Your Questions

Q

Sir,

I was in the military over 24 years and I still work for the Army. Your books went to war with me and it took me away from the daily issues. I love Sharpe and Uhtred. Sharpes DVDs are wonderful I have them all. I am glad to see BBC will be putting together a series.  I know having so many books and characters,  I was wondering if you are going to revive the Grail quest and Starbuck series. Again thank you for all the wonderful writing.

Ernest Casey

Submitted January 15, 2015

A

I don't have plans to add to the Grail Quest series but I do hope to return to Starbuck one day.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell.

May I begin by thanking you for over 25 years of fantastic reading. I have devoured all of your books and go back and re read them all on a regular basis. Thank you! I have just seen the cast list on imdb.com for The Last Kingdom and have noticed that the screenwriters from Carnival have already added characters that do not appear in the book(s) at all. Please see link below.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4179452/?ref_=nv_sr_2

 

3 characters that have been added so far are Father Selbix Glenna Hubbard the Archer

 

I was wondering what your thoughts were on this, as I don't believe such re writing is necessary as I believe your books are perfect for the screen as they are and that they require no tinkering at all. I would be interested to hear your opinion on this and  would like to thank you once again for so many years of pleasure.

Kind regards.

Ed Read

Submitted January 15, 2015

A

I honestly don’t have thoughts on it!  Other than they know their business a hell of a lot better than I do, so I assume there’s excellent reasons for the decision!

Q

Thanks so much for writing the great stories in "Saxon Tales" !  I just finished "Sword Song", and appreciate the amount of research you must have done to describe 9th century life in such a realistic way.  I do wonder how much was actually known about the personality of King Alfred?  He and Uhtred are so vividly portrayed.  I have a personal interest in this, being directly descended from Alfred, 36th generation through his daughter Ethelfrida (variation on Aethelflaed, I assume) and granddaughter Elswina..  Further descendants landed in Groton, MA in 1640 and eventually migrated to Maine, where I now live. Thanks for any light you can shed on this.  Can't wait to read the rest of the series!  Jan

Submitted January 15, 2015

A

We do know a fair amount about Alfred, partly from his own writings (scholarly, pious, earnest) and from the description of him in Asser’s life of Alfred which is revealing and thorough. There is a theory that Asser’s book is a forgery, though it seems very unlikely (why?), and most scholars accept that it is what it says on the cover – a biography of King Alfred written by a contemporary

 

 

Q

Dear Mr. Cromwell,

 

I have read all your books and am 2/3 through The Empty Throne.

 

My favorite of all your books is The Gallows Thief.  Will there ever be a sequel?

 

And how many volumes are planned for the Warrior Chronicles?

 

Thank you for the many hours of reading enjoyment you have provided, I look forward to your response.

Maurice Rosaler

Submitted January 14, 2015

A

I have thought of a sequel to Gallows Thief, but now I'm not sure if I'll get to it!

Still don't know how many books there will be, but I'm currently working on the next one!

Q

Mr. Cornwell,

 

I recently watched a documentary on the Anglo-Saxon hoard found near Staffordshire, England. The whole time I was watching it I couldn't help but think it was left there by one of Uhtred's contemporaries. Do you know much about the find and could it have been from the time of Alfred the Great?

 

Thank you for your wonderful stories!

 

Graham - New Jersey

Submitted January 14, 2015

A

The Hoard predates my stories, and, hoards are so common that I tried to incorporate them anyway (Uhtred buries a hoard at least once).  I have visited the Anglo-Saxon galleries in the British Museum and I'd guess that 80% of the exhibits were labelled as being from a hoard.

 

 

 

 

 

Q

Who would win in a fight, Uhtred or Derfel?  Uhtred, right?

Danny

Submitted January 14, 2015

A

No idea!  A draw.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell,

I have been an avid fan since I discovered the Arthur Series a long time ago. I want to compliment you on a few things. Firstly this is a brilliant website - to look at, navigate and find what we need - there are so many poor ones these days. Your willingness to interact with the public is much appreciated. I really enjoy your straight-talk and explanations about what you don't want to receive - I really appreciate that kind of honesty. Many people better qualified than I will have complimented you on your writing. I will just say that your books are one of very few that I genuinely get excited about. Lastly I also wanted to say how much I enjoyed Tim Pigott-Smith's reading/acting of the Arthur series on audio book. Did you have input on how he characterised the voices? Did you like the audio books? I really felt that he did a brilliant job with the character's voices. My best wishes to you and yours and I hope 2015 is a great year for you.

Sincere regards,

Matthew Hedges.

Submitted January 14, 2015

A

Thank you!  I must confess I never listen to my books on audio and I have no involvement in the production process; but I have heard Mr. Pigott-Smith is quite good!

Q

Mr. Cornwell,

 

I attended one of the Sharpe's tours in Spain in 2008 and was wondering if anyone is conducting a similar tour of historic sites based on the Uhtred books?  I enjoy your work and look forward to your future publications.

 

Sincerely,

Joe Stevenson

 

Submitted January 14, 2015

A

I haven't heard of any plans for a tour.

Q

Dear Bernard,

Is there any chance of Nate returning to continue his American civil war adventures? I've enjoyed reading the whole series and was always left hoping that Nate would continue his escapades following Antietam and eventually survive this horrific war. I'm sure you been asked this question before, but it would be great to continue to learn and understand the events of the war within the context of a great story. Keep up the good work, just finished reading 'The Empty Throne', Brilliant!

Thanks for the many hours of reading pleasure you've given me.

Yours sincerely

Dave Orange

 

Will Nate march again? Best civil war stuff out there period!j

Chris Minor

 

Mr. Cornwell:

I'm a great portuguese admirer of your books. My favorites books are those four of Starbuck Chronicles, which I consider excellent. I do hope that you retake that magnificent chronicles as soon as you can.

I wish you a great 2015.

Rui Machado da Silva

Submitted January 13, 2015

A

I hope, someday, to return to Starbuck!

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell

 

I've been reading your books for years now and first of all would like to thank you for the endless hours of fun I had with Sharpe, Derfel, Uthred, etc.

My all time favourite are probably the Saxon stories and I recemtly did a reread of them, after reading "The empty Throne". Now a couple of questions sprang to my mind.

 

- in "Lords of the North" Gisela sais she and Uthred will have two sons and one daugter. One son will break his heart, one will make him proud and the daughter will be the mother of kings. Now, did you already know then that one will become a priest and also the idendity of Stiorras husband? I never heard of Sithric Caech before your latest novel, but he seems to have lead an eventful life!

 

- When reading the introduction to "The Last Kingdom" it doesn't seem clear to me if Uthred regained Bebbanburgh by the time he starts writing, but in later books there seem to be hints that he will finally succeed. Do you have in mind around which events he will make his next try to recapture the fortress?

And also, why does he finally decide that reading and writing are useful after all and starts telling his tale? He who so often calls the skills unnecessary.

 

Once again thank you for your work, I'm thrilled to see what your next book will be about!

 

Kind regards

 

Claude Leu

Submitted January 9, 2015

A

I certainly suspected that one would become a priest . . . . so yes!

I think it’s fairly obvious that he will recapture Bebbanburh, though how that happens I don’t have the faintest idea yet, and won’t till I write the book! Why does he approve of reading and wriing? Because without them there’s be no series . . . .