I want to thank you very much for Uhtred of Bebbanburg. I have just completed War Lord, the last of the thirteen books of the series, and would like you to know your novels have more than helped me cope with the restrictions of staying at home during Covid 19.
I am a 78 year old retired high school English teacher who admires your realistic narrative and excellent portrayal of Uhtred of Bebbanburg. I also appreciate use of the authentic background into which you have woven your fictional and actual characters, the battles, and the development of the island of Great Britain into one unified nation. Considerable reading and research are evident behind your fiction and you needn’t apologize for your creative license.
The Richard Sharpe series will be next on my reading list, though I’ll surely miss Uhtred with his mix of surly pride, frustration with those who follow the nailed god, and his penchant for surmounting what often seems like the most unfavorable odds. First person narration as in the Utred series is a challenging format to keep the reader current with the complications of the plot, but I never felt any artificiality in Utred’s narration.
As a child, I frequently left my bedroom window open just enough to allow Peter Pan’s anticipated entrance. Now, as I approach my 80th year, I find myself wanting to keep a sword beside my bed, passage to Valhalla just as tantalizing as a visit from Peter. Fate is inexorable. Long live Uhtred. Call him Lord.
Bill Buckler,
Hubbardston, MA