Your Questions

Dear Sir,

I found the story about Uhtred by chance and I fell in love as many has. I read all the books so far as soon as I could and then I found the warlord chronicles. And I fell in love with that story too. I will eventually read all your books. What I wonder and many has asked you about it earlier, I am sure. But these stories would be excellent movies and series for television. There must have been movie or production companies asking you about these. I love to read and I love to watch movies too, some people though do not read and in my point of view they lose a lot, but to bring your wonderful stories to a larger audience, it would be terrific if you have the time to write or help people to do screenplays for movie or production companies and only fools would reject you. I am sorry for my poor English but I hope you understood my message. I wish you the best, sincerely,

Rikhard Tolonen

I felt I had to write and tell you how much pleasure I've received from your novels.  I rarely do such things, mostly because I'm certain that successful authors are far too busy to be able to read the hundreds of letters and emails they must receive.  Your comments on this site, however, seemed to encourage such things so here goes.

My first Cornwell novel was "The Last Kingdom".  Never have I been so intrigued by a character or a by any novel as I was by that tale of Uhtred.  The remaining books in the series filled my shelves quickly and I found myself becoming one of those Americans who, not exposed to the depth of English history as much as those raised in Great Britain, become absolutely entranced with the rich historical landscape of such a small but historically massive island.  And delving into Uhtred's life has paid off in so many unexpected ways.  With the popularity of History Channel's "Vikings" series I feel I can now discuss the merits of shield walls and the nuances of Norse sailing techniques with the best of them.

After completing that series I moved on to the rest of your books.  I particularly enjoyed the Nathaniel Starbuck series especially since I hail from the deep south and can appreciate a more balanced few of that terrible conflict.

And, by the way, I did very much enjoy "The Fort".  I would hope that most Americans aren't so blind in their patriotism that they're unable to see the shortcomings of our fledgling army and navy in the sad campaign.

I could go on with glowing reviews of all of your books but I think I've made my point.  I'm a fan of all of them.  Well, perhaps I can't really say that.  You see, I have not started your most successful series.  I don't know why I've saved Sharpe until now but I now have a copy of "Sharpe's Tiger".  Is that a good place to start or would it better to read them in the order they were written?

Thank you so much for the countless hours of entertainment and education.  My wife and I will be traveling to Great Britain next year and, thanks to your work, we have filled our itinerary with sites that will mean so much more after seeing them come to life in your novels.

Karl Ward
Montgomery, AL

Dear Bernard,
I'm a massive fan of The Saxon Stories. I love history and as my secondary school never taught about Alfred the Great, I have been fascinated by that period of history ever since reading your books.
I'm currently rereading The Saxon Stories, at The Burning Land at the moment, ready for The Pagan Lord in the Autumn. Also I'm half way through The Winter King with I'm thoroughly enjoying!
My family have been taking me to the Hay-on-Wye book festival for since I was a child, I love it as it renews my love of books every time. Last year I bought Azincourt and Harlequin there, as you can see my reading list is endless. Ever since I started reading your books, I have always looked out to see if you are doing a presentation on a new book or book signing, yet there has been no luck. Have you done and book presentation signing there before? And if you have the time in future do you have plans to do one?
Thank you for your books as it gives me great pleasure in reading them!
Yours sincerely,
James

Dear Mr. Cornwell,

After reading The Fort, which I enjoyed immensely, I decided to re-read the Starbuck Chronicles. In Rebel I noticed during the Battle of the Pontimac when Starbuck is having second thoughts he thinks of a relative who fought alongside Paul Revere at Penobscot Bay. I was wondering whether when writing Rebel you knew you would later write about Penobscot Bay, and why you did not write in a Starbuck Character into The Fort. I feel like that would have been quite a nice little self reference which many readers would enjoy. I hope to hear from you,

Yours sincerely,

Conor Keir

Hi.
First of all I would like to say that I love your writing.
My favorites are the Sharpe and the Arthur books.
Some time ago, Celtic Films/Picture Palace Films produced a series based on your Sharpe books.
Has anyone approached you with the intention of making the movie version of the Arthur ones?
All the Best,
Sérgio Correia

Is Uhtred going to ride some more ?
Darby Hamilton

 

Any chance of 7th book of Saxon Stories? I'm a huge fan of your books, and I just finished the 6th book and I can't believe Uhtred's story ends there... So, I'm very anxious about a new book!
I love the vikings, specially Ragnar and I really hope he has an important role in the rest of the story, and that just will not die, of course!
Any chances of book about Robin Hood? I saw a few documentaries about the historical sources of his legend and I couldn't think about you writing about him! Wow, that would be awesome!
hugs from Brazil
Mara Sop

 

I love Uhtred and the whole gang. And I really need to know when "The Pagan Lord" comes out.
Andrew Miller

Great books. I re-read them all again and again.
I'd enjoy reading a story or novella (or an e-novella?) in which Sharpe gets to see his daughter, Antonia. In one of your books he gave Teresa money for her. Perhaps it helped her and her family in their fur and leather business. Perhaps Teresa left a letter to Antonia that would help her find Sharpe?
Reynold Dacon

Hello Bernard,

I have been a fan of yours for a long time and I believe you met a friend of mine James Bicheno at the HNS conference last year. I'd just like ask for some advice. I am finishing my final draft of an historical 'factasy' novel (I won't reveal any more!) and I cannot seem to get an agent. I've had very positive feedback and two historical fiction authors have said they love it, but neither was willing to represent me. I thought combining fantasy and history in the manner of a modern-day Arthurian legend might be quite an appealing concept and I've not had any real complaints about the writing, yet all I ever get from agents is they've not 'fallen in love with it.' Can you offer any advice on approaching agents? Thank you very much!
Jack Hughes

Bernard,

Hello, my name is Robert Burns. I will try to keep my question brief as I know that you are a busy man. I am a bladesmith and blacksmith from the United States. I have been reading your books for a number of years and particularly fell in love with the Warrior Chronicles. I felt you captured the many very realistic elements of what one would expect in that time period. I particularly was inspired by the main character Uhtred and his two sword blades. Now for the question; I am currently working on making a smaller seax based off of anglo saxon finds and a Norwegian Langsax based off of the Arhus Farm find. I wanted to name these blades and had decided on a name for the larger sword being Thorgrim. What I was wondering was if you would be so kind as to allow me to name the second blade Uhtred in honor of your character. Thank you very much for reading this and I look forward to your response.

My best regards,

Robert Burns

Hello,

First of all, i would just like to thank You for every book you published. They gave me many hours to enjoy and fulfilled my life. I always liked history, knights, archers, vikings.. and Your books are for me something that must be read :)

Hope You will give us more books in years to come, and hope to read more about Nicholas Hook, if possible.

I do have one question, it's probably not exactly for You, but, you might know the answer - book 1356 - are there any news, when it will be published in Serbia? Or Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia (because I can read in those languages too). I do speak and understand English, but not fluently as i would like to, and it makes me problems to read book in the way i like :)

Thank you for everything and i apologize for disturbing.

Kind Regards,

Dragan
Novi Sad, Serbia