Hi there,

I suspect I’m one of your younger readers, considering I started reading the books earlier than would be regarded normal (19 and I first read ‘The Last Kingdom’ at 12), so I suppose you could say that I’ve grown up with Uhtred. The series, along with many of your other works, has inspired a lot of my own interest in writing and by proxy acting, two of the paths I’m now trying to pursue. So for that I’d just like to say I’m grateful. I have a couple of quick questions and would love to hear from you.Now my first question is a bit of an odd one, but I’ve always been curious about Eadith: why does Uhtred speak so little of her when he refers to himself as an old man? He talks about Gisela and Ætheflaed and even Iseult, but I don’t think he’s ever mentioned Eadith, unless (and I think not?) she is the pious Christian wife that he refers to with contempt. At this point (post ‘The Flame Bearer’), he’s been with her for as many books and almost as much time seemingly as anyone else, and yet she’s still seldom mentioned. I understand that in earlier books she may not have been a fully-fledged character in your plans, but by now she is a close companion of Uhtred’s and yet seemingly remains relegated to second tier in his affections. I suppose I’m just curious as to why?

Secondly, (more brief this one) Uhtred and Cnut fighting each other in their prime in a fair fight: who wins? I would assume Uhtred based on his victory as an old man (by relative standards), but he used his ingenuity rather than ability to defeat Cnut on that occasion.

Finally, as a writer myself (don’t worry I’m not going to send you a screenplay!), I’d be curious to know, with a long form series of books like yours (for which I think ‘The Saxon Stories’ is the correct term but I’m still uncertain), how many books in advance do you plan? Did you know the general shape for the whole arc before you began, or does each story build mostly off what has come before?

I know that I’ve asked more than my fair share, but as I say, I’ve had so many questions and only just discovered (whilst sat re-watching season 2 on Netflix) that the option to contact you was available. I hope to hear from you soon, and in the meantime: keep them coming! I hope Uhtred and co have many more adventures ahead!

Will