Hello Mr Cornwell,

I have loved your Saxon Stories for many years now. I originally became immersed in the world of Uhtred in the most unusual way. I naively purchased ‘The Empty Throne’ for a holiday abroad, thinking it was a standalone book. Quickly I realised this was not the case but because I was abroad and it was the only book I had with me I decided to persevere and read it. It was a testament to your writing that I quickly picked up and followed the story. When I finished I was at somewhat of a crossroads, do I start from the beginning or do I continue with the story and read The Warriors of the Storm, the latest one at that point? I decided to continue the story as I was desperate to know what happened next but I managed to read the first books after, in time for release of The Flame Bearer.

Anyway, in my love of The Empty Throne, Sigtryggr quickly became my favourite character. I found him fascinating and my love of his character has only increased with each passing novel. I loved his intelligence, his charm and how he felt different to many Danes in your series and other forms of literature or television. I was also relieved when watching Season Four of The Last Kingdom that the show managed to do the character justice. He was easily the strongest aspect of the season for me.

My question surrounds his death from the plague in Sword of Kings. I haven’t found any information online confirming how he died. My question is was his death in the books historical or fictional? If fictional, what was the rationale behind having him die from illness. Apologies for the long winded way of asking a simple question.

Thank you,

Andrew