I am about half way through 1356 and enjoying it immensely. It has already raised a couple of questions: Firstly, and I suspect I’ll get a non-committal or at best cryptic answer to this: There are enough similarities between Thomas of Hookton and Sharpe that I cannot help but think it is deliberate. They are physically similar – tall, strong, dark hair, hansom but scarred. They also share a similar outlook on soldiering – they do it because they are good at it and cling to the idea they fight for those who cannot fight themselves (you use almost identical phrasing, so I assume it’s deliberate). They also have very similar rules for their men – don’t get drunk without permission and don’t rape (in Thomas’s case) or steal (in Sharpe’s, not raping presumably being a given). Now can I assume that Sharpe is a descendant of Thomas and if so, is it through his mother or his mysterious father?

My second question is a little more serious. I mention above Thomas’ prohibition on rape. Your books never shy from the realities for warfare and sad though it is, rape has always played a large role in it, and continues to to this day. Your books reflect this and the women in them are often subject to the depredations of soldiery. Yet your heroes, even when they share the rest of their time’s beliefs about society, tolerating torture, murder and slavery, are never rapists, and often express contempt for those who are. Even Uhtred is ‘not known for being cruel to women’. George MacDonald Frasier is suspected to have regretted allowing Flashman one rape in his first book – it seems to be the one crime for which there can be no redemption.

Is your characterisation a deliberate decision, or does it just reflect the fact that your heroes are not fundamentally evil people? Likewise, do you deliberately make mention of the fact that your characters do not rape in order to avoid ambiguity about this?

Anyway, keep up the good work. I dread finishing 1356 and facing another 12 month wait before we get to rejoin Uhtred – how lucky you are to already be back there with him!

Daniel