Dear Mr. Cornwell, I’ve read all your historical fiction books at least a few times over. I’ve recently finished Azincourt, and I’ve begun to notice a religious/supernatural trend in your writing. It started with the Arthur books and continued with the Grail quest books. The difference between these books and Azincourt, I feel, is that you used supernatural elements rarely and always blended them with realistic elements. So, only at the end of Excalibur do we see a genuine bit of magic, and Arthur’s departure is still ambiguous. Same goes with Thomas finally discovering the ‘real’ grail. but in Azincourt you have two disembodied saints talking to your hero throughout (unbelievable) and extorting him to ‘get revenge’ for Soissons (even more unbelievable, if they are saints).. it’s a radical departure from your usual work. That’s not a complaint, but I am curious to know what your thoughts are. Am I reading too much into your writing? Many of your books express a deep cynicism about christianity and religion in general (especially the Saxon series) but on the other hand, Azincourt presents a more nuanced position. Thanks.

Jesse