(Spoiler Alert)

Hello,

A teacher recommended your first Saxon Chronicle book to me my first year of high school.  You touched off a powder keg of reading historical fiction for me.  While Uhtred is by far my favorite, Derfel and the Arthur series is usually the first I recommend to people.  I think the thing I liked most about Uhtred is that he is unabashedly an Asatruar, one who practices Asatru, a pagan in a changing world.  Being an Asatruar myself I was amazed to read a pro-pagan story, even at times an anti-christian story!  I’ve read other authors that have done this, but then vilify their character for their beliefs on the last page, even if those beliefs have been conclusively proven false.  I know you’ve said here before when someone mentioned Asatru that you had not heard that term before, but I was convinced reading these early books that you were a believer.  I think that helped me connect to it more.  Perhaps if we ever do get an Uhtred short story you could mention something very few authors have included when they do Norse paganism?   Only half the warriors who die in battle go to Valhalla, the other half go to Freyja’s hall in Folkvangr.  In fact, both Gisela and Stiorra would almost assuredly have gone to that shining field since they both died in battle, and if you know anything about the Norse cosmos, Valhalla and Folkvangr are just across the tree branch. This is mentioned in both Poetic and Prose Eddas, I know it is simply easier to say they just all go to the Spear-Hall so I guess it is just a pet peeve now.

Why didn’t you include Uhtred’s death? I had prepared myself for it, and Finan’s, but they never came.  His story almost seems unfinished because of it.  I really expected him to die, possible betrayed to hold up to history, and to have him describe the Valkyrie, of course looking like Gisela, her image rushing back to him in death, leading him on her winged horse to the All-Father. Perhaps it is better in my imagination.

As good as these books are I have to say, in my opinion, that the Netflix show is one of the worst adaptions of a book.  It is right up there with how badly they did American Gods.  I know you have said you don’t have any say in that venture but you have to get them to drop “Destiny is all” in favor of Wyrd bið ful aræd.  They’ve changed too much.

Thank you for all these wonderful books, I look forward to reading them to my daughter, whose middle name is Stiorra.

Anthony Lombardi