Your Questions

Dear Mr Cornwell,
I felt obliged to at the very least try to contact to you and thank you for the wonderful worlds that you have spun and recreated. The Sharpe series had me constantly hungry for more, The Warlord Chronicles had me on the edge of my seat, and the Grail quest had me from the opening line. However i feel as though the hero of your books would have to be Uhtred of Bebbenburg, whom is a most strong and relatable character. Innumerable times i have submersed myself in your books, and when i reached the end of each series i felt as though a small part of me had died.
My question, put simply, is: will there be any more from Sharpe, Thomas of Hookton, or Derfel Cadarn? I assume that there will be more from Uhtred, as i got the impression in The Pagan Lord that he is not quite finished yet.

If you could please send a response back i would be more than happy, and if not; i'll still be happy that you have read this message
Mitchell Smith

Dear Mr Cornwell,
I've read only 6 of your books so far (The Warrior Chronicles series) and I'm anxious to read the next as well your others series. I think you write very well and your books are quite wit. So, I have a question...
I'm writing a book of myself and as it's my first I'm watching it in order so it won't be neither too large nor too short. I reckon your books have just the ideal size and I would like to know how many words there are more or less in each of The Warrior Chronicles series books so I would have a basis. And also...how many words would you recommend a book should have to a beginning writer?
Best Regards,
Kaio

I enjoy your novels and have read  quite a few of them. One thing I enjoy is your translation of place names. This gives me the opportunity to look up these places on today's maps which gives me a better picture of events.  I am confused about some places in your novel The Fort. You mention “Majabigwaduce is now called Castine, Townsend is Bucks Harbor,”. Castine Me is easy to find but when I look up Bucks Harbor it puts me some 95 miles east of Castine. This does not make sense to me. Why would the revolutionaries upon leaving Boston sail past there destination. Then you also mention that when they leave Townsend they sail east not west back to Majabigwaduce. What is it I am missing obviously I have something wrong.
John Brekka

Mr. Cornwell,

In January of 2013 I posed a question to you about a geographical location in "Sharpe's Triumph".  A little over a year later I sit with a copy of "Sharpe's Devil" on my desk, having nearly completed a joyous romp through Sharpe's career.

Now I have another geographical question for you, as Sharpe negotiates travel to Puerto Cruceros in search of Don Blas Vivar.  Is this a real place?  All my searches only return sale offers for pleasure cruises to Chile.  Exciting as all that sounds, I'm just wondering where it is in relation to Valdivia.

Thanks, and double thanks for the last year's worth of reading.  Looking forward to the new Waterloo book, and perhaps a journey with Starbuck next.

Matt

Good day to you.
I am writing a book about a Welsh warrior in the times dated similar to that of the warrior chronicles.
It is fictional.
May I assure you that I have not, nor will not be copying from you. There are barriers that we do not cross.
I however would like to ask you if it would be possible for me to have my subject involved in situations and battles that Uhtred was involved in without poaching?

You have influenced me immensely and I have no doubt I could never emulate your fine work so please keep us inpatient for your new releases.

All the best

C Barnett

Given that you spend a good deal of time in the SC Lowcountry, have you given any thought to a stand-alone novel or even a mini series of stories based in or around Charleston? So much American/British history, both heroic and tragic, took place on that peninsula and in that harbor.
I would love, for example, to see what you would do with the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War. Everyone knows the battles and names from New England, NY/NJ and Penn., but one never hears much of characters like Banastre "Bloody" Tarleton, the "Swamp Fox" (Francis Marion), the "Fighting Gamecock" (Thomas Sumter) or Oscar Marion, a slave, who served Francis Marion and was officially recognized as an "African American Patriot" in a 2006 ceremony on the US Capitol steps. Or, places like Cowpens, Camden, Ninety-Six or Kings Mountain. More Revolutionary War battles were fought in SC than in any other area, and Charleston played such a huge role in all of it.
I know you have many, many other projects planned and on your mind, but I wanted to ask, never-the-less. You are a "Sandlapper", now, after all!!! Even if only part time...
Thanks, and best regards,
Dalton (South Carolina)

Dear Bernard.

I am re-reading this whole series. It's wonderful. I can't help thinking that the story of Uhtred would be fantastic if it was made into a film or tv series as Sharpe was. Is there any possibility that this might happen in the future?
Pauline Walker
I just heard a rumor that the makers/producers (or someone associated with) Downton Abbey stated that they were making a series based on The Saxon Series.  Is this true?  I truly hope so, that would be an awesome vision for TV!  Love the books, and the stories and hope to see them on the little screen.
Can't wait for the next book to come out!
Thank you.
Sharon Griffiths

Hi Bernard,

I read with interest your reply concerning archers in favour of musketeers. I never knew that Wellington considered a corp of bowmen - although no surprise what with flintlocks being slow-loading, inaccurate, and misfiring in wet weather! However, perhaps one avenue he could have explored would have been to recruit American Native volunteers into his ranks (something both sides did during the Seven Years War in what was then called the 'colonies')  as most of these fierce, war-painted people still skilfully utilized the bow as a potent weapon. Even as rifled firearms developed to revolvers and breech-loading bullets with percussion caps, distributed to US federal troops, renegade Indian tribes were still regarded as a dangerous foe (you only have to ask Custer...oh wait, he was killed at the Little Bighorn). However, I'm not sure about the range of an Indian bow compared to muskets of Napoleonic Wars. Perhaps - if recruitment had gone ahead - they'd be trained to deliver
a withering hail of arrows as happened at Crecy or Azincourt; having Indians deployed as skirmishers probably wouldn't make a dent in the enemy ranks. Or perhaps from horseback? Much deadlier reload speed than carbines. Also a question of tactics, do you reckon?
Robert Douglas

You will not be aware of it, but you have been a great help to me as I am writing my own book, set in 614AD. As you suggest in your writing advice, I have been studying some of the Uhtred books. I am working with a mentor and she is trying to lift me to another level. So in my rewrites I am looking for flaws and weaknesses.
One such problem was a difficulty with the battle of Chester in 616AD. Reading The Pagan Lord, I have discovered that I have got my characters crossing the river Dee when they didn't need to. Your account of the taking of the fort has been so helpful as well as the account of Bebbanburgh, which if ever I get to write it, will feature in a later book.
I am assuming that the Celtic Britons  fought with slings, spears, daggers and bow and arrows, only the trained military using swords. Would I be right? There is so little reliable information available.
Anyhow, reading your books is of an enormous help to me.
Maureen Chapman

Hi There,

First, I'd like to say that I adore your writing and you're the reason that I now read historical fiction profusely. I'm starting to attempt it myself within my undergrad writing degree in an English university and I'm working on a short story that I hope to expand about the invasion of Lindisfarne. However, I'm writing an accompanying critical piece concerning the nature of research within historical fiction as a genre. I would like to explore the ideas that you have to do far more research than you include, that it ultimately needs to feel real and believable, even if you forsake some of the truth and that with a subject like Lindisfarne, there is only so much fact to uncover and most of the historical sources were written by the English and not the Norsemen.

Gosh, this question became long. Sorry about that, I just wanted to know if there is anything small you could say regarding these topics that I would be able to quote you on in my essay. A direct source would be wonderful!

Thank you,
Emma