Your Questions

Q

I absolutely love your books! I can't put the Saxon Stories down! please...keep them coming!! Ever thought about writing about the Vikings on the Volga/Danube and into Constantinople? Or, companions of Harold Hardraada? Just wishful thinking.....
Craig Walle

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

I really haven't . . . . sorry . . . and off the bat the idea doesn't seem like my project. Maybe I don't know enough about it, no, make that I certainly don't know enough about it, which means I should educate myself and after that? who knows?

Q

Is Nicholas Hook related to Thomas of Hookton? I know I should just wait for the book, but couldn't resist asking.
Robert Chambers

I was just wondering if your new character Nicholas Hook is a descendant of Thomas Hookton. Or is it a coincidence that they are both archers and similar last names? And your books are great! -Paul

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

He isn't. I took the name from the muster roll of the archers who really were at Agincourt and it just happened to be the name I liked best and, by coincidence, shared the Hook with Hookton.

Q

I have read most of your books outside of the Sharpe Books. I intend to start them soon but now taking care of my 96 year old Dad. Life kind of goes on hold to help your Dad. I just finished the Robyn Young book "Brethern". I really liked it and was curious if you have read it and if so what you thought of it. I think she writes a lot like you. I like her character development. Tks - Mike Wagoner

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

I'm afraid I haven't! I should, obviously!

Q

I have just read Sword Song and enjoyed the yarn mixed with fact. I am a N Devonian by birth and 'Cornish by marriage' with possible Celtic connections which made me curious about your comment that 'Uhtred...was based on a real man...one of your paternal ancestors'. As a survivor of WW2 I still have an interest in Historically based novels which include factual references to Military tactics which yours do. I am also interested in Family Trees and would be intrigued to know something of your ancestry if that question is not 'crossing the line'.
Ron Hill

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

What I know was discovered by a member of my birth family (I only met them about five or six years ago). They were fortunate in being a prominent family . . . in Saxon times they were, first, kings of Bernicia (now lowland Scotland) then earls of Northumbria (thus the connection with Bebbanburg), and even after their fall (thanks to Cnut) they remained as county gentry in north Yorkshire . . . and the surname is distinctive enough to make them quite easy to trace through a tangle of records. I never checked the genealogy, but I have no reason to doubt it.

Q

Mr. Cornwell, Right now I am in the process of reading your book, Sharpe's Company, for a school project. My project is on genre fiction and I have chosen the adventure genre. I was wondering if you could maybe answer a few questions for me. First of all, I was just wondering what attracted you to writing adventure stories. Also, I was curious as to how the limits of the adventure genre have helped to work for or against you in writing Sharpe's Company. Well, if you could answer my questions it would be wonderful! thank you so much! Cammie

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

I guess we all write the books we want to read! So what drew me to military-history adventure was a love of the Hornblower novels and a wish to read something like them, but set against a land background instead of the sea! There was also the realisation that I was neither talented nor clever enough to write literature, whatever that is, and, to be honest, a desperate need to make some money (I'd fallen in love with an American and the US government refused me a green card). Now, beyond that, I'm not sure . . . I never analysed the genre, but right from the start I knew I wanted to do something in the Hornblower vein . . . so maybe the answer is imitation? The limits of the adventure genre? I'm not sure it has limits, other than the obvious one not to bore people. The limits are the constraints of real history . . . . Company was the third book I wrote, and I decided to break the real history constraint and have Sharpe get through the breach (an error I confessed in the Historical Note), and that reflects the truth that I have to be a story-teller before an historian. I should imagine that the limits are the bounds of the writer's imagination? I always feel inadequate answering queries like this, because I don't think much about the theories of writing . . . . I think a lot about plot and character, but not about the big picture, which means that I shall look forward to your conclusions.

Q

My memory may be faulty, but I seem to remember that at one time you listed books that YOU enjoy reading. I couldn't seem to find such a list, although there are of course the suggestions for additional reading for each series. I was wondering if you have read Conn Iggulden's Genghis Khan novels? I have only recently discovered them, and find them almost as riveting as yours! Just curious - I always like to know what other people are reading. By the way, I'm almost finished Sword Song, and enjoying it as much as the previous books in this series. I do like Uhtred!
Jeanie Dubberley

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

I should republish that list! And I'm a Conn Iggulden fan so agree with you about the Genghis Khann novels . . . right now I'm reading Richard Fortey's Dry Store Room Number One, which, despite its title, is a riveting book about the Natural History Museum . . . I'm a great Richard Fortey fan!

Q

Bernard, I occasionally read through "Your Questions." It occurred to me that it must be a great feeling reading all of this praise. I wondered if it ever goes to your head? I would probably be a bit arrogant if all this praise was aimed at me!

I had a few more questions if you have time: What are a few of your favourite films?

What are a few of your favourite bands?

Do you believe in god? I think from your writing you don't but it's hard to tell!

Lastly I just wanted to say I love your books. The Arthur series were phenomenal and I can't wait to read them again. I'm going through Sharpe at the moment and loving these too. Sharpe certainly has more than his fair share of women, eh? ;)
Charles

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

My wife keeps my feet firmly on the ground. Question to Judy from a friend: 'do you actually read Bernard's books?', answer 'I skip the battles.' She can read a Sharpe book in ten minutes! I adore her.

Oh wow. Lawrence of Arabia. Miss Congeniality. Four Weddings and a Funeral. Das Boot. Casablanca. The Longest Day. The Bank Job. Those are off the top of my head . . . . . . my least favorite? Titanic.

Any band playing Mozart.

Nope. Don't believe in Father Christmas either. It would be nice to believe, but there it is.

Q

Hi Bernard,I have just read Cheryl Morgan's attempted demolition of the Warlord Chronicles,I must say I don't agree with much of what her vitiolic pen drips,have you read her "CRITIQUE" on Emerald City?I am half way through The Enemy of God for the third time,and enjoying it immensely.

I am looking forward to Azincourt,any idea when it is being published please? Many Regards, Peter Carragher.

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

I haven't! And I won't. I made it a rule long ago to ignore all criticism, whether complimentary or not. Good reviews go to the head, bad reviews strike the heart, and neither are good for you! I haven't read a review in 20 years and am not going to start now, so I'll let her witter on unread by me, but thanks for letting me know!

Azincourt is scheduled to be published in the UK in October. Not sure of the US date yet, but I suspect it will be next January. To read an excerpt of the book go to the 'What's Coming' page and click on the link for Azincourt.

Q

I'm 32 years old and can't believe I just found out about you. I've been reading Will Durant and everything about history and now my boss gave me the Alfred series of 4 and loved your style of writing. You nailed it! A biography detailing the faults of someones's (Alfred's) fault through the perspective of entirely different and much more compelling character... but the truth is, we get to know Alfred who he really was and still the respect he may or may not have deserved. I have now started the Grail series and just wanted to ask you one question that I would like to know from you. I already love this because I have studied the 100 years war since I was 13, the same time Joan of arc started hearing her voices, and I admire her more than anyone else in history. Peter the Great is second, but Joan.... I would definitely like to know a couple of sentences if you have the time to let me know what you think of her. I actually have a tattoo on my calf of her since I admire her so much of what she's taught me so feel free to offend me if necessary. Micheal Watkins

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

I really do not know enough . . . . I haven't studied her and I doubt very much that I'll write about her, but again, who knows? Certainly the tale of how she was captured and betrayed is fascinating (and noteworthy that the French, given the chance to buy her, refused), so perhaps I ought to know a great deal more and your leg convinces me of that!

Q

Sir, I can imagine that you must be very busy,as you write more and more about arrow-spitted frenchmen every day again, and I'm sorry if I am disturbing you. Anyway,it's just that I want to say that if a reader has read the Saxon Stories first, and has seen the Saxons as the good guys, it may be...no,it IS strange to read the Arthur books,and see the saxons as the bad guys, like the way we saw the danes in the saxon stories. It's just a thought that came to me yesterday, but have you ever thought about that,sir?thank you for your valuable time! best regards, Jack Jiang

Hello Mr. Cornwell, like many others here I'm writing primarily to let you know how much I enjoy your books, particularly The Arthur Books and The Saxon Stories. You are a consummate storyteller with a gift for weaving tales that take me out of the humdrum routine of modern life, and bring me to places in which I'd like to take a crack at living. Keep up the great work. My question for you is: It seems like your sympathies lie in many respects with the Danes in The Saxon Stories, and I admit that with their lust for life, their warrior's code, and their adventurous spirit it's hard not to like them. I know I do. But do you find it hard to reconcile this liking with the horrors the Danes inflicted on the Saxons (murder, rape, enslavement, etc.)? Finally, if you're interested in a brief review of some of your works as whole, I recently posted about them on my blog, The Silver Key: blogspot.comTake care, Brian Murphy

Submitted April 23, 2008

A

Thank you so much! But remember that the Saxons, given the chance, inflicted the same thing on the Danes! Everyone was nasty to everyone, an equal-opportunity arena of bad behaviour! And thank you again!