Dear Bernard,

Very many thanks for all the pleasure your books have given me, specially Sharpe and the Last Kingdom series.  For me, your writing style is just perfect, with exactly the right blend of atmosphere, information and action in superb balance.

What I am curious about, though, is your vision of Uhtred, as up to Warriors of the Storm I don’t recall any instance of him describing himself — why would he, except for mentioning the grey hairs in his beard!  But in Warriors we at last have a hint, where he refers to his second son as ‘said to resemble me, blunt-faced and scarred.’  That, Bernard, is exactly how I had imagined him from your writings, together with the indication that he is big but a strong and athletic man.

So, although I enjoyed the BBC ‘Last Kingdom’, I was a little disappointed with the casting of Uhtred, not big enough and rather too slick looking.  I think the actor who played Leofric would have been more suitable, right down to the voice too!  Was the BBC version REALLY how you imagined Uhtred to look?

I was also disappointed that Steapa seems to have been left out — will he appear later?  It would be nice to see Pyrlig too, specially with his brand of humour.  Will they appear do you think?

Once again, thanks for all your superb books.

Hugh Coster