Dear Bernard Cornwell:
I recently finished the latest installment of the Uhtred books and had to write to you. I’m an author myself with much less range and I’m in awe of what you’ve accomplished in the series. Everything fits perfectly: setting, characters, action, historical details. But that sounds mechanical, and I don’t mean it as such because your books breathe the period. Uhtred enslaved, Uhtred in the marshes, Uhtred betrayed (too often, he’d say), Uhtred in mid-battle all are so vivid each book took over my life when I read it, and transported me the way the very best fiction should. And your prose, wow! Your descriptions of nights before battle, or distant towns on fire, or the hunt for a safe port, or the savagery of the shield wall couldn’t be more evocative. Best of all perhaps is the way you’ve situated him between two worlds that are in such sharp conflict.
I’ve moved on to Agincourt which is also beautifully wrought, and plan to follow it with the Grail series, as the 14th century is one of my favorite periods of French history.
Thank you for the many hours of enjoyment. Your work is truly inspiring.
Sincerely,
Lev Raphael