Hi Bernard.

My husband and I love your books.  We were very happy to see The Last Kingdom done by the BBC. It was well acted and close to our ‘picture’ of  Uhtred. We were shocked and disappointed at the last series done by Netflix.  They changed his character and also those around him. We did not mind a change of story line, it was the complete altering of the characters personalities that was so disappointing. It was Uhtred that put Athelflaed on the throne of Mercia and we loved the way he cleverly achieved it. Sadly the writers took Uhtred’s clever planning ability from him and made him look weak and helpless –  simply led along.  Uhtred is better than that.  We could not bear to watch.  Could you please get BBC to do the next series?  We have also watched Sharpe and they are good.  Sean Bean is excellent at portraying him.  Thank you for all the great reading we have been able to do during lock down.

Kindest regards,

John and Sandra Hansen.

I just wanted to tell you that you are by far my favorite contemporary author, having replaced the late Tom Clancy in that role years ago.  I’ve got all of your series, as well as all or most of your “stand alone” novels.  In addition to loving your topics, plots, characters and writing style, I’m particularly impressed by your exhaustive research and attention to accurate historical detail in every book.

Although the Sharpe and Last Kingdom film series generally followed your respective threads, there have been some significant departures in each of them in some respects, especially with regard to The Last Kingdom.  My question is; did the producers consult you or give you any veto rights or latitude in making those revisions, or was it pretty much on a dictated “take it or leave it” basis?  (My hunch is that they perceived that the tv audience differs from the hard copy readership in what they consider to be entertaining.

Thanks much in advance.

Art