finishing school there. So thank you for writing such good stories.

I’m writing to you today because I wanted to ask your advice, you seem like you’ve had quite an interesting life and if you’ve ever thought about writing a biography let me tell you, I would read it!

I’m just a bit conflicted. Around me all I hear from people is that I have a decent job and should stick with it. But I’m not interested by it at all and I don’t think I need to be playing it safe right now. I want to do well in life whilst enjoying it.

I suppose I was just wondering if you have any general advice in life for a young man?

Thank you Mr Cornwell,

Kind regards,

George Summerson