To Mr. Bernard Cornwell,
I have just checked an old journal of mine and found that I finished reading The Last Kingdom on July 15th 2013, I had just turned twelve years old. Tonight, October 29th 2020, or actually as it is now 1 AM, October 30th, I have just finished reading Warlord, the final chapter in Uhtred’s story. I am now nineteen years old, which means across the last seven years I have been constantly and entirely captivated by your books. I have read much of the Sharpe series and several of your other books as well in this time but it is Uhtred’s story that takes hold of me with the strongest grip. Seven years may not seem like the longest time however I am sure many will agree that the seven years between the age of 12 and 19 are some of the most formative in any human life. I am telling you this because I have gone from a child to now, a man, with the story of Uhtred not only entertaining me but also teaching me many things about manhood. I am still just a teenager but as Uhtred would no doubt have me fighting in a shield wall by this age, I think I can get away with calling myself a man at this point.
Through Uhtred, you have taught me so much about the man I want to be and hope to become. As a boy with a high voice and a hairless face I read how Uhtred, just a boy himself, had saved Thyra from the torturous Sven. I was taught then to protect those that need protection. As a man now I read that Uhtred fights for his home and for his family and nothing else (besides maybe his reputation). This has taught me that all that a man truly needs is a home to protect and a family to share it with, nothing more.
I keep these lessons in mind and they have become part of my character. It seems funny to think how a few somewhat fictional novels can have that big of an impact on my life but the fact is that they have. Uhtred at the core is motivated by the same things in the 9th and 10th century that motivates men today over a thousand years later. In the comfort and luxury of today’s world it is easy to feel almost completely removed from the lives of our great ancestors, however as you have made clear to me, the things most important to those who lived back then, are yet the most important to those who live now. Maybe the passage of time has not changed us as much as we think. After all. I am but the product of lessons that were learned and taught and learned again through generations. I think Uhtred, myself and many others may not be so different. Although he may be a bit more useful with a sword.
Thank you, Mr. Cornwell, for unknowingly capturing my imagination throughout my upbringing and creating the best memories I will ever have with a book series. You do much more than I imagine you know.
To good health and hopefully a beard we will see turn even whiter than Uhtred’s,
William Moore