Your Questions

Q

Hi Mr Cornwell, Just like to start by saying I'm a huge fan of all your work, especially the Sharpe series.I've read as many of the books that I could get my hands on and have one query.I recently read Sharpe's Enemy and am wondering if Sharpe's daughter Antonia makes any further appearances in the series and if her faith during and/or after the war is divulged? Donncha

Submitted February 15, 2008

A

I have no idea what happened to Antonia . . . . and I know people keep asking me and I keep making the same unsatisfactory answer. Maybe one day I'll find out (the only way to do that is to write it, and I'm not planning on it yet).

Q

Mr. Cornwell, I know that Ivar the boneless was a real and successful viking leader, and one story I have heard about him was that he suffered some sort of disability were he was unable to walk on his own and had to be carried around on an upturned war shield. I was wondering if you used this in any way when you were describing his son Ivar Ivarson"s condition when Uhtred and King Guthred first met him after his defeat at the hands of the Scots in your novel Lords of the North? humbly, Jared Hess

Submitted February 15, 2008

A

There are so many stories and legends, and I confess I had not heard that one! I do like it, though.

Q

Hi Bernard! I am eagerly awaiting your next books! So here is the question. What was a "Blue Light Admiral/Captain" etc? The only other mention I can find of this is about Stonewall Jackson, calling him a Blue light elder. Your thoughts?
Jim Watanabe

Submitted February 15, 2008

A

I have no idea! 'Blue light elder' was a nickname given to Stonewall Jackson as a young man, or so I seem to remember, and it had something to do with his strict religious beliefs, but beyond that I really know nothing. Sorry!

Q

Hi Mr. Cornwell. Do you have any method in your writing of describing a sword fight in a thrilling manner that puts the reader there between the combatants? I am finding this to be a real challenge. I have been looking at fencing manuals and they have a lot of Italian and French terms for various lunges, parries, and cuts. I suspect that these would only be meaningful to experts. Can you give me any pointers? Alan Kempner

Submitted February 15, 2008

A

I've no idea how to do it, except imagine yourself in the place of one of the combatants and describe what happens! You're absolutely right about the fencing manuals, they're more or less impenetrable except to an expert, and I'm not wholly convinced that the most refined and subtle fencers of the 16th Century onwards would have managed so well with the heavier weapons of an earlier era . . . which is not to decry the skills of that early period (there is a very early German manual which implies sophisticated technique with heavy battle swords). In the end, put yourself in the place of your hero, and fight for your life!

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I see that Azincourt has a U.K. release date but nothing yet for the U.S. please tell me there is going to be a U.S. release, Thank's, Andy B.

Submitted February 15, 2008

A

There will be - most likely January 2009.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell >From an early age I was fascinated by the Arthur Legends and found your interpretation one of the most original of all. A question I would like to ask you is what is your opinion on the King Arthur Movies ( the one that starred Clive Owen ) as a roman cavalry officer with his Selmation Knights )? As well as a more recent one called the Last Legion which toys with the idea of Excalibur being the sword of Julius Caesar carried to Britain by the last surviving descendant of Caesar at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire?

One final comment: as a Christian and student of Cristian Theology I want to commend you for your accurate account of Christianity of the dark ages in the Warlord Chronicles. I found myself at times wanting to urge Derfel to strangle Sansum as I realize that not only did his kind of Christianity was more a tool to gain power and is one on the reasons that Christianity is sometimes confused as a religion of fear and guilt rather than of grace and love I am interested in your opinion on this matter and what prompted you to the use of the theme of Christianity in the Warlord Chronicles ? Regards Petrus Otto Stellenbosch South- Africa

Submitted February 13, 2008

A

I have to confess I didn't see it. The very idea that Arthur was a Sarmatian was so ridiculous that I decided my brain didn't need to take in more rubbish. It's not impossible, of course, just as it's not impossible that little green men from Mars built Stonehenge. . . . . .

Because Christianity was a powerful force in dark-ages Britain . . . and there's a certain amount of tentative evidence that the early church in Britain disliked Arthur (he's a villain in most of the early Welsh saints' lives). And the period after the Roman withdrawal was a period in which there was no settled religion in Britain; there was (probably) a vestige of the old Druidical faith, though that would have been very weak, and there were the various religions that the Romans introduced to Britain, the chief of which was Christianity, but it was by no means the only one. It was certainly gaining an ascendancy. When religions begin they tend to be meek and mild, but as they get more powerful they start killing people of other faiths . . . and the church was just reaching that state of power. So I included it because it seemed an accurate reflection of 5th and 6th century Britain!

Q

Hi, I am a big fan of your Saxon stories, I have bought and read all 4 several times. I absolutely love the character Uhtred and find him hilarious. I was just wondering as I can not wait for the fifth book, when you believe it will be out in the U.K.? I was also wondering how many books you will be writing about Uhtred and if you will continue as you have hinted to write the tale of Uhtred past the death of King Alfred the Great? I would really love to hear back from you as I find your books great. Thank-you. Remy Malvy

Submitted February 13, 2008

A

There will be several more, and yes, it will go long beyond Alfred's death, through the reign of his son and the life of his daughter and into the reign of his grandson.
I have not started the fifth book so can't say for sure when it will be available - most likely not until 2009.

Q

Is there a B.Cornwell book that covers the Norman invasion? We readers in the colony of cousins enjoy reading your difficult histories that are absent from our short history in the U.S.

Joseph W. Jacobi, Sr.

Submitted February 13, 2008

A

I've thought of the Normans, but it is not likely to happen any time soon.

Q

Mr. Cornwell: I've read most of your work & love it all - most especially The Arthur Series. I had a quick question regarding the depiction of Lancelot...are his character traits representative of a historical 'consensus' (based on the available research), or was that how you envisioned him? Thanks for your amazing efforts.
Patrick

Submitted February 13, 2008

A

There is no historical consensus! There's an imaginative consensus, but Lancelot was almost certainly a fictional character dreamed up in France many centuries after the Arthurian legends began. Over time he became a great hero, but somehow I've never liked him so I took great liberties!

Q

I have not been able to find an American first edition of "Scoundrel". Is there a US first edition? I have enjoyed all your books and would like to keep my collection complet with both US and UK editions. Thanks, Tom

Submitted February 13, 2008

A

No, there isn't. For some reason, it was never published in the US in a hardback edition.