Mr. Cornwell,
This January, I had just finished defending my thesis for my doctorate, a four year journey, and could not read another book. I’m not much for fiction, but decided that it might be a relaxing change, especially for the 24 hour journey I was about to take. So I entered a book store at the airport, but what to read. After a long search, I stumbled on a book called The Empty Throne.
I sat on the plane, excited to begin reading and, alas, realized I had purchased a book in a series. Worse yet, it was book eight. I’m not one to read out of sequence, and I’m also not one to read a series. I just wanted to read one book to satisfy the need; then get back to my work. While I sat and waited for takeoff, my mind wandered. My wife and I had begun the search for our retirement life. The plan was to continue to reside in Massachusetts, but I was done with the cold, so what about winter.. We knew somewhere south, but having lived in Florida for a year, that was not an option.
Daydreaming and thumbing through my new book, I came across your brief bio, and saw you spent summers in Cape Cod, and winters in Charleston, and area I had always been interested in. When I finally arrived in Singapore, I called my wife and said, “I think I may have found it.” We went on to plan a vacation in Hilton Head, SC to explore the area. Fast forward to last week, we just returned from a wonderful 5 day vacation touring Hilton Head, Charleston, and Savannah, and will go on to further research the area as our winter retirement home.
But what about the Last Kingdom? Oh yes, I decided to buy the first book, assuming that it would satisfy the need to read. It did not, and so I have just finished Lords of the North, and will purchase Sword Song tomorrow to read on yet another long flight. It appears that the new found genre of historical fiction satisfies both an intellectual and entertainment need, and of course, how could I abandon Uhtred at this point.
I thought I would share this story and thank you for the great reads, and the idea for the path we may follow. Perhaps someday we will bump into each other in Charleston or the Cape.
Thanks and Regards,
Andrew Macdonald